PV

The Balearic Islands have decided to fast-track a 42 MW solar project, which would raise the three island’s total installed generations by one third. Iberdrola has secured a PPA for its 391 MW Nuñez de Balboa projects. Moreover, several other PV projects have obtained approval from regional authorities.

Oil and gas company Total has announced it will work alongside Shanghai-based NIO – the world’s inaugural Formula E champion – to develop products for a potentially huge electric vehicle marketplace in the populous Asian nation.

Green Energy Markets’ latest analysis shows the National Electricity Market is on track to get 33% renewable electricity by 2020, with individual states performing well beyond that. But the report claims solar jobs will be lost unless the National Energy Guarantee’s 26% emissions reduction target is lifted.

In what analysts worldwide are sure to look back on as the last golden period for global solar – at least for the immediate future – China saw more impressive figures for PV manufacturing in the first half of the year. Then the government stepped in.

Decision comes just days after business and energy department prepares to end export payments for solar households, and with parliament in its summer recess. The permit has outraged green groups, the opposition Labour Party and nearby residents.

Belgian research institute, Imec has announced the achievement of 27.1% efficiency on a perovskite/silicon tandem cell, providing further evidence of the technology’s potential to provide a low cost efficiency boost to existing PV technology.

The storage system supplier is providing its technology to the Isles of Scilly as part of an ERDF-funded project to meet the remote islands’ energy demands more cheaply and cleanly. Until now islanders used fossil fuels and electricity from mainland Britain at high tariffs, prompting energy poverty for many.

Where can I charge my glow-stick? Two companies in the Netherlands are joining forces to displace portable diesel generators on the northern European festival scene this summer.

The 10% reduction in GST is an example to the UK government, which is seeking suggestions on how to drive solar take-up, but manufacturers are already calling for further reductions to fire battery storage in the nation.

The remarkable 4 GW of solar capacity added last year has seen Karnataka displace Tamil Nadu as the India’s renewables number one. And there is more to come, according to a new report, with PV set to account for a third of rising energy demand over the next decade.