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.
Baywa re to build its first unsubsidized solar plant in Germany
The 8.8 MW project, in Mecklenburg-Pomerania, will sell power to industrial customers through a long-term PPA. Construction is expected to begin in June.
Spain’s Audax to build 320 MW of PV plant capacity
After signing multiple PPAs for big solar projects in the Iberian peninsula as a buyer of electricity, the Spanish utility has announced it intends sell power from its own solar facilities. The planned PV plant portfolio will be spread across Andalucía, Castilla la Mancha and Murcia.
IHS Markit expects 4.3 GW of new storage this year
And the analyst expects that annual new additions figure to rise to 10.6 GW in 2025. This year the U.S. will surpass South Korea as the largest storage market due to new capacity for solar-plus-storage projects. In Japan and Australia, growth will be spurred by the termination of FIT programs.
Sunrun eating into utility operations
By providing solar-plus-storage, contracting to supply capacity in wholesale markets and even considering microgrid communities, Sunrun is taking on more of the space traditionally occupied by utilities and large, centralized power generators.
The U.S. surpassed 2 million solar installations
The first million took 40 years, the second million took two years and the third million will arrive two years from now.
