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¡ö ET Energy begins construction on 60.9MW PV project in Jordan

ET Solutions, a subsidiary of ET Energy, announced Wednesday that it has started construction on a 60.9MW solar power project in Jordan for ACWA Power ¡ª a Saudi-based independent power producer.

The installation, situated in Mafraq, Jordan ¡ª 50km northeast of Amman ¡ª was awarded in the second round of the Photovoltaic Procurement program of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources of Jordan.

ACWA Power is the developer and the owner of the installation. Construction on the plant started in March, with completion expected in 10 months.

Dennis She, president and CEO of ET Energy, said: "As an industry trailblazer, we innovatively introduced into 1500VDC technique on utility-scale solar plants. Commencement of this project marks a key milestone of our expansion into the Middle East regions, a strategic market for our system solutions business.

¡°Moreover, we are proud to partner with the regional market leader, ACWA Power. This collaboration expands our track record of working with global leading independent power producers and utility companies around the world."

Paddy Padmanathan, president & CEO of ACWA Power, added: "Working together with ET Solutions, our EPC Contractor, ACWA Power is proud and privileged to be able to invest in Jordan to shift the countries dependence on foreign currency consuming imported fossil fuels for power generation to utilize its own renewable energy resource and to do so at what is the lowest tariff of all offers submitted at Round two of renewable energy procurement by the Government, reinforcing our commitment to reliably deliver electricity at the lowest possible cost."

( Mar 16,2017 / pv-tech.org£©

¡ö Tesla to issue US$1 billion stock & convertible bond offering

The EV, solar and battery company has filed to issue $750 million in convertible notes, and another one million shares of stock in advance of its Model 3 roll-out.

If Elon Musk has been successful at anything, it is capturing the public imagination about the future of clean energy, electric vehicles and space transportation. As part of that, he is scaling battery and solar production at record rates.

To do that inevitably takes a lot of other people¡¯s money. Yesterday Tesla went back to Wall Street to ask for another billion dollars, through a combined bond and follow-on stock offering. The company has filed to issue $750 million of convertible notes due 2022, and one million shares of stock, which are likely to be valued in the neighborhood of $250 per share.

The interest rate, conversion price and other terms of the notes had not been determined as of yesterday¡¯s filing. Tesla has granted an 15% underwriters option, which could make the value of the offering up to $1.15 billion, and Musk has committed to purchasing $25 million of the newly issued stock.

Tesla says that it intends to use the proceeds to strengthen its balance sheet and ¡°further reduce any risks¡± associated with the scaling of its business to launch its first mass-market automobile this summer, the Model 3.

The offering follows a difficult fourth quarter for Tesla, with SolarCity dragging down the newly combined company¡¯s financial results. Tesla reported a $121 million net loss during the quarter, and Elon Musk hinted at the plan to raise money on the company¡¯s results call.

¡°According to our financial plan, no capital needs to be raised for the Model 3, but we get very close to the edge,¡± stated Musk. ¡°We¡¯re considering a number of options, but I think it probably makes sense to raise capital to reduce risk.¡±

And despite the fact that follow-on offerings dilute the share capital, the market has responded enthusiastically to this news. Tesla shares jumped around $5 this morning to over $261 per share.

( Mar 16,2017 / pv-magazine.com£©

¡ö Engie issues €1.5 billion green bond, eyes Belgian residential PV segment

The French energy giant has issued its second green bond to sustain its expansion into the renewable energy sector. The €1.5 billion bond will also be used to finance solar projects. Meanwhile, the company has started to target the Belgian commercial PV market.

French electric utility company Engie announced it has issued its second Green Bond, worth €1.5 billion ($1.61 billion). The company said the bond will support its recent expansion in the renewable energy and energy efficiency sectors.

The bond is structured in two tranches, a 7-year tranche of €700 million with a 0.875% annual coupon, and a 11-year tranche of €800 million with a 1.5% annual coupon.

Engie said it will use proceeds from the bond to finance wind and solar farms, hydroelectric plants, energy efficiency projects and natural resource preservation projects.

The first green bond worth €2.5 billion was issued by Engie in May 2014. At the time, solar was not mentioned as an option, as the company said it intended to use the funds for renewable energy projects such as wind farms and hydroelectric plants.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Energy of the Brussels Metropolitan region, Celine Fremault, announced that the company¡¯s subsidiary Engie Sun4business signed a cooperation agreement with Belgium¡¯s Federation of Commerce and Services to promote commercial solar energy solutions among the companies of the sector.

Fremault said that the federation¡¯s member companies offer the potential to deploy an installed rooftop PV capacity between 300 and 350 MW on a total available surface of 350 hectares. Engie will offer services for installation and maintenance of the PV system, with or without a system of third-party investment.

Engie has gradually expanded in the renewable energy sector over the past two years. The most important investment in solar was the acquisition of French solar developer Solairedirect for $222 million in 2015.

( Mar 16,2017 / pv-magazine.com£©

¡ö Brasil¡¯s BNDES finances renewable energy projects for isolated systems in Amazonas

Projects selected in an upcoming auction will have access to a financing scheme of the Climate Fund (Fundo Clima) managed by BNDES

Brazilian Development Bank BNDES will provide financing for renewable energy projects planned for isolated systems in the state of Amazonas, northern Brazil.

In the country, only 3.4% of electricity production is not part of the national grid, the Brazilian Interconnected System (SIN), and this comes from isolated systems located mostly in the Amazon region.

BNDES has approved special financing conditions for renewable energy projects selected in the frame of an auction, which will take place on May 11. The Brazilian institution said that it will provide low-interest loans for the replacement of power generators based on fossil fuels with renewable energy projects, and that projects from non-renewable power sources will not have access to the scheme.

Overall, the BNDES will allocate BRL 200 million (about $63 million) from the Climate Fund (Fundo Clima) for the financing of projects selected in the auction.

Energy regulator ANEEL intends to deploy approximately 290 MW of renewable energy capacity through the auction and provide with power 55 municipalities. Projects selected in the auction will be granted a 15-year PPA.

The BNDES said that 36 projects have already qualified for the auction. The deadline to submit project proposals is May 3, 2017.

According to BNDES, Amazonas has currently 225 operational diesel power plants with a combined capacity of 683 MW.

( Mar 16,2017 / pv-magazine.com£©

¡ö SunPower signs supply deal for 125 MW of P-Series modules

The supply deal with NextEra Energy Resources signals a radical shift in strategy for the struggling manufacturer and is the first major test of its novel module design.

SunPower Corp. yesterday announced a supply deal with NextEra Energy Resources for 125 MW in the first big test of its Performance-Series (P-Series) modules. The deal also signals a radical shift in its business strategy for the struggling panel manufacturer from more expensive back-contact monocrystalline modules to less expensive multicrystalline products.

Under the agreement, SunPower will deliver the P-Series modules, whose unusual design consists of overlapping rows of cells, between June and October 2017 for a project as yet unnamed. The NextEra power-plant project represents the first deal for the P-Series of any significance.

The module manufacture has consistently said P-Series would target underdeveloped areas of the world, but the deal with NextEra Energy suggests a project in either the United States or Canada, neither of which qualify as a developing-world country.

SunPower is betting that the P-Series might offer a path back to profitability, something that has suffered at the company in recent quarters. The falling revenues have resulted from a significantly slowing utility-scale U.S. market, which is where the company has previously focused its sales efforts.

As pv magazine reported last month, the P-Series is a dramatic departure from SunPower¡¯s high-efficiency back-contact monocrystalline designs and will feature overlapping half-cut multicrystalline PV cells. These will feature lower efficiencies of only 16-17.2%, but at a much lower cost than the company¡¯s E-Series and X-Series modules, and are designed for deployment in competitive power markets, including in the developing world.

Also, it appears that the P-Series will be manufactured largely in China, as SunPower recently signed a deal with two Chinese companies to build a massive 5 GW factory in the nation. SunPower claims a pipeline of 850 MW of solar projects in Latin America, where U.S. tariffs on Chinese products will not apply, and has also said that it plans to expand its activities in the Indian market.

