solar energy

The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development of the Sub-Saharan country is currently seeking advice for its Decentralized Renewables Development Program, which includes an off-grid master plan for the electrification of islands on Lake Victoria and the creation of a pilot program for solar net metering.

China Construction Bank Corporation (CCB) and the European Investment Bank (EIB) have each listed a €500 million bond. The bond issuance of the Chinese company was made on the newly created Luxembourg Green Exchange, a platform exclusively dedicated to sustainable finance.

Just a day after announcing its entry in the off-grid solar business in Bangladesh, the Portuguese utility agreed to acquire a minority stake in Mozambique’s SolarWorks, a start-up providing pay-as-you-go off-grid PV solutions.

The Spanish power and gas provider has started construction on two 50 MW solar plants near Ciudad Real, in the southern region of Castile–La Mancha. The projects are part of the 250 MW pipeline it secured in the government’s renewable energy auction held in July.

In the first eight months of 2018, newly installed PV capacity in Germany totaled almost 2 GW, and is already well above the previous year’s level. New residential and commercial PV systems, with a combined capacity of nearly 241 MW, have been reported to the Federal Network Agency. In October, solar incentives will drop by another 1%.

The Portuguese utility expands its renewable energy business – traditionally dominated by wind – with a new storage station in Romania and the acquisition of a start-up, which offers off-grid home solar solutions in Bangladesh.

The Chinese company said the transaction will enable a larger deployment of resources for its downstream clean energy business. The potential buyer is Asia Pacific Resources Development Investment Ltd.

At the EU PVSEC in Brussels this week, prominent representatives of the solar industry joined an appeal to rebuild a major European PV production line along the entire value chain. They called on the EU Commission and member states to introduce eco-labels and recycling criteria for solar modules, to stimulate PV expansion and align research policy with the revival of the solar industry.

The new funds will come from Brazilian development bank, BNDES and will help small businesses, individuals and communities to implement commercial solar PV and wind power projects. Financing will be granted to projects using equipment that complies with local content requirements.

Although the “solar flow battery” is currently considered too expensive by its own creators, a further improvement of its design and the use of emerging solar materials and new electrochemistry may open new opportunities for this kind of technology.