Commercial rooftops will lead renewables growth in the next five years
Although the International Energy Agency’s latest renewables report forecasts impressive solar growth there is still a nagging feeling it has produced conservative estimates and the emphasis on sharing costs with grid operators is predictable.
Voltalia acquires French solar installer Helexia
The French renewables group has taken over a specialist in C&I rooftop solar and launched a share purchase offer to enable its employees to benefit from the growth of the company.
Bangladesh’s first state-owned solar plant comes online
The new generation facility was financed by the Asian Development Bank and built by Chinese company ZTE Corp. The project will sell power to the grid for $0.065/kWh, a record low for solar in the country.
Indonesia’s vast rooftop potential
The nation’s roofs could host up to 655 GWp of solar generation capacity a recent solar mapping exercise found. But a wider understanding of the benefits of solar, combined with incentives, would be required to unlock a potentially transformative energy development.
Rooftop PV has reached grid parity in main EU markets
Researchers have developed a high-resolution geospatial method of assessing the solar potential of all buildings in the EU and concluded rooftop PV could provide a quarter of the bloc’s electricity needs. The scientists say grid parity for rooftop solar has been reached outside eastern member states with cheap fossil fuel electricity.
Commercial solar at grid parity in China but a hard line is needed on soft costs
Deploying commercial and industrial PV in China without subsidy is already profitable in some areas, according to a new study, but prohibitive soft costs and cheap electricity are the main barriers for such installations in areas where grid parity remains out of reach.
Risen Australia sells 120 MW of rooftop panels in one year
Chinese PV module maker Risen Energy says it has achieved its highest jump in solar module sales in the Australian market in a one-year period.
Mayor of London wants another 2.5 MW of rooftop solar by next summer
A group buying program which has prompted more than 600 rooftop arrays across 14 boroughs in the capital is set to be extended next month with officials hoping another 700-1,000 households will embrace the scheme by June.
EIB helps Palestine install 35 MW of rooftop solar with $18 million loan
The funds will be used to finance solar arrays on 500 schools across the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
India added 1,836 MW of rooftop solar in last fiscal year
Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu were the top five states by annual installation, accounting for 60% of the new capacity.