( Mar 16,2017 / pv-magazine.com£©

¡ö EDF to deploy 23.7 MW of solar in France, creates storage unit in North America

The French energy giant keeps expanding into the renewable energy business. Its France-based unit EDF Energies Nouvelles will build PV plants totaling 23.7 MW, while its US division EDF EN has created a new subsidiary for distributed solar and storage projects up to 30 MW.

The French power utility EDF is significantly increasing its presence in the renewable energy market in Europe and North America.

The company¡¯s French renewable energy unit EDF Energies Nouvelles announced that it will build wind and PV power plants with a combined capacity of 190 MW in France this year. Of this capacity, however, only 23.7 MW is for PV projects.

EDF Energies Nouvelles secured the contracts to develop these plants in the frame of two tenders held last week by the French government. One tender, which allocated over 500 MW of PV capacity, was for large-scale PV projects exceeding 250 kW, while another tender allocated about 20 MW for PV installations for self-consuption.

EDF Energies Nouvelles specified that two large-scale projects totaling 15 MW were selected through the first tender, while the remaining capacity comes from the tender for self-consumption. The company stressed that 8.3 MW is almost half of the power allocated in this tender.

Meanwhile, the US independent power producer EDF Renewable Energy, which is a subsidiary of EDF Energies Nouvelles, announced the creation of Distributed Electricity and Storage (DES), a new unit specializing in the development of distributed solar and storage projects up to 30 MW.

DES will implement new solar-plus-storage business models for corporate, institutional and utility customers in partnership with EDF affiliates in North America.

EDF EN said the new unit will offer energy supply, hedging, and risk management, along with options for demand response, load management, and on- and off-site renewable generation.

EDF EN began expanding its presence in North America with the acquisition of US EPC developer GroSolar in early 2016. The company builds commercial and industrial PV systems.

( Mar 16,2017 / pv-magazine.com£©

¡ö EBRD commits €300 million to Greece¡¯s renewables

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has announced a framework committing up to €300 million of new financing for Greece¡¯s renewable energy sector. The timing is crucial, since the Greek electricity sector is expected to undergo fundamental changes very soon.

The new €300 million facility ¡°will finance investments in electricity generation from renewable sources and in electricity distribution and transmission capacity to improve efficiency, reduce losses and enable the integration of renewables into the grid,¡± said the bank.

The EBRD also added that its new framework builds upon Greece¡¯s new renewable energies support scheme, which passed into law last year. Greece¡¯s new renewable energy policy adopts competitive tenders and feed-in premiums, replacing fixed-price, expensive feed-in tariffs.

Asked whether the bank has any specific plans to fund solar PV plants, an EBRD spokesperson told pv magazine that there is a strong pipeline of projects that the bank is currently looking at, and is therefore ¡°confident that we [the bank] will be able to attract investment in all renewables which are viable in Greece.¡±

Similarly, when asked by pv magazine whether the bank has any particular scheme in mind, the same spokesperson said ¡°at this stage it is simply too early for us to go into any detail.¡±

The EBRD has been instrumental in supporting solar PV deployment in various countries, most crucially in neighboring Turkey, where it has set up financing schemes encouraging businesses to install PV systems up to 1 MW. A great chunk of Turkey¡¯s PV installations are financed by EBRD funds.

Greece installed only 4.2 MW in 2016 via its net-metering scheme. In 2017, the Greek solar PV sector¡¯s hopes will center upon the net-metering scheme and the recently awarded 40 MW of ground-mounted PV plants via the country¡¯s inaugural renewable energy tender.

The country¡¯s electricity sector is in turmoil too. Greece has committed to the European Union to open its retail electricity market to competition. Currently, about 90% of the market is dominated by the state utility PPC. To date, the government has refused proposals to privatise parts of the PPC, and suggested alternative options to open the electricity market. Given that such options have failed, and the PPC has accumulated huge debts, it is now understood that the government is considering to sell off a portion of the utility.

Furthermore, the country faces an electricity supply gap, and relies heavily on foreign imports to meet its needs. The PPC has an outdated investment strategy, aimed at new coal plants. It is welcome that the EBRD is taking an active role in energy investments in the country aiming to promote the renewable energy sector.

( Mar 16,2017 / pv-magazine.com£©

¡ö ¡°We should work all together for the future of energy¡±

Interview: SolarPower Europe has appointed Wacker Chemie¡¯s Christian Westermeier as new president. pv magazine spoke with the outgoing president Oliver Sch?fer about the reasons behind his unexpected resignation and the future of PV and the energy market in Europe.

pv magazine: after three years as president of SolarPower Europe you have decided not to stand as a candidate for re-election. Why is that?

Oliver Sch?fer: Actually, I would have remained in the position with pleasure. It was quick decision, because SunPower laid me off in late February. This meant that I no longer had a company backing my candidacy. Previously in November, SunPower said that I had to keep acting as SolarPower Europe¡¯s president. To my very great regret I had to resign only for these reasons.

pv magazine: You have been Market Devolopment Director for SunPower in Europe for the last eight years. The company is currently reducing its presence in Europe and focusing on American markets. Is this the right decision?

Oliver Sch?fer: I would have taken a different decision, and I would also have wished a different one. I believe that Europe is a growing market that can be developed in terms of GWs, especially for PV and storage. In the upcoming years, we will see new concepts that Europe has tested and implemented as a forerunner.

pv magazine: During your presidency of SolarPower Europe the anti-dumping conflict with China was one of the major issues. The EU has now extended the duties for 18 months. Was is it a defeat for the association, which hoped that the duties would be cancelled?

Oliver Sch?fer: It could have been worse. It is a compromise we can easily live with. SolarPower Europe has always stressed that, if the European Commission has evidence that Chinese manufacturers sold panels at dumping prices or received state subsidies, the duties must be extended. If the Commission has this evidence, its decision is logical. The interim review will now say how long this will last.

pv magazine: The trade issue with China has divided the European solar sector. How can this wound be patched up?

Oliver Sch?fer: We all have to work together for the future of energy. We have a chance to do so now with the negotiations for the EU Winter Package, which is expected to completely change the market.

pv magazine: How would you evaluate the current development of the European market?

Oliver Sch?fer: I expect that the legislation for energy will dramatically change in Europe. The energy market will change from a kWh-based market to a market focusing on energy services. In doing so, solar, wind and gas will play a central role. The change of the power market design and the interconnection of power, heat and mobility also provide good opportunities.

pv magazine: What are the key issues for the future?

Oliver Sch?fer: It needs to be clear that we have to get out of coal power production. In order to reach this goal, we are now fighting and we will still have to struggle to get rid of this 30% share from the electricity market. I am convinced that those companies who now defend coal will not exist in ten years. At the same time, there are big chances for further development of PV, wind and gas in Europe.

pv magazine: What to you wish your successor at SolarPower Europe?

Oliver Sch?fer: All the best and further success with the legislative process.

pv magazine: Will you keep working in the solar sector?

Oliver Sch?fer: Sincerely, I cannot say for now. But I believe I will remain in the energy sector.

Interview by Sandra Enkhardt.

( Mar 16,2017 / pv-magazine.com£©

¡ö Hanwha Q Cells and Adler Solar sign 25 MW repowering deal

The South Korean solar firm will supply its Q.Plus modules to German services provider Adler Solar to install at older solar sites in need of upgrade and repowering. The option remains open for Adler to upgrade the supply deal to 30 MW.

South Korean firm Hanwha Q Cells¡¯ German subsidiary Hanwha Q Cells GmbH has signed a 25 MW module repowering supply deal with fellow German company Adler Solar.

The agreement will see Adler Solar repower older solar PV systems that may be suffering from yield loss with Hanwha Q Cells¡¯ Q.Plus solar modules, which boast integrated Q.ANTUM cell technology, and thus offer higher efficiency and therefore higher power output.

The process of repowering older solar PV plants is a growing source of revenue in Germany, which was one of the world¡¯s first movers in large-scale solar installations. Adler Solar specializes in restoring the nominal power of a PV system that has succumbed to decreased yield, thereby improving energy harvest and, in turn, the system owner¡¯s ROI.

The long-term partnership between the two firms could increase to 30 MW of modules, with Adler Solar already active in repowering a growing number of commercial and industrial rooftop solar systems in Germany, in order to maximize existing FITs for system owners.

