Solar Markets & Finance News

The US Solar Fund (USF) has closed on both the acquisition and financing of 100% of the cash equity interests in the 128MW Milford Solar Project, located in Beaver County, Utah.

The SMSL reported second-quarter PV module shipments of 3,386MW, an increase of 11.5% from 3,037MW in the first quarter of 2019 and an increase of 21.2% from 2,794MW in the second quarter of 2018.

Solar winners of the first Brazilian A-6 auction ever to admit PV bids will be offered 20-year supply deals with the government, newly-released official documents show.

Greece’s prime minister visited the German chancellor yesterday in Berlin and reached an agreement to set up an investment strategy that encompasses renewable energy.

The nation’s Ministry of Energy and Water is seeking developers for a plant on an industrial park at the center of a previous 40 MW procurement exercise.

The Shanghai-based solar manufacturer has maintained gross margin in a depressed domestic market by shipping ever more modules around the world and is pressing ahead with dramatic production plans on the eve of a looming solar boom.

Another large scale transaction by the electricity and gas supplier has enhanced its standing in the U.K. energy market, with the business now counting more than one million customers.

Today we have heard of farmers in Australia unhappy at the approval given for three solar projects on agricultural land and also learned the benefits PV can bring for fish and shrimp farmers. In this op-ed for pv magazine USA, Stoel Rives LLP attorneys Sara Bergan and Thomas Braun discuss the balancing act to be made between solar and agriculture in the emerging Midwestern PV market.

While the damage is largely done for cells, modules and inverters, increased tariffs on U.S. module components and 15% measures on lithium-ion batteries are not good news for either sector.

BBOXX has successfully closed a US$50 million Series D funding round that will see the next generation utility company accelerate its global expansion efforts.

India’s Maharashtra state has launched a process to procure a major slice of grid-linked solar power, pushing for low prices in line with earlier tenders this year.

Victoria’s state government has yielded to industry pressure and increased the frequency and number of rebates available in its rooftop solar subsidy programme.

Fully tapping into Latin America’s bullish solar market will require challenging preconceptions around a region that is more stable than is sometimes assumed, local operators have told PV Tech.

The two nations are due to sign an MoU today to set up the capacity in the north of Bangladesh along with 50 MW of wind power facilities in the south, near the port of Payra. China will supply an estimated $500m with the host nation freeing up land for the projects.

Looking back at the PV market in 2018, micro module technologies started maturing in development and moving on to mass production, writes TrendForce analyst Lions Shih. Modules are no longer limited to a single design as before, but rather continuing on the path toward diversification in 2019. The situation is spreading into other areas, as may be seen in the upstream silicon wafer and cell segments.