News

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.

The Emirati utility and the Chinese communications giant and inverter maker have discussed how they can work together to roll out solar and storage in Dubai as well as collaborating on cyber security and the use of AI to analyze cyber threats.

A minister said an unnamed private investor had proposed an 800 MW solar project in the state on top of a 900 MW scheme being carried out with Japan. But the chairman of power giant NTPC said AI and digitization should be used to extend coal burning for decades to come.

With the anti-dumping and countervailing duties imposed in November 2013 set to expire nine months ago, the Canadian International Trade Tribunal has extended them for another five years, ruling their expiry would harm the nation’s only domestic manufacturer.

Reports of fires at Amazon facilities look set to pile fresh controversy on Tesla’s US solar installs, with new claims emerging only days after Walmart took Elon Musk’s firm to court over blaze incidents.

SolarEdge Technologies’ founder and former long-time CEO Guy Sella has passed away two years after revealing a colon cancer diagnosis, the firm has confirmed.

Hawaiian Electric Co (HEC) has kickstarted a colossal clean energy tender, seeking providers of 900MW worth of renewables and energy storage projects.

Enel Green Power has reached another development milestone in Latin America, rolling out the first components of what it says is Chile’s largest solar project to enter construction to date.

A European consortium of partners has developed an easy-to-clean solar panel coating that repels environmental forces. SolarSharc was created by the Advanced Resins and Coatings Innovation Centre (a strategic partnership between London South Bank University and TWI), Opus Materials Technologies, Onyx Solar, CEA – LITEN, Millidyne and TWI.

Johnson Controls announced a partnership with Capital Dynamics to increase the amount of capital available for customers in North America working on solar or battery storage projects. The agreement will grant easier access to funding for Johnson Controls customers using a Power Purchase Agreement for projects of varying sizes, starting at $1 million, by aggregating them into a larger portfolio of projects.

Standard Solar has completed a seven-site solar project for Flushing Community School District in Flushing, Michigan. In a first-of-its-kind public-private partnership, Standard Solar designed, built, financed and will operate and maintain solar arrays at all seven schools within the Flushing Community School District. The renewable energy generated by the 956.8 kilowatts of combined arrays is estimated to save the school district $45,000 annually and $900,000 over the course of the contract.

Azimuth Energy recently completed a 1-MW community solar project at St. Louis Lambert International Airport for Ameren Missouri. The project was first announced in 2017.

Next year’s first major solar-plus-storage trade show on the calendar announced a new partnership with NABCEP to increase attendee numbers. Eligible PV professionals will be able to attend the Intersolar North America expo hall for free at the San Diego Convention Center from February 4-6, 2020, and can register for NABCEP-approved continuing education classes to receive up to nine Continuing Education Units (CEUs) they can use toward Board Certification and recertification requirements.

The Boys & Girls Club of Manchester has transitioned to solar energy. ReVision Energy installed 408 solar panels this summer on three rooftops, at the Union Street Clubhouse (81.3 kW) in Manchester, New Hampshire, and the Pool House and Stebbins Family Hall buildings at Camp Foster in Bedford (49.3 kW).

First-half losses that ballooned to $85.3 million saw the share price of the Texan third-party solar company fall 8% according to San Diego law firm Robbins Arroyo LLP. The legal business says it is investigating ‘potential violations of federal securities laws’ in connection with last month’s IPO.