By using higher efficiency modules such as Hanwha Q Cells¡¯ Q.Plus module, Adler Solar says that it is future-proofing the arrays from further recurrence of profit and power loss.

¡°The repowering method is an extremely attractive solution for PV system operators, banks or investors alike, whose solar system shows a progressive degradation,¡± said Adler Solar¡¯s head of repowering, Michael Reck. ¡°Repowering clients expect continuous high quality standards: starting with the concept, through the components used, all the way to the implementation of the appropriate measures.¡±

Hanwha Q Cells GmbH key account manager Marko Schweitzer added that the large number of solar systems that instantly benefit from repowering is proof that investment in high quality modules is a worthwhile pursuit.

Last month, Adler Solar successfully repowered two PV installations totalling 5.3 MW in Germany¡¯s Brandenburg and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern regions, registering a 21% performance increase in both plants.

( Mar 16,2017 / pv-magazine.com£©

¡ö JA Solar posts 16% revenue, 25% shipment year-on-year increase in 2016

A solid fourth quarter ended a good year for the Tier-1 Chinese solar company, where shipments topped 5.2 GW and revenue reached $2.3 billion.

JA Solar, the Tier-1 vertically integrated Chinese solar company, has posted strong 2016 financial results that reveal a 16% annual increase in revenue and a 25% year-on-year (YOY) growth in shipments.

The company posted net revenue for the year of RMB 15.7 billion ($2.3 billion), which was 25% up from 2015¡¯s RMB 13.5 billion ($1.9 billion), driving operating profit of $130.1 million ¨C a slight increase on 2015¡¯s operating profit of $124.6 million.

However, ending the year with cash and cash equivalents of $370 million, JA Solar¡¯s final cash balance was in a slightly poorer state than at the end of 2015 despite that 16% increase in shipments. Lower average selling prices (ASPs) in China and globally weighed on the company¡¯s cost structure, with net income reaching RMB 719.6 million ($103.6 million) and gross margin contracting slightly to 14.6%, down from 17% in 2015. Gross profit, meanwhile, held steady at $330.3 million (compared to $330.2 million in 2015).

Nevertheless, the 5.2 GW of shipments for the year surpassed guidance, and of that figure some 4,606.6 MW of modules and 313.8 MW of cells were shipped externally, with downstream projects receiving 245.8 MW of the firm¡¯s own modules.

By region, China accounted for 53.3% of shipments in 2016, a 10.4% increase on 2015, with the second-largest rise seen in South America, where shipments grew 9.8%. JA Solar shipped 18.3% and 6.2% fewer modules and cells to the APAC region and Europe respectively in 2016.

¡°Growth remains a key focus for our team and we are optimistic about our prospects in 2017 and beyond, despite increasing competition in the solar industry,¡± said JA Solar chairman and CEO Baofang Jin. ¡°We still have some opportunity to improve our cost structure and manufacturing performance through efficiency initiatives, and believe our operations are positioned to benefit as market conditions improve around the world.¡±

Jin added that JA Solar expects its domestic Chinese market to remain solid over the first half of 2017, with this summer¡¯s latest round of FIT cuts likely to trigger a second-half slowdown. ¡°Nonetheless,¡± he stressed, ¡°we are confident that our balanced global footprint and flexible business model will enable us to adjust to evolving market conditions.¡±

The fourth quarter (Q4) of 2016 saw JA Solar increase shipments 5.5% YOY and 13.8% sequentially, rising to 1.4 GW, while revenue of $574.8 million was 4.1% up on Q3 2016 but 13.1% down YOY as lower ASPs made their mark.

Q1 2017 is poised to deliver a slight fall in sequential shipments, with JA Solar guiding a range of 1.2 to 1.3 GW for the first three months of the year. However, annually the company is forecasting total shipments of 6 GW to 6.5 GW, which would represent strong growth on 2016. Of that figure, a smaller portion ¨C just 200 to 250 MW ¨C will be steered towards JA Solar¡¯s downstream objectives.

On the capacity front, JA Solar says that it will increase its cell capacity from 5.5 GW at the end of 2016 to 7 GW by the end of this year, with module capacity also set to grow from 5.5 GW to 6 GW.

In November it was reported that the company had broken ground on the construction of a $1 billion solar cell factory in Vietnam, but recently news emerged that the fab¡¯s development had been temporarily halted due to legal and environmental issues relating to the local government of the Bac Giang province in which the facility will be located.

( Mar 16,2017 / pv-magazine.com£©

¡ö Armenia builds third 1 MW PV plant under special tariff regime, announces plans for module factory

The Armenian government introduced a special tariff for PV projects up to 1 MW in late 2016. Construction on the country¡¯s third 1 MW solar project under this regime has now begun. Furthermore, the Ministry of Energy has announced plans for Armenia¡¯s first module factory.

Armenia¡¯s Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources announced the start of construction on the country¡¯s third 1 MW PV plant being developed under the special tariff regime introduced by the Armenian Public Services regulation commission (PSRC) in December 2016.

The tariff applies to PV projects ranging in size from 150 kW up to 1 MW. In December, Hayk Harutyunyan, Armenia¡¯s Deputy Minister of Energy said that the tariff for these projects would be equal to those of wind energy, which is of AMD 42.645 ($0.09) per kWh without VAT.

The country¡¯s third 1 MW plant is currently being built in the province of Vayots Dzor, in the south of the Armenia, the ministry said in a press release. The project¡¯s required investment is about $1 million, Harutyunyan said. The Minister also added that more PV plants under the special tariff regime will be built soon, without providing further details.

The project is part of a US$58 million program which began in 2015, aimed at boosting alternative energy sources in the country. The six-year program is directed by the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Foundation, a non-governmental organization whose mission is to facilitate investments in energy efficiency and renewable energy in Armenia. The scheme is supported by the Climate Investment Funds, the Armenian Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, the World Bank, and the Asian Development Bank.

Meanwhile, in late February the Ministry of Energy announced a plan to build a solar module manufacturing facility. Harutyunyan said that manufacturing activities at the factory will start in the second quarter of this year, and that approximately 50 employees will initially work at the facility. The ministry said initial investment for the factory amounts to 315 million AMD ($650k). The facility will produce solar panels for the domestic market. Profpanel LLC, a newly created company which will own and operate the factory, will be exempted from taxes on import of imported technological equipment, its components and accessories, and raw materials.

Armenia intends to cover 30% of its electricity demand with renewable energy by 2025.

In order to support commercial and residential PV, the government introduced a net-metering scheme for PV installations up to 150 kW in mid-2016. PV systems installed under the scheme need no license and are exempt from taxes. Furthermore, the owners of the PV systems are entitled to sell their power surplus to local utility Electric Networks within Armenia.

( Mar 16,2017 / pv-magazine.com£©

¡ö NEXTracker expanding manufacturing operations in India

The solar tracking specialist has signed expanded partnership deals with five local companies that will increase the volume of its steel produced locally to 80%, thereby lowering shipments into India by as much as 50%.

NEXTracker, a leading supplier of tracking systems for the global solar industry, is to expand its local manufacturing in India as part of its strategy to help support India¡¯s National Solar Mission (NSM) and facilitate its own growth in one of the world¡¯s most dynamic PV markets for ground-mounted installations.

The Flex company has signed partnership deals with five local companies ¨C including APL Apollo Tubes Limited ¨C that it claims will increase the ratio of its locally produced steel content to 80%, based on volume and weight of the final product.

In all, this means that NEXTracker can reduce its shipments into India by 50%, and thus slot more seamlessly into the Indian government¡¯s Make in India program, which is designed to encourage more domestically produced goods, either with or without foreign investment.

Tasked with installing 100 GW of solar capacity by 2022, demand for large-scale PV in India is high. The recent doubling of its solar park goal from 20 GW to 40 GW offers a raft of opportunities for companies that operate within the large-scale solar sector ¨C and it is these opportunities that NEXTracker is eager to seize, having already supplied more than 20 projects in the country.

By partnering with local companies that can offer high quality steel, NEXTracker can more easily build the bulk of its solar trackers in India. Steel tubes and piers form the backbone of its typical solar tracking systems, and account for a large portion of their overall weight and cost.

