Major economies should divert fossil fuel Covid-recovery cash to clean energy before it’s too late
A report by Finnish company Wärtsilä has estimated the potential impact if every dollar committed to a non-renewables energy sector recovery was instead funneled to clean power.
US utility scale solar powers through 2020
Big solar projects in the U.S. are back in style and growing in number.
South African renewables jobs should be in coal regions
A study into the potential pitfalls of the shift to clean power in the nation’s coal-dependent energy mix, pointed out almost all of South Africa’s solar farms are far to the south and west of the coal regions likely to bear the brunt of job losses in a country which already has 29% unemployment.
Biden-Sanders task force calls for 500m solar panels in five years
A wide-ranging joint report published by the Democratic presidential candidate and his former rival includes the section: ‘Undoing the harms of the Trump administration and righting the wrongs.’
China holds firm on strategy to build self-sufficient domestic polysilicon industry
The Chinese government will extend duties on U.S. and South Korean polysilicon for another five years from today despite committing to buy $200 billion more American goods and services in the trade deal signed on Wednesday. Poly manufacturer REC Silicon says it expects polysilicon to form part of that trade agreement.
What to expect for solar from the US-Iran crisis?
Three days after the drone attack ordered by the U.S. which killed Iranian power broker Qassem Suleimani, energy forecasting service AleaSoft said the price of Brent was rising again today. The potential shake out of rising oil costs for the solar industry is difficult to predict.
Solar-plus-storage will start to make big inroads in the year ahead
By this time next year we may be able to wave goodbye to that old chestnut about renewables endangering security of supply. Elsewhere, the price of lithium – and the products it goes into – could go either way after tanking this year.
The year in solar, part II: A lively show season, more legal shenanigans and rising panel efficiencies abound
Intersolar Europe is always a key date in the solar calendar but this year’s show had it all, including three panel-smuggling arrests. Elsewhere, wafers were getting bigger, efficiency records were tumbling and new technologies were emerging. There was also more news on the solar car ports fad and Hanwha’s ongoing legal tussle.
The largest private coal company in the United States just went bankrupt
Despite promises by President Trump to save the coal industry, the crisis in the sector is clear. Solar, wind and batteries have the world to gain.
PV to address water scarcity
The government of the Philippines will spend $500 million on solar-powered water supply and desalination in remote areas of Mindanao, the second-largest island in the archipelago. Elsewhere, a Finnish study has suggested drought-hit Iran could benefit from renewable-powered desalination.
