Solar Markets & Finance News

Bifacial module yields, manufacturer bankability probing and quality benchmarking strategies have all taken centre stage at this year’s edition of PV ModuleTech in Malaysia.

The Uzbek government will rely on support from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) for new public-private partnership (PPP) tenders that will award up to 900 MW of solar projects.

Global renewable energy developer Acciona has signed an agreement with energy developer Tenaska to acquire a portfolio of greenfield solar and energy storage projects in the United States. The development portfolio comprises approximately 3 GW of utility-scale solar and 1 GW of co-located solar and energy storage.

The Chaoyang facility is the largest of the first batch of central-subsidy-free solar projects approved in the world’s biggest solar marketplace. China Power has awarded three construction contracts to entities owned by its SPIC parent company.

The average price in the October round of Germany’s solar capacity procurement program fell back below the five-cent mark, helped by expansion of the quota for solar on Bavarian agricultural land. Nineteen of the 27 projects allocated by the Federal Network Agency were such schemes.

A bullish Brazilian PV market has marked its latest milestone this year, becoming the cheapest electricity source of an auction it was allowed to enter for the first time this month.

Germany is crippling solar’s ability to produce large volumes of ever-cheaper electricity even as it retains too-large tenders for wind that end in undersubscription, the country’s Greens have said.

Two high-profile bankruptcies this year could serve as a warning for the potential pitfalls of pay-as-you-go solar. However, Marcus Wiemann and David Lecoque of the Alliance for Rural Electrification say such business models can lead to long-term success and have a key role to play in providing power to the 1 billion people throughout the world who still live without electricity.

Ukrainian energy market reforms are continuing and amid uncertainty about future auction mechanisms and prices, attendees at the SEF Kyiv sustainable energy forum again called out the government for dragging its heels on the legislation. However, there was also evident optimism at the show.

Since debuting in 2007, green bonds have raised nearly $800 billion for investment in clean energy and other sustainability projects and companies are now pegging bond interest payments to their environmental performance.

The rollercoaster witnessed in recent years by Taiwan’s solar manufacturers is written all over the words of Jenny Hsu, global sales manager of Motech Industries.

Dubai has narrowly missed out on reclaiming the title of having the world’s cheapest solar photovoltaic (PV) energy, after receiving bids for the latest phase of a massive solar park on the desert outskirts of the city.

Greenbacker Renewable Energy has unveiled a flurry of new acquisitions that includes 31.33MW of contracted C&I solar assets from Sky Solar and IGS Solar across the US, alongside a partnership with Scenic Hill Solar in Arkansas.

Renewables investor Leyline Renewable Capital has secured US$150 million financing deal from Newlight Partners, a Soros Fund spin-off, to invest in early-stage solar and other clean energy projects.

The latest date for hearing the petition will fall just four days after shareholders vote on a proposed Chinese state-backed HK$1.55 billion bail-out of the business.