Rooftop PV

Two reports have concluded rooftop solar may replace PV parks as the main growth driver in the two big Asian markets over the next decade. Support programs for utility scale PV in both countries no longer seem attractive enough.

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.

New PV installations under the nation’s net metering scheme grew 137% year-on-year from January to March, according to consultancy Greener, and module imports registered even greater growth, signalling activity in the distributed generation segment is increasing at a faster pace. With the regulator mooting changes to the net metering regime, however, it may reflect customers rushing to secure current tariffs.

The Solarville project, by Ikea’s Danish research and design laboratory, has seen the participation of blockchain companies such as Bloc, Blocktech, WeMoveIdeas India and Temporal. It was conceived to help create cooperative community micro-grids to enable homeowners to become clean energy traders.

The system is said to have a maximum estimation error of less than 10% and to reduce the computational requirements for calculating the output of PV systems in complex environments. The approach is based on the correlation between a skyline profile and the annual irradiation received at a particular spot.

At the end of another year or record rooftop PV installations, national Minister for Energy Angus Taylor warns Australian state governments to “consider the potential risks” of rapid solar industry growth.

A new analysis by Credit Suisse forecasts that installed residential solar capacity in the United States could grow more than 3x to reach 41 GW by 2025, and shows that there is plenty of space on rooftops to do this.

With a new decree, the Indonesian Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources has enabled the owners of residential, commercial and industrial rooftop PV systems to sell excess power to the grid. The government hopes the new provisions will result in around 1 GW of deployed PV capacity over the next three years. Doubts, however, have been raised about the attractiveness of the scheme.

The UAE-based solar company has signed a 15 year lease for a 1.8 MW rooftop project on two warehouses of Apparel Group, a global fashion and lifestyle retail conglomerate.

With the announcement of a historic low tariff of Rs 1.38 ($0.019) per unit for a rooftop PV project and a new 1.5 GW solar project, the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh has upped its solar game plan.