Global cumulative PV capacity may reach 1.3 TW in 2023, SolarPower Europe says
The European solar trade body expects 128 GW of new PV capacity in 2019, with China likely to bring around 43 GW online and Europe experiencing enough demand to deploy about 20.4 GW. In 2020, global solar demand is expected to reach 144 GW, while in the following three years new PV additions are forecast to total 158 GW, 169 GW and 180 GW, respectively.
Eswatini, formerly Swaziland, launches call for 40 MW of solar
The Kingdom of Eswatini, formerly known as Swaziland, has began the procurement process for 40 MW of PV capacity. The projects, which will be assigned by 2020, will also include 40 MW of biomass. The new capacity will make the kingdom less dependent on power imports from South African utility Eskom, which currently faces a financial and operational crisis.
Quebec-based pension fund La Caisse makes another solar investment
Canada’s second-largest pension fund and U.K. developer Lightsource BP have announced a joint debt investment of £150 million to finance a solar portfolio across several countries.
Designing for and monetizing curtailed solar power
Research by NREL and First Solar has produced highly accurate, real-time estimates of available aggregate peak power that a curtailed solar power plant can deliver to support the broader needs of the grid.
SunPower could break into the black this quarter
The high efficiency PV maker may be hot on the tail of its golden goose, with demand outweighing supply for the company’s new A-Series and P-Series modules. And now that reetooling is over, it’s time to sell.
Germany’s Umweltbank offers standardized financing for solar PPAs
The sustainable projects lender wants to become a pioneer in the financing of unsubsidized PV ground mounted systems. The loans have a term of 25 years and operators need a PPA with at least five years’ maturity at a fixed price.
Luxembourg raises solar FITs
For installations with a generation capacity of less than 10 kW, the feed-in tariff will rise 36% to €0.165/kWh and all installations below 500 kW are set to benefit from an improved regulatory framework.
Researchers improve stability of vanadium disulfide used in lithium-ion batteries
Scientists say they have observed how the instability of vanadium disulfide in lithium-ion batteries occurs and claim to have solved the problem by applying a nanolayered titanium disulfide coating.
Another big auction for solar in Brazil
After being excluded from the A-6 auction last year, solar will now be entitled to compete for 20-year PPAs alongside wind, hydro and thermal power projects in future procurements. The next auction will be held on September 26.
UK researchers seek to use perovskite solar cells for hydrogen production
A research team has applied a waterproof coating obtained from graphite to a perovskite cell intended to power the production of hydrogen underwater. The cell is said to have worked underwater longer than expected.
