Solar

IHS Markit’s senior market analyst for energy storage Julian Jansen discusses the role that South Korean battery producers play in the global storage chain, and sees reasons to be bullish for Europe’s own storage market.

The research team found that sodium, contrary to common belief, does not decrease per se indium and gallium interdiffusion, but instead hinders intergrain diffusion by segregating at grain boundaries.

Austria’s largest power provider announced a plan to invest around €100 million in solar and €15 million in recharge stations for electric vehicles over the next five years. The company aims at investing mainly in residential and C&I projects.

The Dutch solar fair has now taken the shape of an international event, due to the increasing number of big players attracted to the Netherland’s PV market, and the high level of professionalization that has been reached by the local ecosystem of installers and distributors. Although a few uncertainties on the possible changes of the current regulatory framework are suggesting caution, solar across all of its segments is clearly set to become a mainstream source of energy nationwide.

The Middle Eastern nation’s Authority for Electricity Regulation (AER) has contracted PassivSystems to consult on the Oman government’s plan to install rooftop solar PV atop 30% of the nation’s homes.

The company is billing the contract with a portion of a 500 MW project as the largest corporate solar power purchase agreement (PPA) to date.

The Swiss PV equipment manufacturer recorded a loss of around €68 million last year. Although Meyer Burger was able to slightly increase sales, the EBITDA margin was below 3%. This year, the company is aiming for an EBITDA margin of 10%, in order to return to profitability.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) office in Somalia has issued a Request for Proposals for the financing of a skills development program in the solar energy sector in Mogadishu, Kismayo and Baidoa.

Investments in new large-scale solar energy projects in Spain are expected to surpass €4 billion over the next two years. Meanwhile, the regional government of Castilla-La Mancha is planning to reduce the timeframe for the authorization process for solar and renewables from 12 to nine months.

Last year, the Chinese solar PV module maker shipped 9.8 GW, and achieved a revenue of US$4 billion. Both gross and net profit, however, declined due to lower ASPs, higher polysilicon prices and increased output from OEM partners.