PV

The two biggest names in the solar trade fight will now be one company. SunPower will again be a U.S. manufacturer, and SolarWorld will begin producing P-Series modules.

Through the tender, the Palestine Investment Fund is aiming to install solar PV systems with an average installed capacity of 70 kW on the roofs of 500 public schools in the state.

Belgian institute Imec will be the coordinator of a project involving many of Europe’s leading research organizations, which will focus on developing stable, scalable, low cost PV modules based on perovskite technology. The project, named ‘ESPResSo’ has received more than €5 million in funding from the European Union.

The Italian oil giant has already identified 25 sites where the solar plants could be located. The projects are part of the company’s €7 billion investment plan in Italy.

Analysis from Rystad Energy has revealed that sub-AU$60/MWh utility-scale solar projects could be viable in sunny parts of Australia today. The highly competitive EPC landscape has been identified as the major driver of the improving PV power plant economics although, as always, cost of capital remains key.

In 2017, newly installed solar power in Poland reached around 81 MW, the majority of which comprised PV installations 40 kW or smaller in size.

The French oil group, which is the parent company of U.S. solar manufacturer, SunPower, is set to acquire a 74.33% stake in France’s third largest power utility, Direct Energie. With this move, Total is gearing up to expand its presence in the power sector, particularly in France and Belgium.

The project, expected to be finalized by April 2019, is being planned by Spanish blockchain platform, CryptosolarTech. A big cryptocurrency mining server, relying on 3,000 servers to mine cryptocurrencies, will be located near Malaga, in the southernmost part of Spain. Ten solar projects totaling 45 MW will provide the necessary power, the estimated aggregate investment of which is €42.8 million.

U.S. solar trade organization, Solar Energy Idustries Association (SEIA) has listed cancelled investments and hiring as well as job losses in its comments supporting requests for exclusion from Section 201 tariffs.

German research institute, the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE) and equipment supplier, Schmid have jointly developed a production line for customizable modules for building-integrated projects. According to Fraunhofer ISE, the concepts developed by joint study could reduce the production cost for BIPV modules as much as 35%.