Another 3 GW on the way for the Netherlands PV market
The slew of new capacity will come from projects allocated from the bids received for the autumn 2018 round of the SDE+ program for large scale renewables. The Dutch Central Agency for Statistics revealed new PV additions last year were 200 MW more than predicted, at 1.5 GW, and the government last week announced net metering conditions for rooftop solar would be maintained until 2023.
Enhancing perovskite cell performance with coffee
A U.S.-Chinese research team has discovered that carbonyl groups in caffeine can increase the efficiency of perovskite solar cells from 17% to 20%. The peculiar molecular structure of caffeine is said to be a good match for the precursors of perovskite material compounds.
Engie to sell 2.3 GW of coal power assets
The French energy company has decided to sell its coal-fired power plants in Germany and the Netherlands to U.S.-based private equity firm Riverstone.
Netherlands to maintain current net-metering conditions until 2023
The Dutch government has confirmed it will maintain its net-metering scheme in its current form until 2023, with plans to then gradually phase it out by 2031. Net metering has been behind the steady growth of PV in the country in recent years, and was also the main market driver in the earliest stages of its solar development.
Brazil to hold energy auction for non-interconnected state of Roraima on May 31
Selected projects will be expected to start commercial operations on June 28, 2021. The auction is open to both conventional and renewable energy sources, as well as proposals for hybrid projects or power plants linked to storage.
Kyocera reports decline in solar sales for 2019
The drop in sales of solar energy products was mainly responsible for a 28% year-on-year turnover drop of the Life&Environment Group division, which includes the Japanese company’s activities within solar.
Tesla’s solar business shrinks as Musk focuses on Model 3
The EV, energy storage and solar company deployed only 47 MW of solar during Q1, as Tesla moves away from traditional sales methods towards web-based sales for its products.
Axpo wants to buy French PV developer Urbasolar
The Swiss energy company said it was chosen by Urbasolar’s owners as the preferred buyer among a list of high-ranking bidders.
Chile may change payment scheme for small solar parks
The government is planning to replace the price offered to PV projects that have a capacity of 3-9 MW with hourly tariffs. Solar association Acesol agrees with some of the suggestions but rejects the proposed tariff change. The current system has been the main market driver for Chilean PV for the last two years.
Canadian Solar sells 80% of 482 MW portfolio in Brazil to Qatar’s Nebras
There are four PV projects and all the facilities will use bifacial panels provided by the Brazilian factory of the Chinese-Canadian manufacturer.