¡°Our India expansion reflects our strategy to regionalize manufacturing wherever possible to better serve our customers, accelerate project velocity, reduce risk and save on logistics costs,¡± said NEXTracker CEO Dan Shugar.

The CEO added that NEXTracker will support its Indian customers via its Hyderabad office, which has doubled in size in the past year as the firm has incorporated local requirements and standards into its products.

The maturation of India¡¯s solar industry will naturally lean towards an increasing embrace of single-axis trackers, NEXTracker believes. The firm has already been chosen by Adani for a 100 MW solar plant in Punjab and a 30 MW array in Tamil Nadu developed by CleanMax Solar, and sees vast scope for more such projects nationwide, due to India¡¯s high levels of solar irradiation and perpetual demand for greater return on investment.

( Mar 16,2017 / pv-magazine.com£©

¡ö ET Solar begins work on ACWA¡¯s 60.9 MW solar plant in Jordan

The German subsidiary of ET Solar is building a 60 MW PV plant in Jordan for ACWA Power. Construction on the project is expected to be completed within ten months.

ET Solutions AG, the German unit of Chinese PV module provider and project developer ET Solar, has started construction on a 60.9 MW PV facility in Mafraq, Jordan.

The company is building the facility for the Saudi independent power producer ACWA Power, which owns the project. Jordan¡¯s Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources selected the project in Round II of the Photovoltaic Procurement program. The plant will sell its power output to local utility National Electric Power Company (NEPCO) under a long-term PPA at a price of 0.043 JOD ($0.0607) per kWh.

EG Solutions is building the plant in consortium with Chinese engineering company Northwest Power Design Institute (NWPDI), a unit of China Power Engineering Consulting Group.

The project is expected to be completed within 10 months, ET Solar said. The company also claims that the plant, when completed, will be the largest 1500VDC PV plant in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

ACWA Power announced the project in November 2016. The company said that the installation is part of a 150 MW solar complex and is included in the assets of ACWA Power RenewCo, a company created to group ACWA Power¡¯s existing renewable energy portfolio, which at the time exceeded 1 GW.

The PPA for the project was signed in January 2016 and was followed by a Government Guarantee Agreement with the Ministry of Finance in April 2016. Financing for the project includes an A loan of $27 million from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and a B loan of the same amount from the Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO).

( Mar 16,2017 / pv-magazine.com£©

¡ö Tata Power Solar nearly doubles manufacturing capacity in Bangalore

Integrated PV firm Tata Power Solar has doubled its module manufacturing capacity and raised its cell capacity by 65% at its plant in Bangalore, southern India.

The firm has also modernised and fully automated the whole facility, while claiming to have reached full capacity in record time and ahead of global benchmarks.

Tata¡¯s second expansion in three years, made to keep up with increasing demand, brings the facility from 200MW to 400MW in modules and 180MW to 300MW in cells.

At the firm¡¯s Delhi offices in January, Ashish Khanna, executive director and CEO, Tata Power Solar, told PV Tech: ¡°This industry requires continuous investment in technologies, unlike many other industries. If you look at automobiles then [investments] are incremental, but solar is one where, if you are in the manufacturing area, you have to continuously invest in technologies. Otherwise you are not at the helm of the technologies or the product will die its own death.¡±

He said that orders tend to come for more than 100MW at a time in the current market, hence the need to expand and automate - adding that automation also helps to improve quality.

Khanna also said that two factors have particularly helped Tata in the past. Firstly, its export market has been "well appreciated", having last year exported 50-60MW of modules to mature markets such as the UK. Secondly, the Domestic Content Requirement (DCR), which mandates developers to source locally-made equipment for certain PV projects has driven demand.

However, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) recently ruled against the DCR in the US's trade dispute with India.

Khanna said: "DCR is a setback, no doubt about it, but there are other options that if government actually agrees to and takes a call on, it is very easy. In the current scenario, if it goes off in the absence of any other opportunity, it is a setback."

Since then power minister Piyush Goyal has said the previously-touted incentives package for domestic firms will not be moving forward for the foreseeable future.

In February, Tata Power Solar became the first Indian manufacturer to achieve the 1GW milestone in terms of PV module shipments worldwide. It has shipped to more than 30 countries with 60% taking place in the last five years.

Referring to the latest expansion in a company release on Wednesday, Khanna also said: ¡°This also validates our capability to manufacture solar panels and cells, comparable to the best in the world, and confidence of guaranteeing these products for 25 years of high quality performance. Our pragmatic approach of continuous investment in technology has helped us stay relevant and sustain our leadership position in India for over 27 years."

Anil Sardana, chairman, Tata Power Solar, added: "We are happy to see our team responding to Government of India's call of 'Make in India'. A robust domestic, qualitative manufacturing base is the backbone of any nation and is a strong foundation for long-term viability of sector. The gradual turnaround of the company and its expansion in capacity has been a hall mark achievement of Team Tata Power, when other sector players are still facing challenges of sustained economics."

Khanna discussed price sensitivity in the Indian market and the solar park model in an interview with PV Tech published last month.

( Mar 15,2017 / pv-tech.org£©

¡ö Google¡¯s Project Sunroof increases operation to all 50 US states

Google announced Tuesday that its online PV appraisal service, Project Sunroof, has now expanded to all 50 US states, with a total of approximately 60 million buildings now analyzed by the program.

The program, which uses imagery from Google Maps and Google Earth, helps calculate the amount of sunlight received by each portion of a roof over the course of a year, using the estimated sunlight to determine energy production using industry standard models for solar installation performance.

Originally started in 2015, Project Sunroof was only available in Massachusetts and Northern California - but the program has rapidly grown over the last two years.

Project Sunroof¡¯s new expansion has revealed new insight into the current state of rooftop solar in the US.

According to the new data, 79% of all rooftops analyzed are technically viable for solar, including 90% of homes in Hawaii, Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico. States such as Pennsylvania, Maine and Minnesota are just above 60% in terms of rooftop PV viability.

Houston boasts the most solar potential of any US city in the Project Sunroof data with an estimated 18,940 GWh of rooftop solar generation potential annually. Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Antonio, and New York follow Houston for the US cities with the most solar potential.

( Mar 15,2017 / pv-tech.org£©

¡ö Washington urged to unlock US grid

The US must prioritise grid investments if it is to unlock its full growth potential, a coalition of energy and manufacturing groups has told Senate and Congress leaders.

The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) and the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) were among the signees of a letter urging electricity transmission to be included in anticipated infrastructure legislation.

¡°Modern electricity infrastructure is the missing piece of the puzzle that will allow the greater use of clean, abundant sources of energy in communities across America,¡± said SEIA¡¯s president and CEO Abigail Ross Hopper. ¡°We¡¯ve seen lower cost clean energy expand dramatically in parts of the country with modern infrastructure, and that is a trend that will only continue with supportive and sensible policy.¡±

The letter, sent to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, stressed that regulatory changes not taxpayer money were required.

¡°As you consider infrastructure proposals in the 115th Congress, we ask that you prioritize those that improve the flexibility, reliability, and resiliency of our electric power grid. Our interstate high-voltage transmission system is the backbone of our modern economy and society, and we look forward to working with you to ensure its ability to maintain national productivity and security into the future,¡± the letter said.

Other signatories included firms involved in clean energy such as ABB, Eaton, Enel Green Power and GE, as well as the utlities Pacific Gas and Electric Company and E.ON.

( Mar 15,2017 / pv-tech.org£©

¡ö India¡¯s McNally Bharat Engineering bags 500MW EPC order in Andhra Pradesh

Kolkata-based engineering firm McNally Bharat Engineering has received an order to perform EPC and O&M services for 500MW of grid-connected solar PV projects in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, according to a Bombay Stock Exchange filing.

The company will also carry out design, engineering, manufacturing, supply and commissioning on behalf of the utility Andhra Pradesh Power Generation Corporation Limited.

The order is valued at INR4.15 billion (US$63.3 million).

McNally, which is part of the Williamson Magor Group, provides engineering solutions across a range of power and metal industries among others, having set up more than 350 plants since 1961.

