Asia

Uzbek utility Uzbekenergo had received 23 offers for the 100 MW tendered solar plant. Two more solar tenders, with capacities of 400 MW and 500 MW, respectively, will be launched in the near future.

Recent investments into 11 GW of new coal generation capacity may result in reduced operating cashflows of $71 billion. That will occur, according to a report from the Carbon Tracker Institute, because solar and wind will become cheaper than coal in Japan by 2025 at the latest, despite high renewable energy costs at present.

UAE developer Masdar Clean Energy has been awarded a 100MW project in Uzbekistan’s first competitive solar tender after submitting a bid of US$0.027/kWh.

Vietnamese advocates of solar power have begun a "Million Green Homes" project, aimed at spreading the use of solar power in the country instead of coal and other fossil fuels.

The polysilicon company draws another bad hand in the trade war.

The global solar market is growing rapidly but remains highly fragmented, Wood Mackenzie says.

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.

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.

Cesium lead black perovskites could be interesting for solar cell development if their crystals are observed in their less efficient but more stable beta phase. The efficiency shortfall can be solved by healing emerging cracks in the surface of the cell using a choline iodide solution, according to an international team of scientists.

The holders of almost six million shares in the company voted against the reappointment of chairman and CEO Liu Hongwei as a non-executive director. On Liu’s watch the company has had to turn to a state bail-out from China to help ensure its survival.

The Norwegian polysilicon and silane gas producer has announced it will listen to offers for its production facility in Butte Montana after mothballing its other manufacturing operation – at Moses Lake, Washington – in the summer.

Turkey introduced net metering in May, stoking hopes the scheme could add meaningful volumes of new solar generation capacity. Municipal governments elected in the spring can also boost the program’s success, provided the many layers of authority can work together, that is.

With the Chinese manufacturer claiming it has already hit 16% conversion efficiency on a large panel, a recent perovskite conference heard predictions the technology will make up the next generation of PV cells – provided it avoids the pitfalls experienced by thin-film devices.

Taiwan is expected to become one of the fastest-growing solar markets worldwide despite this year’s feed-in tariff (FiT) reductions, according to a new report, but a local developer has challenged the document's conclusions about the impacts of global PV module supply.