SolarPower Europe repeats call for solar strategy as part of European Commission’s €1tn Green Deal
Lobby group CEO Walburga Hemetsberger says the plans announced by commission president Ursula von der Leyen this week should place the European solar industry front and center.
US government expects 24 GW of new solar this year
A Department of Energy agency expects 17.4 GW (DC) of utility scale solar power generation capacity plus 6.6 GW of small scale PV will be installed in 2020. That volume would be 60% higher than the record, set in 2016.
Power Ledger to integrate blockchain-enabled energy auditing into PV assets
The Australian peer-to-peer energy-trading pioneer has purchased a 250 kW solar system that will use its new energy data management and settlement system to provide greater visibility on renewable energy sold to consumers under power purchase agreements.
Unrealistic price signals and an explosion of tenders hinder African PV
French thinktank the Institut Montaigne says Africa is absent from the global solar revolution for several reasons including a lack of suitable financing tools, the small size of projects and a systematic recourse to tendering. Removing artificial price signals set by ever more competitive tenders could be a step towards a more mature market, ready for large scale solar tenders.
Eni acquires majority stake in Italian PV installer Evolvere
The transaction has been approved by AGCM, Italy’s antitrust authority. Prior to acquiring Evolvere – which recorded a turnover of more than €30 million in 2018 – Eni has mainly specialized in the construction of large-scale solar plants, rather than residential and commercial PV projects.
Solar claims all the capacity in Poland’s latest small scale renewables auction
The fourth auction held for systems with a generation capacity no larger than 1 MW saw solar secure 750 MW of projects to leave wind developers in the cold. Innogy took its first steps into Polish PV with 42 projects across three provinces.
Italy rebalances PV market
The government has abrogated a controversial measure introduced last year which favored big developers in the allocation of fiscal incentives for rooftop projects linked to building renovation.
The world will add 142 GW of new solar this year
IHS Markit has predicted another year of global solar growth but a peek behind the headline figures shows uncertainty dogging the markets of China and India, two of the most important markets and biggest polluters.
A Green New Deal for Australia?
The cataclysmic bushfire season ravaging the nation is a reminder of the risk climate change poses to Australia’s economic and social prosperity. An international roadmap to freedom from fossil fuels by 2050 produced by the U.S.’ Stanford University says Australia needs another 280 GW of solar and tens of billions of dollars of investment to turn down the heat.
Bolsonaro scraps solar tax planned by Brazilian regulator
The Brazilian president said the potential introduction of a grid fee for net metered solar systems will be eliminated thanks to an urgent ad-hoc decree expected to be approved soon by parliament. The proposed ‘solar tax’ would have affected all new PV installations with a generation capacity of no larger than 5 MW under Brazil’s net metering regime.