( Mar 15,2017 / pv-tech.org£©

¡ö Sunnova receives US$80 million in tax equity commitment from US Bank

Residential solar service provider Sunnova Energy announced Tuesday that it has secured US$80 million in tax equity funding commitments from US Bancorp Community Development Corporation (USBCDC), a division of US Bank.

This new funding will enable Sunnova to develop new residential projects with a total value of more than US$200 million. The deal marks the first transaction between USBCDC and Sunnova, as well as Sunnova¡¯s entry into the tax equity market.

Sunnova intends to utilise the funds to build its growth in the residential solar market through affordable solar service options for homeowners.

Jordan Kozar, chief financial officer at Sunnova, said: ¡°It has been an honor to work with USBCDC on this round of financing. We are proud of the trust that investment partners, such as USBCDC, place in us. It¡¯s a trust earned through financial responsibility and consistently meeting our commitments.¡±

Sunnova CEO William J. Berger added: ¡°USBCDC¡¯s confidence in Sunnova, and renewables in general, speaks to the opportunities available in the power industry. While some in our industry chase growth at any cost, we believe that steady, sustainable growth is good business practice ¨C one that is essential to proving the viability of new energy sources. Sunnova¡¯s growth is focused on achieving positive cash flow, long-term profitability and cementing our leadership role in the residential power market.

¡°We continue to believe that the solar industry can and should operate independent of government subsidies, and we will pursue opportunities that allow us to expand solar adoption throughout the country.¡±

( Mar 15,2017 / pv-tech.org£©

¡ö SunLink secures US$10 million credit facility with Heritage Bank of Commerce

Solar power company SunLink announced Wednesday that it has agreed to a financial deal with Heritage Bank of Commerce to provide an expanded line of credit and other financial services in an effort to spur expansion.

As part of the deal, Heritage Bank of Commerce will provide US$10 million to SunLink.

Michael Maulick, CEO of SunLink, noted: ¡°SunLink¡¯s business is accelerating on every front, and we needed a financial partner able to support that sort of rapid, multi-faceted growth. We¡¯re simultaneously delivering hundreds more MWs of tracker and other mounting systems for utility-scale solar projects worldwide, scaling our PowerCare services division to better serve the needs of the C&I market, and continuing to invest in the development of our VERTEX software as the platform with the potential to transform the economics of the entire energy industry. Heritage Bank of Commerce is a financial institution that understands the needs of a high-growth company and sees the potential of the energy future toward which we are driving.¡±

Mike Hansen, senior vice president of corporate finance at Heritage Bank of Commerce, noted: ¡°We are very pleased to be working with SunLink. We feel our line of credit will assist with their capital needs as they continue to grow and we look forward to a successful partnership."

( Mar 15,2017 / pv-tech.org£©

¡ö Neoen signs PPA for 54MW solar project in Zambia

French solar developer Neoen announced that it has signed off on a power purchase agreement (PPA) for a 54MW PV project in Zambia.

Neoen signed off on the PPA with ZESCO ¡ª the main electricity company in Zambia ¡ª with the deal expected to last for 25 years.

The installation was won by a consortium of Neoen and First Solar, with the project selling power to ZESCO at US$0.0602 per kWh. The project was developed by the World Bank and stands as part of the group¡¯s Scaling Solar program.

The plant, which stands as a US$60 million investment, will be built and operated in partnership with the Zambian public investment fund Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) and will be the country's first industrial-scale PV plant.

( Mar 15,2017 / pv-tech.org£©

¡ö CGN New Energy¡¯s profit narrows in 2016

The Chinese independent power producer¡¯s profit attributable to shareholders plunged 23.5% year on year to $79.5 million, as revenue slid 6.7% to $1.07 billion in the 12 months to the end of December.

Its operating profit expanded by 11.6% from the same period a year earlier to $177.4 million, largely due to revenue from its solar and wind projects.

Full-year revenue from its solar projects jumped to $36 million, from $14.5 million in the 12 months to the end of December 2015.

However, it switched on just 18 MW of new solar capacity in 2016, according to a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange.

Its total installed PV capacity reached 199 MW at the end of 2016, out of a total renewable generation portfolio of 3.2 GW.

Clean energy installations ¡ª including solar, wind, hydropower and fuel cell projects ¡ª accounted for 64.5% of its total attributable installed capacity at the end of December.

Its biggest solar project to achieve grid connection in 2016 was a 15 MW installation in Dezhou, Shandong province.

CGN New Energy¡¯s largest PV project to date is the 100 MW Xitieshan Solar Park in northwest China¡¯s remote Qinghai province. It built the project in three phases from 2010 to 2011.

The company, a unit of state-owned energy giant China General Nuclear Power, operates a diversified range of conventional and renewable generation projects.

Gas-fired plants accounted for the largest share of its 2016 revenues, at $660.4 million.

( Mar 15,2017 / pv-magazine.com£©

¡ö Blattner Energy takes top U.S. solar EPC spot in 2016 (with chart)

IHS Markit¡¯s latest assessment of U.S. solar contractors finds that Blattner outpaced First Solar to take the top spot in 2016.

2016 was a banner year for solar in the United States, with around 15 GW installed according to the estimates of various market analysts. This was particularly true for large solar, with IHS Markit estimating that the utility-scale and commercial and industrial (C&I) sectors made up 80% of market volume.

This boom has also been good to construction companies, whose workers put in long hours to get all of that solar online. Today IHS Markit has released its annual rankings of solar engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractors, finding that Blattner Energy came out of relative obscurity to take the top spot. The Minnesota-based contractor was followed closely by First Solar, which was the top solar EPC in 2015. Swinerton Renewable Energy came in third, as it did in 2015.

¡°2016 was Blattner¡¯s breakout year in PV, capitalizing on strong relationships with leading developers and independent power producers like NextEra Energy,¡± IHS Markit North America Solar Analyst Camron Barati told pv magazine.

IHS Markit notes that Blattner did well in the Western United States, including California and New Mexico, and was also highly active in Georgia. The firm notes that the top four EPCs all installed over 1 GW each during the year.

Among the top five First Solar is the only solar-specific EPC, as all of the others are construction firms that have gotten into solar as one of several businesses. This may be part of a long-term trend.

First Solar¡¯s future construction work is expected to slow, as the company has stated that it is reducing its emphasis on development and EPC work to focus on manufacturing, including the move to its large-format Series 6 module. Additionally, SunPower fell out of the top five in 2016, after coming in second in 2015.

IHS has also observed that average project sizes are falling in 2017 from 2016, but expects them to rise again next year.

( Mar 15,2017 / pv-magazine.com£©

¡ö Malaysian PV investment hits $544 million in 2016

The Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) approved 2.42 billion ringgit ($544 million) of solar investments in the 12 months to the end of December.

Roughly 1.77 billion ringgit was invested in seven PV production facilities last year, MIDA said, with investments in 83 undisclosed renewable energy projects rising to 650 million ringgit.

About 11.1 billion ringgit of unspecified solar products were exported from Malaysia in 2016, while 1.42 billion ringgit of equipment was sourced in the country, MIDA said, citing data collected from an undisclosed number of companies.

MIDA did not immediately respond to requests to comment.

It pointed to Chinese monocrystalline silicon producer Longi¡¯s recent $240 million investment in a new wafer, cell and module plant in the state of Sarawak as the biggest solar investment in the country last year.

MIDA chief executive Dato¡¯ Azman Mahmud said the investment underscored Malaysia¡¯s ¡°growing importance¡­ as a solar cell manufacturing hub¡± and urged investors to consider the country as a strategic base.

¡°A strong supply chain is also crucial,¡± he said in an online statement. ¡°We are building up local capabilities to develop further in areas such as system integration and balance of system components, which are important parts of the PV system value chain.¡±

About 95% of investments in solar production in Malaysia comes from outside of the country, MIDA claims.

Separately, MIDA this week vowed to release its Malaysian Solar PV Roadmap 2030 by the end of 2017, according to the New Straits Times.

The Malaysian government is targeting 2.08 GW of installed renewables capacity by 2020, with net metering policies and state support for large-scale solar projects to account for about 1.5 GW of the total.

Malaysia¡¯s installed PV capacity currently stands at 296.5 MW, with 34.5 MW of new solar added in 2016, according to the Sustainable Energy Development Authority (SEDA).

