Magazine Archive 2020

This year marks a uniquely critical juncture on the road to universal access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy. The massive disruption caused by Covid-19 complicates the outlook to 2030, which is the target date for reaching UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7, writes Rohit Khanna, manager of the World Bank’s Energy Sector Management Assistance Program.

With 82,000 cumulative system installations, Australia ranks among the world’s leading markets for residential energy storage. But uptake is still sluggish, thanks to long payback periods, and market developments are only now beginning to emerge. That said, forecasts are still bullish for batteries Down Under – it is only a question of when.

The quiet prairie landscape of Vulcan County, a rural stretch of southern Alberta, is set to become the site of Canada’s largest solar energy facility – the 400 MW Travers Solar Project. And with the region’s oil industry struggling with low demand and lower prices, solar could provide a lifeline to Alberta in meeting energy demand and providing jobs.

Southeast Asia, when taken as a whole, is a global laggard in the uptake of renewable energy, but some countries are leading the way, such as Vietnam, the Philippines, and Myanmar. And as ‘Angry Clean Energy Guy’ Assaad W. Razzouk argues, policymakers in the region cannot hold back the tide of solar and wind for much longer.

The U.S. solar industry is looking to quality and innovation for solutions to extreme weather risks. As PV projects spread across hail-prone areas in the United States, the industry faces increased risks and a critical need for damage prevention and mitigation strategies that leverage robust materials, panel testing, and software.

Changing rules mean that many utility-scale PV projects in Australia are facing long delays in achieving full generation – known as “obtaining GPS.” The consequences can be costly.

Solar has a small but increasingly important role to play in the Nordic energy transition. And while there is still a gap in PV cost-competitiveness across some markets, interest in solar facades, BIPV solutions and C&I applications is growing.

The wave of cancellations in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic starkly illustrates the solar industry’s reliance on trade shows, conferences, and other events. Event organizers, exhibitors, and attendees from across the supply chain are now eagerly investigating alternatives, given the current restrictions and broader uncertainty regarding the future. While it’s too early to draw conclusions, it’s clear that there will be lasting effects on the way the industry operates when it comes to planning events and travel.