Magazine Archive 11 – 2024 | Turning the corner

  With PV component prices still unsustainably low, many are waiting for the demand promised by 2030 solar installation targets to materialize. While modest growth in global installations is forecast for 2024 and 2025, there are few signs this will match supply. Many of the 54 countries of Africa are ripe with unrealized PV potential. […]

The Invesco Solar exchange-traded fund (ETF) returned to growth in September 2024, with utility-scale PV equipment stocks performing particularly well. More US solar businesses are expected to shutter but anticipated interest rate cuts should lead to stronger performance in the year ahead, says Jesse Pichel, of Roth Capital Partners.

As battery energy storage system (BESS) costs plunge, energy price volatility is shortening payback times for storage solutions. This shift, driven by a surge in intermittently-generating renewables, and ongoing innovations in battery manufacturing, marks a pivotal moment for energy markets worldwide.

Solar demand growth has been pulled back by policy changes and uncertainty but capacity additions in 2025 should still eclipse 2024. InfoLink’s Jonathan Chou examines the leading regions for solar installations.

The European PV industry isn’t in a good state right now, writes Martin Schachinger of pvXchange. Company insolvencies are on the rise, closely following a trend in Germany across all sectors. According to the German financial news publication Deutsche Wirtschaftsnachrichten, a sad peak was reached in the third quarter of 2024 with the highest number of bankruptcies since 2010.

Claire Kearns-McCoy and Paul Wormser, executives at consultancy Clean Energy Associates (CEA), consider the lasting impact of a May 2019 hailstorm that damaged 400,000 solar panels in Texas.

Africa’s 54 nations comprise 30 million km², making it larger than Europe, India, the United States, and China combined. The International Energy Agency’s “Africa Energy Outlook 2022” report estimated 600 million people – 43% of the continent’s population – lacked electricity. There is a clear opportunity for solar to make a difference.

With solar and nuclear at the heart of Uganda’s planned 2040 energy mix, the nation has a lot to do as its entire generation fleet is currently just 2 GW.

While overseas solar and energy storage suppliers are keen to stake out their turf in sub-Saharan African (SSA) markets, little progress has been made to date in developing production lines on the continent.

A raft of ambitious interconnection projects has been announced to bring African electrons to European shores. While there are financial and supply chain challenges to overcome, the renewables potential on offer across North Africa is exciting investors.