Earlier this month, the Malaysian Energy Commission issued a request for proposal to auction off the rights to develop 360 MW of grid-connected solar capacity in Peninsular Malaysia and 100 MW in Sabah and Labuan on the island of Borneo.

The projects will be commissioned in 2019-20.

( Mar 15,2017 / pv-magazine.com£©

¡ö Switzerland installed 250 MW of new PV systems in 2016

According to estimates from national association Swissolar, about 250 MW of new PV installations were connected to Switzerland¡¯s grid last year.

PV demand decreased in Switzerland in 2016. Although official statistics are still to be released, the local solar association Swissolar estimates that approximately 250 MW of new PV systems were installed in the country last year. In the previous two years, newly installed PV capacity was approximately 300 MW. For 2017, Swissolar also expects a drop in demand. The association expects that about 200 MW of new PV could be installed this year.

At the end of 2016, the country¡¯s cumulative PV capacity had reached around 1.65 GW, according to the association. PV was able to cover 2.5% of the country¡¯s electricity demand last year.

The country¡¯s FIT scheme, Kostendeckende Einspeiseverg¨¹tung (KEV) for PV and renewables, and the solar rebate program, which covers around 30% of the investment for installing a PV system up to 30 kW, are currently being negatively impacted by lack of financial resources.

A new regulation is expected for 2018. This new legislation could restore the funds for the rebate scheme, although a final decision will be taken in a referendum on the country¡¯s future energy strategy ¡°Energiestrategie 2050¡±, which will take place on May 21. The new law will also provide new rules for self-consumption. If the new rules are implemented, self-consumption will also be adopted in multi-family-houses and in adjacent allotments.

In December, the Swiss Federal Council decided that the FITs for PV will be reduced in two phases by 10% to 28% by the autumn of 2017. At the time, Swissolar criticized this decision, claiming it was based on unrealistic estimates of the cost reduction of solar panels. Furthermore, the associations said, this move is not considering several factors which determine the profitability of a PV project. Swissolar finds that the 22% FIT reduction announced for BIPV PV systems is quite disproportionate.

( Mar 15,2017 / pv-magazine.com£©

¡ö Net metering 2.0 slows down California¡¯s residential solar market

Solar industry commentary is echoing state data, which shows that the implementation of net metering 2.0 and time-of-use rates is having a significant negative effect on California¡¯s distributed solar market.

If there is one state that has led the charge towards a renewable energy future in America, it¡¯s California. The state not only installed the nation¡¯s first large-scale solar and wind installations in the 1980s and 1990s, but has led in terms of proactive policies to support the growth of solar and other forms of renewable energy.

As such, it was no surprise when California¡¯s changes to net metering in January 2016, dubbed ¡°Net Metering 2.0¡±, were less severe than those in other states. However, while the basic features of retail-rate net metering were preserved, in the utility areas where Net Metering 2.0 has been implemented the effect on the residential market has been a distinct chill.

Statistics provided by the State of California show an average of 11 MW of residential solar installed each month in the service area of San Diego Gas & Electric Company in the second half of 2016, compared to 16.9 MW each month for the first half of the year. This decline of more than a third (35%) came after the utility hit program caps and transitioned to the Net Metering 2.0 program in late June.

( Mar 15,2017 / pv-magazine.com£©

¡ö Tesvolt and Samsung unveil new high-voltage storage system

The German battery manufacturer and the Korean industrial conglomerate have unveiled a new high-voltage storage system. The device has an efficiency of 98% and functions just as well with a low voltage of 48 volts as with a high voltage of 1,000 volts.

The German storage system provider Tesvolt and Korean industrial group Samsung will introduce a new high-voltage storage system this week at the Energy Storage trade show in D¨¹sseldorf, Germany.

According to Tesvolt, the new battery is long-lasting, efficient and safe. The battery utilizes new prismatic lithium cells based on nickel manganese cobalt oxide developed by Samsung SDI, and a new management system that ensures active cell balancing between all cells, even between the different battery modules.

¡°The new lithium cells from Samsung SDI have enormously high energy density,¡± said Simon Schandert, Director of Engineering at Tesvolt. The German car maker BMW has recently adopted these cells for its electric vehicles.

¡°The new Tesvolt storage system,¡± ¨C say the company in a press release, ¨C ¡°can complete around 6,000 full charge cycles with a depth of discharge of 100%, which means that the entire battery capacity can be used. The storage system functions just as well with a low voltage of 48 volts as with a high voltage of 1,000 volts for stationary commercial and industrial applications.¡±

Tesvolt also added that the device disposes of integrated cell safety device and overcharge protection. This mitigates fire risks, while a pressure relief valve additionally ensures that there is no danger of explosion. Furthermore, the company said that its smart battery management system monitors the state of each individual cell to prevent damage at an early stage.

The new battery storage system is available in all sizes from 4.8 kWh up to power stations with multiple MWh.

( Mar 15,2017 / pv-magazine.com£©

¡ï Power to the people

Distributed storage costs: With the average payback cost of a home battery storage system sticking stubbornly at around ten years, skeptics remain unconvinced that mass-market adoption of distributed storage is on the cards any time soon. So what measures is the industry taking to expedite cost reductions, improve storage technology, and shift the conversation from a ¡®nice to have¡¯ to a ¡®must have¡¯?

Despite Elon Musk¡¯s near-ubiquity on the tech pages of most mainstream media, the Tesla entrepreneur has a knack of stealing in on the blind side. His pithy, often cryptic tweets remain the unofficial-yet-official PR channel for the firm, and Tesla¡¯s various product launches ¨C while slick and polished with a Silicon Valley sheen once they actually begin ¨C tend to come to the wider world¡¯s attention via a kind of cloak-and-dagger practice that feels at once pass¨¦ and yet somehow refreshingly contemporary.

Misdirection is not quite the name of the game, but there can be no denying that Tesla and Musk have picked up where Apple and Jobs left off a few years ago: dazzle and woo with enough conviction, and the world cannot help but be impressed. But whereas Apple consistently delivers quality, the jury remains out on whether Tesla can do likewise.

Its inaugural Powerwall home battery, launched in April 2015, is a good example. Speak to most storage insiders and they will tend to say the same thing: that they welcome Tesla¡¯s involvement in the industry, the attention is great, but no, they are not worried about the Powerwall stealing their customer base. And why? Because on a technical and cost level, the Powerwall ¨C the consensus appears to be ¨C pushes few boundaries.

¡°I personally don¡¯t care about Telsa like I did in the past,¡± Dr. Andreas Piepenbrink, CEO of E3DC, told pv magazine. ¡°Tesla is already on the blacklist for German installers. The Powerwall is freezing during winter, and many batteries failed. Tesla has not achieved market volume, and its ignorance of service, quality and installation will not bring further success.¡±

When Tesla launched its first Powerwall, the company cited an apparently attractive price point of $3,000 for its 7 kWh model, and $3,500 for its 10 kWh model. However, these were basic unit costs, and did not take into account associated balance of systems (BOS), installation, warranty or service costs. In short, while the aesthetically pleasing, affordable-sounding Powerwall grabbed the headlines, its home storage rivals busied themselves with the muckier business of making their batteries more efficient, reliable and financially viable for the average homeowner.

To Tesla¡¯s credit, and in what is yet another close parallel to Apple, the firm has announced that the Powerwall 2 will deliver far lower installation costs and greater capacity than the first iteration. But by introducing such an improvement merely two years after the original, is Tesla helping to nurture a ¡°wait and see¡± approach to home storage that is, in effect, slowing the cost reduction curve and limiting wider uptake?

Integrated costs
Average home battery cell prices currently stand at around $400/kWh, and while Musk is confident that Tesla¡¯s new U.S. gigafactory can bring that figure closer to $250/kWh (according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance, the 14 kWh Powerwall 2 battery retails for $393/kWh based on a sale price of $5,500 and an estimated installation cost of $1,500), Dr. Piepenbrink remains skeptical that such a price point can be reached within the next three years for stationary home batteries.

Calculating the true cost of home storage systems is tricky because there are numerous metrics to consider, including retail price of the battery, warranty costs, BOS costs, installation costs and different ROIs based on varying charge/discharge ratios, capacity and live time.

