ARENA announces AUD $20m PV R&D funding round
In order to help reduce the future cost of solar PV, ARENA is set to launch its third competitive funding round for solar R&D.
Africa: solar power and Indian bilateral trade key routes to prosperity, says AfDB president
African Development Bank President Akinwumi Adesina tells the media ahead of the bank’s Annual Meetings forum that Africa-India bilateral trade will reach $100bn by 2018, with solar power playing a prominent role in closer cooperation and boosting economic opportunities.
Canada: Newfoundland and Labrador launches net metering
Renewable energy power generators installed under the scheme will sell power surplus to local utilities Labrador Hydro and Newfoundland Power starting from July 2017.
Mercedez Benz enters U.S. battery market with Vivint partnership
The German manufacturer, in partnership with the No. 2 residential solar installer in the United States, will bring customizable home energy storage systems to the United States.
U.S. residential solar market contracts 17% during Q1
According to the soon-to-be-released report from GTM Research and the Solar Energy Industries Association, a severe contraction in California headlined the nationwide slide.
Oman to launch support scheme for small-sized PV
The Middle Eastern country is planning to support the installation of rooftop PV systems ranging in size from 2 kW to 4 kW. The support scheme will not be based on FITs or net metering, but on an “accelerated subsidy adjustment” mechanism.
US investors, led by Tesla/SolarCity, dominate list of non-Chinese solar PV asset owners
Report by GTM Research and Solichamba finds 11 investors that each own more than 1 GW of PV assets, with eight of those 11 hailing from the U.S.
Solar to attract more investment than coal, gas and nuclear combined this year, says Frost & Sullivan
Analysts expect global renewable power investment to reach $243bn this year, with solar PV the fastest-growing segment and non-hydro renewables to account for 65% of all global power investment by 2020.
Belgium: researchers say solar-plus-storage is far from becoming economically viable
According to a scientific paper from the Université libre de Bruxelles, even a further reduction in storage prices may not be sufficient to make solar-plus-storage attractive in the Belgian market.
Solar Frontier’s operating loss widens to $26.4 million in Q1
The CIS thin-film PV specialist has posted an operating loss of JPY 3 billion ($26.4 million) in the three months to March 31, from JPY 2.6 billion a year earlier. Net sales fell 41.3% on the year to JPY 22.2 billion.
