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PV technology has made significant progress in a short amount of time, leaving solar enthusiasts chuffed. Opponents, on the other hand, brand it as unworkable boondoggle, surviving on the crutches of subsidies and only salving the conscience of the green-minded companies cosseted by political forces. The naysayers do have partial truth in their argument - governments the world over have been supporting the growth of this child with the moniker “solar” with public finances. So, this is the partial truth and the enthusiasts have just enough firepower to say that all energy is, after all, subsidised one way or another – in terms of uncompensated costs of air pollution, congestion and global warming and the consequential irreversible damage these fossil fuels have done to the planet. Perhaps more important and statistically relevant is a report published by the IMF in 2015, which had pegged subsidies to fossil fuels at US$5.3 trillion.

Ongoing US-China trade tensions will not ruin solar fortunes on either side as players adapt by redrawing the lines of global supply flows, Fitch Solutions has predicted.

Power Energy Corporation, a subsidiary of Power Corporation of Canada, has bought developer and asset manager Nautilus Solar Energy from management shareholders and minority shareholder Virgo Investment Group for an undisclosed sum.

Leading microinverter supplier, Enphase Energy shipped over 1.2 million units in the second quarter of 2019, with its latest IQ 7 model accounting for around 98% of shipment total.

Global asset management firm Capital Dynamics has purchased an 180MWac / 231MWdc solar project that includes a 90MWac / 360MWh energy storage facility in Boulder City, Nevada for an undisclosed sum.

Amazon revealed plans for a 45MW / 100,000MWh solar farm in Virginia and a 23.2MW / 68,000MWh wind farm in Cork, Ireland on Thursday.

The tech giant has signed a power contract for the output of First Solar’s 150 MWac Sun Streams 2 solar plant, bringing its procurement of solar to almost 500 MW – but none of its PV projects have been completed yet.

New York City-based solar partner Safari Energy has launched a new solar financial solution.

As clean energy stakeholders urge Arizona regulators to adopt stronger renewable energy standards, Arizona Public Service Co. (APS) has announced plans to add new solar and wind resources, helping expand the company’s renewable energy portfolio to about 2.5 GW by 2021, which would be enough to power more than half a million Arizona homes.

ENGIE Storage will supply and operate a 19 MW / 38 MWh portfolio of six energy storage sites that will contribute to the Solar Massachusetts Renewable Target Program and be active in ISO-New England wholesale markets.

First Solar announced that its Sun Streams 2 PV solar plant will power new energy-efficient data centers being built by Microsoft in Goodyear and El Mirage, Arizona. The 150-MWac facility, is being developed and constructed by First Solar in Maricopa County and will power the data centers under a 20-year agreement and will be operational in 2021.

As renewable energy development is ramped up to address the climate crisis, negative side-effects should be avoided, especially when technology and resources could maximize the benefits. ‘Techno-ecological’ crossovers could ensure win-win outcomes for solar development and ecosystem and biodiversity conservation.

New York City-based solar partner Safari Energy has launched a new solar financial solution.

Arizona’s largest electric utility is gearing up to tender 400MW of renewables before the summer is up.

2019 is supposed to be “the year of the solar roof,” but Tesla’s solar business continues to wither.