News

Atlas switches on second Brazilian solar project
Atlas Renewable Energy has switched on its second PV plant in Brazil, the 156MWp Juazeiro Solar Plant in the northeastern state of Bahia.
Aug 21, 2019 // Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, Canadian Solar, PV plants, South america, Latin america, Brazil, Atlas Renewable Energy, Juazeiro Solar Plant, Jinko, GCL
Ares invests in US utility-scale solar player Heelstone Energy
US asset manager Ares Management Corporation announced on Monday that it has “made an investment” in US utility-scale solar investor Heelstone Energy.
Aug 21, 2019 // Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, Markets & Finance News, USA, North America, Ares Management Corporation, Heelstone Energy
Subsidy-free shift to push China’s solar spotlight inland
China’s transition away from solar subsidies will redraw the industry’s expansion lines towards the country’s interior, experts have predicted.
Aug 21, 2019 // Solar, China, Asia, subsidy-free pv, subsidies, fitch solutions, feed-in tariffs
Walmart pins store fires on Tesla solar installs in new lawsuit
Walmart has linked a string of store fires in recent years to Tesla’s alleged mismanagement of solar panel installation and maintenance, taking Elon Musk’s outfit to court.
Aug 21, 2019 // Rooftop PV, USA, TESLA, Elon Musk, SolarCity, ssfusa, lawsuit, Walmart, North America, litigation
Sunnova reports more customers and dealers in Q2
US residential solar installer Sunnova reported a growing dealer network, more customers, new solar products and a larger geographical footprint in its first earnings release since going public.
Aug 21, 2019 // Residential, Markets & Finance News, USA, Sunrun, Sunnova, ssfusa, installer, residential, North America
LONGi calls for industry alignment on wafer size as Hi-MO4 sales top 2GW
The solar industry must work together to agree on standardised larger wafer sizes, according to monocrystalline solar manufacturer LONGi Group.
Aug 21, 2019 // Manufacturing News, monocrystalline, c-si manufacturing, solar cell, silicon, wafer, LONGi Group, hi-mo4
Wisconsin governor issues executive order mandating carbon-free energy mix by 2050
Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers has signed off on Executive Order 38, a motion that will create an Office of Sustainability and Clean Energy within the state, with the office tasked with achieving the goal of ensuring all electricity consumed within the State of Wisconsin is 100% carbon-free by 2050.
Aug 21, 2019 // Solar, USA, Wisconsin, carbon, Tony Evers, North America
North Carolina energy plan looks to clear remaining regulatory hurdles for solar
Existing solar power policies in North Carolina will go under review as part of the state’s draft Clean Energy Plan. Published last week, it includes the retirement of 4GW of coal and the proposal of measures to drive renewable energy more broadly as well as boosting EV adoption in the US state.
Aug 21, 2019 // Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, Storage, USA, North Carolina, solar pv, ssfusa, Duke Energy, Clean Energy Plan, boosting EV, Stephen De May, North America
Lightsource BP readying construction of 70MW trio for US university
Lightsource BP is days away from launching construction works for a utility-scale solar pipeline it will deploy for a US university, set to go live next year.
Aug 21, 2019 // Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, USA, PPA, PV Tech, pv power plants, solar pv, ssfusa, Lightsource BP, US university, Pennsylvania, North America
Zimbabwe mine eyes solar amid national power crisis
Caledonia Mining wants to build a solar power plant at its Blanket gold mine in southern Zimbabwe to ward off the worst from the country's increasingly volatile power supply.
Aug 21, 2019 // Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, Grids, Africa, Zimbabwe, caledonia, blanket mine, zesa, South Africa, escom, mining
Various joint ventures complete 195MW of PV projects in Egypt’s Benban
A joint venture between Elsewedy Electric and EDF, along with Scatec Solar and its respective partners, have both commissioned PV projects near Benban, Egypt with a combined generation capacity of 195MW.
Aug 21, 2019 // Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, Scatec Solar, EDF, Asia, Africa, Benban, Egypt, Ahmad El Mokadem, elsewedy
Coles signs PPA for three solar farms in Australia
The Australian supermarket giant will purchase more than 70% of the electricity generated by three solar power plants to be built and operated by Metka EGN outside the regional centers of Wagga Wagga, Corowa and Junee, in the state of New South Wales – the equivalent of 10% of the company’s national electricity usage.
Aug 21, 2019 // Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, Markets & Finance News, Australia, Oceania, Molycop, Metka EGN, Coles, Terrain Solar, Mytilineos Holdings, Chairman David, Steven Cain, Thinus Keeve, Simec Zen Energy
Polysilicon prices to rebound in September
Average spot polysilicon price has crossed below the $8/kg threshold for the first time, according to PVInsights. Market analyst Johannes Bernreuter said, however, that the industry should not read too much into $8/kg as a historical threshold and that prices may rise again in September, driven by strong demand in the Chinese market.
Aug 21, 2019 // Solar, polysilicon, price, Johannes Bernreuter, OCI
NTPC reveals plan to build 5 GW in Gujarat, opens global bids for 1.2 GW
The utility has revealed plans to invest roughly $3 billion in the construction of a 5 GW solar park across two to three locations in the Kutch region of the Indian state of Gujarat. In a separate announcement, the New Delhi-based group opened global bidding to build 1.2 GW of grid-connected solar capacity throughout India.
Aug 21, 2019 // Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, Markets & Finance News, Grids, India, NTPC, Asia
Distributed generation growing in Latin America
In the early years of the 21st century, distributed generation systems in Latin America were mainly installed off-grid in remote rural areas, writes Maria Chea, solar analyst at IHS Markit. As the El Niño phenomenon and high oil prices continued to exacerbate high electricity prices and power shortages, governments began to turn their attention to distributed generation, including PV systems, to assuage strains on their national grid networks.
Aug 21, 2019 // Opinions, South america, Latin america, Brazil, Mexico, Dominican Republic, North America