News

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.

Originally intended to commission 140 MW of storage, the tender drew three winning projects: a 50 MW system and two 30 MW facilities. Eirgrid has estimated the total value of the contracts at around €6 million per year.

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.

The project is in Giuncaggio, in the northeastern part of the French island, and was built with Tesla Powerpack batteries, a Nidec power management system and a new power management device from the project’s developer Corsica Sole.

A recent project milestone saw the disconnection of properties from overhead lines and will enable 64km of poles and wires to be replaced by off-grid solar-plus-battery solutions.

An €18 million loan has been provided by the African Development Bank. The solar park, planned for capital N’Djamena, will be coupled to 4 MWh of storage.

A proposal to turn the site of a former landfill near Houston’s Sunnyside community into the largest urban solar farm in Texas has local officials and residents hopeful that change may finally be coming to a site that has been an eyesore for decades.

China has invested US$90 billion in the countries involved in its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) since 2013. The BRI involves developing infrastructure in 126 partner countries to boost trade within a region stretching from Indonesia to Western Europe via the Middle East and East Africa, inspired by the historical Silk Road.

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.

Maxar Technologies awarded a contract to Deployable Space Systems to manufacture flexible solar arrays for the Power and Propulsion Element of the Gateway, a key element of NASA’s Artemis campaign to return humans to the moon.

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.

Sunnova Energy Corporation is collaborating, through the Solar Foundation’s “Solar Saves Lives” program, with non-profit organizations in Puerto Rico to support critical energy projects on the island.

The Energy Ministry plans to allocate 10,000 megawatts, currently allotted to the household solar rooftop scheme, to other renewable energy methods such as community waste as the solar panel scheme has received little participation from homeowners.