News

UK: Give more power to regulators, says report
A report published recently by the United Kingdom’s National Infrastructure says that the UK’s regulatory system must “adapt to meet the demands of the future” by providing new powers for regulators to ensure utility investments in sustainable infrastructure. The report notes that without such powers, the country will be unlikely to meet its target of zero emissions by 2050.
Oct 16, 2019 // Storage, Policy, UK, Europe, Solar Trade Association, Chair John Armitt, Chris Hewett
AC Energy, UPC Solar set up new Asia-Pacific joint venture
Philippines-based AC Energy will work with UPC Solar Asia Pacific – the solar energy unit of Hong Kong-headquartered UPC Renewables – to build more than 1 GW of solar in the coming years, with an initial focus on Asian markets such as India, South Korea and Taiwan.
Oct 16, 2019 // Markets & Finance News, India, Asia, Korea, Philippines, Taiwan, AC Energy, Patrice Clausse, Brian Caffyn
DuPont on the hunt for Aussie field survey partners
Over the last decade, DuPont has surveyed more than 2 GW of PV installations and has analyzed a range of failure types and their causes. Hong-Jie Hu, DuPont’s solar technical and development lead in China, says that the materials giant is looking for Australian partners for its Global Field Survey program, with a particular interest in hot and humid and desert environments.
Oct 16, 2019 // Solar, China, Asia, Hong-Jie Hu, DuPont
8minute, Capital Dynamics complete massive Springbok PV project in California
The 121 MWdc Springbok 3 project in Kern County, California, brings the Springbok series to 448 MW, as Capital Dynamics continues its investments in U.S. solar.
Oct 16, 2019 // Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, Markets & Finance News, Capital Dynamics, California, USA, SunPower, First Solar, North America, 8minute Solar Energy
NextEnergy Capital cements US play with second asset acquisition
Renewables investor NextEnergy Capital (NEC) has made its second major solar acquisition in the US, cementing its position in the market.
Oct 16, 2019 // Markets & Finance News, USA, Canadian Solar, solar pv, North America, sfi con usa, nextenergy capital, recurrent energy, Michael Bonte-Friedheim, Rohan Singh
Ciel & Terre’s 1.01MW floating plant completed in Bahia, Brazil
Brazilian renewables developer Sunlution and French floating solar firm Ciel & Terre have completed construction of a 1.01MW PV project that floats on a hydroelectric reservoir in the north-eastern state of Bahia in Brazil.
Oct 16, 2019 // Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, Floating PV, floating PV, South america, Brazil, jair bolsonaro, fpv, bahia
EnBW board greenlights 180MW unsubsidised solar park in Germany
German utility EnBW will build what is claimed to be Germany’s largest solar park without subsidy support, standing at 180MW in capacity in Brandenburg.
Oct 16, 2019 // Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, Germany, Europe, unsubsidised, enbw, post-subsidy, procon solar, Procon Solar GmbH, Hans-Josef Zimmer, Thorsten Jörß
DEWA bags $0.016953/kWh tariff for 900MW of Dubai solar park
The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) has confirmed that it fielded a tariff of US$1.6953 cents per kWh in a recent tender for a 900MW plot of its 5GW Mohammed bin Rashid (MbR) solar parks – a bid it claims sets a world record for the indepedent power producer (IPP) model.
Oct 16, 2019 // Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, Tariffs, Dewa, Asia, United Arab Emirates, Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, tenders, ACWA Power, Dubai, gulf
Lightsource BP makes maiden foray into Spanish solar market with 300MW acquisition
Lightsource BP has announced its entry into the Spanish solar market with the acquisition of a 300MW project portfolio in Zaragoza.
Oct 16, 2019 // Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, Markets & Finance News, Spain, solar pv, Lightsource BP, Europe, utility-scale, Nick Boyle
Top officials trumpet 20GW-by-2025 solar goal as Energy Taiwan kicks off
Taiwan will try and use its leverage as a global electronic and manufacturing hotspot to engineer a multi-gigawatt clean energy boom, government figures have said as they kickstarted this year’s edition of Energy Taiwan.
Oct 16, 2019 // Manufacturing News, Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, Storage, Policy, pv modules, Asia, policy and regulation, Taiwan, energy taiwan, module manufacturing, auo, Shen Jong-Chin, Tsai Ing-wen, TSEC
Solar powered weeding tractor uses manual labour
You might not have realised this, but there’s a group of hackers out there without whom you wouldn’t be able to put food on the table. They hack under the blazing sun and pouring rain, and have been doing it for thousands of years. Known more commonly as farmers, their creative problem solving skills with whatever is lying around can be absolutely jaw dropping. [Andrew Mans] is one such individual. He built a solar powered weeding tractor that uses human labour to do the actual weeding.
Oct 16, 2019 // Transport, Agriculture, solar electric motor, tractor, weeding, Andrew Mans
Strong winds flip cars competing in the World Solar Challenge
A solar car competing in the World Solar Challenge has rolled over on the Stuart Highway, just north of Coober Pedy in South Australia.
Oct 16, 2019 // Transport, Australia, World Solar Challenge, Oceania, Chris Selwood
What is the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge?
Having begun on 13 October and being due to end on 18 October, the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge is underway.
Oct 16, 2019 // Transport, Australia, Oceania, Bridgestone World Solar Challenge
Rebuilding for resilience
The islands of the Caribbean have been focusing on the deployment of storage solutions, minigrids and microgrids in response to the damage their power systems suffered during the 2017 hurricane season. But with the opportunities, there are also challenges.
Oct 16, 2019 // Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, Markets & Finance News, Storage, Grids, storage, Wood Mackenzie, North America, Caribbean, RMI, Stephen Mushegan, Isaac Maze-Rothstein, off-grid market, Antigua and Barbuda
Cronimet finishes 1 MW rooftop PV array on Namibian mall
The German developer and independent power producer claims it finished its latest solar project in the country about one month ahead of schedule.
Oct 16, 2019 // Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, Rooftop PV, Germany, Europe, Africa, Namibia, Cronimet Mining Power Solutions