Solar Residential News

The Essent business of German utility RWE wants to widen its clean energy offer for Belgian clients. Last year Aralt achieved a €5 million turnover.

The exercise will be open to PV projects ranging in size from 200 kW to 5 MW.

A Republican senator from Maine and a Democratic senator from New Mexico have introduced legislation that aims to slash costs and red tape currently complicating local permitting for distributed renewable energy, energy storage and electric vehicle (EV) charging systems.

SunPower has launched a web application that can design rooftop solar projects in seconds. SunPower’s Design Studio combines SunPowers’s Instant Design technology, Google Cloud and Google Sunroof to deliver customizable residential solar designs that take into account roof size, shading and energy potential. Homeowners can modify their design based on their energy needs, resulting in more accurate predictions of electricity bill and energy savings.

Mathematicians at Canada’s University of Waterloo who turned their attention to solar power have developed an algorithm they say offers better control over PV plant output. The researchers estimate the algorithm could improve the output of a 100 MW power plant by almost a million kilowatt-hours per year.

The Uzbek government last week opened a rooftop solar program which provides 30% of the initial costs for buying and installing a PV system, up to around $320 per project. Tax incentives are also available.

The Norwegian developer has opened plants in Ukraine and Egypt. Scatec Solar recently announced it managed to triple energy production in the last year.

The country is steadily expanding solar generation capacity as it aims for 5 GW by 2022, helped by an influx of foreign investment from China’s Belt & Road infrastructure program and World Bank capital.

Victoria’s state government has yielded to industry pressure and increased the frequency and number of rebates available in its rooftop solar subsidy programme.

India's largest solar panel manufacturer, Waaree Energies said it was closing in on achieving cumulative solar module shipments of 2.5GW as its recent capacity expansions took nameplate production to 1.5GW.

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.

A group of seasoned wind and solar industry executives launched a new solar component-sourcing service, Strategic Solar Sourcing.

17TeraWatts announced the launch of Bodhi, a digital assistant for solar homeowners. Bodhi helps solar companies engage their homeowners to generate more referrals and follow-on sales.

Deploying commercial and industrial PV in China without subsidy is already profitable in some areas, according to a new study, but prohibitive soft costs and cheap electricity are the main barriers for such installations in areas where grid parity remains out of reach.

US solar and battery storage service giant Sunnova is partnering with roofing and solar contractor PetersenDean Roofing & Solar to help Californians prepare for the state’s new residential solar law.