Asia

The new generation facility was financed by the Asian Development Bank and built by Chinese company ZTE Corp. The project will sell power to the grid for $0.065/kWh, a record low for solar in the country.

Indian module manufacturers are gearing up for an end-of-year surge in solar project procurement and hoping their investments in incorporating global manufacturing benchmarks will translate into enhanced sales.

Technical consultancy DNV GL has published its Energy Transition Outlook 2019. While the electric vehicle, storage and renewable energy industries are likely to see significant rises in demand, the sobering conclusion is the world will miss carbon reduction targets by a long shot.

UBS Singapore has signed a 10-year agreement with Singapore-headquartered energy, marine and utility company Sembcorp Industries to provide solar power for the bank’s offices.

The Rajasthan Renewable Energy Corporation (RRECL) has issued a competitive tender for 113.5MW of small grid-connected solar projects in the desert state.

Enertis has stepped up its involvement with a solar project in the Middle East, said to be the world’s first utility-scale scheme to be wholly sponsored by an oil and gas major.

On the first day of this year’s EU PVSEC conference, veteran solar researcher Pierre J Verlinden won the Becquerel Prize for Outstanding Merits in Photovoltaics. The award recognized more than 40 years as a leading PV researcher in academia and at leading companies including Sunpower and Trina Solar. Its recipient spoke to pv magazine about what is needed from solar to stave off catastrophic climate change.

The classical Greek philosopher Socrates believed the ideal house should be warm in winter and cool in summer. With clarity of thought like that, it's easy to see how the great man got his reputation.

The National Solar Energy Federation of India (NSEFI) is continuing to step up its efforts to ensure the quality of large scale solar projects. The body is now looking for stakeholder input into its new best practice guidelines for PV power plant projects, as a part of its ongoing Quality Taskforce initiative.

The German PV equipment provider will not achieve the sales and earnings targets set for this year. CNBM is not expected to place orders for the expansion of its CIGS thin-film production operations in China until the fourth quarter.

The GCL System chief executive made comments that fly in the face of an expected solar gold rush in China that analysts predict will start this month. Though rising overseas demand will address overcapacity fears, according to Luo, the soundbite is sure to chill PV boardrooms across the world’s biggest solar market.

Deal documents have been signed for the Philippines to add a utility-scale solar project towards the southwest, a plant set be deployed by a foreign construction player.

Bacolod is expected to host its first large scale PV project within a year after domestic renewables firm Amatera signed a deal with Korean business TPC Construction Corp.

Kyocera’s 13.7 MW floating project at the Yamakura Dam was damaged by 120mph winds the typhoon brought to the coastal city of Chiba. Firefighters said the blaze may have been generated by the strong heat produced by panels stacking up.

The Japanese multinational lender is making its second investment in the Swedish start-up. The funds will help the company ship its first products next year.