¡°Battery prices have a wide range, and different batteries have different applications, so it is difficult to accurately assess costs,¡± Sam Wilkinson, IHS Markit senior research manager for solar and energy storage told pv magazine. ¡°It is important to note that there is a big difference between what is driving storage, and what has driven the solar industry. It is now about cost savings, rather than income. Investing in solar a few years ago was like putting money in the bank; today, with storage, it is more about hedging against increased power prices and one¡¯s desire to be less dependent on the grid.¡±

With this in mind, many analysts tend to talk in averages and trends where distributed storage costs are concerned. Helena Teschner, senior expert of politics and markets at the German Energy Storage Association (BVES) says that the average integrated distributed storage cost in Germany is between €1,200 ¨C €1,500/kWh ($1,270 ¨C $1,580/kWh).

Bloomberg finds that the global average cost for an integrated battery system stands at $1,175/kWh, while in the U.K. ¨C a market that is fast-becoming a leader in the distributed storage space ¨C some companies such as Powervault and Moixa are offering price points even lower, closer to $1,050/kWh, according to BNEF.

In the leading distributed storage market of Australia, total integrated storage costs have been as high as $1,700/kWh in 2016, according to IHS Markit solar research manager Cormac Gilligan. ¡°Looking ahead, IHS predicts that the battery module costs in kWh will be halved between now and 2020, and similarly the balance of system costs are expected to reduce 10-15% a year.¡±

Nevertheless, the average payback for homeowners tempted to install a battery storage system is around 10 years, and that ¨C according to most analysts ¨C is too long. Until this payback cycle is reduced, distributed storage in the home will remain an emotional rather than economical decision, some fear.

Thinking differently
Battery storage developers need only look askance to their solar module counterparts to know that cost reductions can happen quickly, given the right conditions. The switching on of Tesla¡¯s gigafactory will double the global production of lithium-ion batteries this year, which should serve to expedite cost reductions in this space. But chemistry improvements are predictably calculated; what needs to change, believes Simon Daniel, CEO of British storage firm Moixa, is the whole conversation around distributed storage.

¡°The price of a cell and the price of a system distinction is important,¡± Daniel told pv magazine. ¡°In general, prices around the world are ~$1,000/kWh per integrated system. There are a range of additive costs, and so it is integrated systems that are the thing to optimize.¡± Moixa¡¯s approach has been semi-bespoke in its thinking. Daniel states that the firm¡¯s overarching intention is to drive mass market adoption of home storage. And to do this, he stresses, batteries need to be right-sized, appropriately meeting the needs of the average household.

¡°We think that most of the international battery providers have generally been prosumer and/or early adopter, delivering niche storage products for high-end customers,¡± said Daniel. ¡°It is like buying a Bang & Olufsen stereo. There IS a market for it, but it is a limited number of units. Whereas if you want to sell to 100% of the market, these big products are not something that can be offered to all customers.¡±

Moixa¡¯s Maslow home battery was designed to be suitable for any kind of household. Offered at 2-3 kW, it is small enough to be installed by a single person, does not take up too much wall space, and is large enough to complement the homeowner¡¯s energy consumption patterns.

¡°The philosophy of our product is both universal mass market, and also to work with utilities,¡± said Daniel. ¡°In our eight-million run hours of data and projects that we have conducted for the U.K. government and British utilities, the sweet spot in our view is to power around a third of the day with a battery, which enables the utility to shift energy to a low price or manage an imbalance.¡±

The thinking is to treat batteries as smart, responsive, grid-connected appliances rather than as back-up sources of power or as a means to take the homeowner off the grid. ¡°When you take a British home off the grid, you start to put power in the wrong place because you may only go off-grid temporarily. It¡¯s not a very efficient use of technology.¡±

Moixa offers its solar+storage kit for ¡ê4,995 ($6,200). It comprises a 2 kW PV system, a 2 kWh battery, inverter and all other BOS components. The price also includes VAT and installation costs, and Daniel believes that this package is perfectly pitched to meet the needs of the U.K. homeowner.

¡°The U.K. is not an early adopter market for storage,¡± Daniel admits. ¡°Where you have markets that are driven by subsidy like in Germany and California, or Australia with its high electricity prices and network issues, then you have different types of storage that get adopted early. The U.K., however, is currently probably the best scale-up market because it has large amounts of solar installed [BNEF estimates that some 900,000 residential homes have a PV system installed in the U.K.], it has peak energy challenges, and it has plenty of financiers interested in funding new assets.¡±

There is also growing customer awareness in the U.K., despite the current absence of any supportive government scheme for storage. But even here, things are changing. ¡°The U.K. government has just concluded a consultation exercise on a new storage policy, which has been a long time coming,¡± stated Daniel. ¡°The government now seems very cognizant of the opportunity for storage in the U.K. grid system at all levels.¡± Mooted changes include the abolishment of the double-taxation for storage, as well as a removal of reams of red-tape. ¡°We are quite optimistic about the policy interventions coming in the Spring,¡± Daniel adds.

A smarter battery
One of the more tangible policies the British government has outlined, in addition to a recent $11 million injection in funding for the storage sector, is its stated aim to install smart meters in 53 million houses and small businesses by 2020, to gain a better understanding of how energy is consumed nationwide. Some storage insiders, including Powervault managing director Joe Warren, believe that this roll-out will make more people aware of their energy consumption, and could well trigger an uptake in energy storage systems.

However, shifting an entire country¡¯s behavioral patterns is nigh-on impossible, believes Daniel. ¡°Strategies designed to change consumer behavior don¡¯t work. But storage is a viable asset. It is a reliable means of reducing or shifting energy demand without interrupting customers¡¯ behavior, and is therefore very strong as a grid-related demand class.¡±

In Europe, far more than in Australia and parts of the U.S., power grids are driven by domestic peak. For the U.K., residential properties comprise only one-third of the nation¡¯s power consumption annually, but account for two-thirds of peak energy usage. Hence, in Britain and other northern European countries, high grid costs are largely related to domestic energy use, whereas in California, for example, it tends to be the other way around, with commercial and industrial (C&I) consumers pulling the bulk of peak power.

¡°One could argue that the role of behind-the-meter storage in Europe is far greater in opportunity than other countries because the shape of the grid is driven by domestic peak,¡± said Daniel. By working with this fact, battery providers can help to not only increase distributed storage adoption, but also help to lower battery and grid costs.

Moixa¡¯s Gridshare is one example of aggregated platforms that are becoming increasingly popular with growing-penetration storage markets. Germany¡¯s sonnen has its own community energy trading platform called the sonnenCommunity, and Sunverge and E3/DC offer similar services. By sharing stored energy among households, such platforms can help to reduce peak demand and create a ¡°flat grid¡±, shorn of consumption spikes or troughs. As more renewable energy is added across the world, such platforms could become vital in enabling grids to manage increased variability.

¡°One of the reasons that power utilities are going out of business is because they cannot deal with increasing price spikes unless they have storage,¡± said Daniel. ¡°In real time, more distributed storage controlled via a virtual power plant platform such as the Moixa Gridshare, can solve these problems, which are only going to get more demanding as more solar is added to the grid.¡±

The growth-cost connection
Solar PV enjoyed its strongest year ever in 2016, adding more than 70 GW of new capacity. In growing 34.2 GW alone last year, China not only outpaced all other markets, but ran into great difficulties with curtailment. Many parts of the Chinese grid are simply not equipped to handle the amount of solar power being built, and the nation¡¯s woes serve as a warning for other countries keen to scale up solar. That warning being: do not overlook battery storage.

And while utility-scale storage projects in China, the U.S., Australia, Japan, the U.K. and other leading markets are beginning to prove their worth, the efficacy of distributed storage in helping to ease grid load and drive down battery costs cannot be ignored.

In Australia, which has the world¡¯s highest penetration of rooftop solar PV per capita, IHS Markit forecasts that the installed base for distributed storage will more than double in 2017, from 100 MW last year to between 250 ¨C 300 MW this year. Germany ended 2016 with 240 MW of behind-the-meter storage installed, and is set to grow 20-30% this year, while the U.S. and U.K. distributed storage bases are on course to double in 2017, from capacities of 140 MW and 50 MW respectively, according to IHS Markit.

