Solar Markets & Finance News

Recent investments into 11 GW of new coal generation capacity may result in reduced operating cashflows of $71 billion. That will occur, according to a report from the Carbon Tracker Institute, because solar and wind will become cheaper than coal in Japan by 2025 at the latest, despite high renewable energy costs at present.

Solar’s embrace of subsidy-free models could push it in greater numbers towards owners with the experience to navigate power price swings, according to Wood Mackenzie.

The US government has extended its solar import tariffs to bifacial modules, in a policy u-turn set to partially redraw the global trade flows of the fast maturing technology.

UAE developer Masdar Clean Energy has been awarded a 100MW project in Uzbekistan’s first competitive solar tender after submitting a bid of US$0.027/kWh.

The polysilicon company draws another bad hand in the trade war.

The global solar market is growing rapidly but remains highly fragmented, Wood Mackenzie says.

The U.S. Trade Representative has not responded to claims it will end the exemption from Section 201 duties. If true, the development could be a big hit for Asian PV manufacturers and an annoyance for the U.S. market – but a positive for First Solar.

Neoen has completed the 51 MW Paradise Park solar plant in the Caribbean. The facility will generate electricity for the Jamaica Public Service Company Limited for US$85/MWh over 20 years.

The government of the Tshopo province has signed an agreement with Cat Projects Africa for the PV plant. The project will be connected to the grid operated by utility Société nationale d’électricité and is intended to improve power supply in provincial capital Kisangani.

Shell has acquired a 20-percent stake in Indian company Orb Energy, provider of corporate loans to businesses that want to invest in solar power installations.

PacifiCorp released a draft of its long-term energy plan that continues investments in new wind generation and transmission, while adding significant new solar and storage resources. The plan, which is the result of a comprehensive data analysis and stakeholder input process, demonstrates the company’s adoption of additional lower-cost renewable resources to meet customer needs and support for its phased coal transition.

The governmental body responsible for keeping mine pollution out of waterways has announced completion of the first phase of a plan to use solar to keep down its electricity bills.

The holders of almost six million shares in the company voted against the reappointment of chairman and CEO Liu Hongwei as a non-executive director. On Liu’s watch the company has had to turn to a state bail-out from China to help ensure its survival.

LevelTen claims its online platform offers small companies the chance to band together to buy green energy and connects renewable energy producers and consumers in such an effective manner it has already driven $1 billion of green energy supply in its homeland.

Taiwan is expected to become one of the fastest-growing solar markets worldwide despite this year’s feed-in tariff (FiT) reductions, according to a new report, but a local developer has challenged the document's conclusions about the impacts of global PV module supply.