And as solar installation figures continue to wane in Europe particularly, there emerges another driver for distributed storage uptake ¨C as a means of survival for thousands of solar installers. ¡°To put it bluntly,¡± said Wilkinson, ¡°the fact that there are a lot of solar installers trying to keep their jobs makes storage the next logical step for them to rescue their businesses.¡±

In Europe¡¯s leading storage markets of Germany, the U.K. and Italy, storage services are being offered by an increasing proportion of solar PV installers. In Germany, an impressive 77% of installers also offer to fit home batteries, according to recent data by EuPD Research. In the U.K that figure has risen from 12% to 18% in the space of a year, while in Italy it has held steady at 20%.

Another sign of the storage sector¡¯s evolution is the gathering clamor for battery makers to prove their eco-credentials. In much the same way solar¡¯s carbon costs have been scrutinized, attention is turning now to battery technology ¨C assessing the relative energy costs related to mining and manufacturing units.

¡°To a large extent, the import duties on solar components into the EU and U.S. from China should have been carbon-related rather than an import tax because that would have been a fairer reflection of the relative energy costs,¡± concluded Daniel. ¡°We will strategically see that kind of thinking in storage once it becomes an integral part of the grid. It¡¯s not yet front-of-mind, but it does relate to how cost-effective a battery really is.¡±

( Mar 15,2017 / pv-magazine.com£©

¡ö Eon reports record €16 billion loss for 2016

The German energy company said its new strategy is fully reflected in its balance sheet. This was accompanied by the largest loss ever registered by the group. Eon is now planning workforce reductions, as well as further measures to reduce its net liabilities to €20 billion in the mid-term.

Eon was the first German power provider that dared to step into the renewable energy sector. The company has now presented its financial report for fiscal 2016. This will be ¡°the last to reflect the burdens of the past¡±, Eon said.

The company¡¯s new strategy, which concentrates all of its activities related to fossil sources within the spin-off company Uniper, is included in the balance sheet for the first time. Eon is now focusing on three core businesses: energy networks, customer solutions, and renewable energy.

In its reporting, Eon said it has reached an agreement with German federal government on funding the phase-out of nuclear energy. This has also left tracks in the balance sheet, the company stressed. The spinoff Uniper resulted in impairment charges totaling about €11 billion ($11.6 billion). The sale of the remainder of its shares in Uniper, however, could have a positive impact on future financial results.

The financing of the nuclear-energy phase-out will result in impairment charges of €2 billion ($2.1 billion). In addition, Eon must pay approximately €10 billion ($10.6) to state-owned nuclear energy funds. These payments are mostly covered with available liquid funds and securities.

Overall, the company stated, these one-off items resulted in a net loss of about €16 billion ($17.0 billion) for the year. ¡°2016 was a transitional year, said the company¡¯s CEO Johannes Teyssen. ¡°The impact on our balance sheet marks a turning point and clears E.ON¡¯s way into the new energy world.¡±

Eon was, however, able to post an adjusted EBIT of €3.1 billion ($3.2 billion) last year. This was down compared to 2015, although it exceeded the company¡¯s forecasts. The renewables segment was able to post higher earnings, said Eon.

The segment¡¯s turnover decreased from €1.54 billion ($1.62 billion) in 2015 to €1.48 billion ($1.57 billion) last year, while adjusted EBIT increased year-on-year from €391 million ($415.5 million) to €420 million ($446.4 million). Investment in renewable energies for 2016 totaled €1.07 billion ($1.13 billion), slightly up from 2015.

The group¡¯s net indebtedness reached €26.3 billion ($27.9 billion) at the end of 2016. This sum includes €5.0 billion ($5.3 billion) which was not calculated in fiscal 2015, when the group shares in Uniper were not comprised.

Eon is now implementing several measures to reduce its net debt by approximately €7 billion ($7.4 billion) in the mid-term. These measures are also intended to strengthen the company¡¯s equity.

The group aims to reduce its investment budget by 20% to €8 billion ($8.5 billion) over the next three years. Furthermore, Eon said it will reduce its workforce by 1,300, of which about 1,000 will be in Germany. Currently, the company has approximately 43,000 employees.

Looking forward, Eon said it expects an adjusted Ebit of €2.8 billion to €3.1 billion for 2017 and an adjusted net income between €1.2 and €1.45 billion.

( Mar 15,2017 / pv-magazine.com£©

¡ö Solargiga anticipates 2016 loss

The Chinese PV manufacturer expects to record a ¡°substantial loss¡± for the year to the end of December.

The anticipated loss is partly the result of lower production due to machinery and equipment upgrades, according to a preliminary assessment of its unaudited accounts.

Solargiga Energy Holdings ¡ª which produces monocrystalline ingots, wafers, cells and modules ¡ª also attributed the group¡¯s poor performance to higher R&D spending over the course of the past year.

In January, it reported unaudited revenue of roughly $438 million for 2016, up slightly from a year earlier.

Total shipments in 2016 ¡ª including ingots, wafers, cells and modules ¡ª reached 1.54GW, up 34.1% from a year earlier.

It did not say when it would release its audited 2016 results.

The anticipated loss marks a significant step back from the modest 15.7 million yuan ($2.3 million) profit it posted for the 12 months to the end of December 2015.

Hong Kong-listed Solargiga also derives revenue from the sale of PV-generated electricity, as well as the provision of EPC services.

Its annual monocrystalline ingot production capacity stands at roughly 1.2 GW, on top of about 900 MW of monocrystalline wafers per year.

The vertically integrated group also produces about 330 MW of solar cells and 1.2 GW of modules per year.

( Mar 15,2017 / pv-magazine.com£©

¡ö Czech solar market shows first signs of revival in residential segment

The Czech solar market collapsed in 2014 after the country¡¯s FIT scheme was shut down. After two years of almost zero growth, the country¡¯s PV market registered a slight increase in new installations in 2016. This growth was mainly due to the support program for sustainable buildings.

The Czech Republic reached a cumulative installed PV capacity of around 2.08 GW at the end of 2016, according to provisional statistics provided to pv magazine by local association Sol¨¢rn¨ª Asociace.

Last year, 4.83 MW of residential PV systems were connected to the grid. In 2014 and 2015, new additions totaled 2.6 MW and 1.1 MW, respectively. According to Veronika Hamackova from Sol¨¢rn¨ª Asociace, however, these numbers do not include PV systems installed without licenses.

The last year of real growth was 2013, with around 55 MW of newly installed PV power. Most of the country¡¯s PV capacity comes from MW-sized PV plants that were installed between 2008 and 2013, when a very generous FIT scheme was closed.

Last year¡¯s slight growth was mainly due to the Green Savings Programme (Zelen¨¢ ¨²spor¨¢m), a support program for sustainable buildings and energy savings launched in 2014. The program enables, among other things, the installation of small rooftop PV systems. The residential segment received a remarkable push from the program last year, taking into account that no net-metering mechanism has ever been put in place in the Czech Republic.

Sol¨¢rn¨ª Asociace¡¯s Hamackova explained that the program provides homeowners with investment support, and that commercial users can also get investment support for new solar installations, but there are limits ¨C it can only be in combination with other measures, such as improving the energy efficiency of the company.

¡°Last year¡¯s experience¡± ¨C said Hamackova ¨C ¡°showed growing interest for new solar energy in the residential segment, but there is little awareness of the opportunities to gain support for new renewable sources. The Czech Ministry of Environment should improve communication.¡±

Under the program, more than 21,000 applications were submitted to local authorities over the past three years. Of these applications, which would require a budget of 4.9 billion CZK ($1.9 million), 18,000 were approved to date. Aggregate financial support of approximately 1.2 billion CZK ($472,353) is currently being paid out to over 9,000 projects. Over 5,000 projects, worth around 1 billion CZK in investment support, were approved in 2016 alone.

Thermal insulation projects are the most popular, followed by the change of heating systems and the installation of a rooftop PV power systems.

( Mar 15,2017 / pv-magazine.com£©

¡ö Tata Power Solar doubles domestic module capacity to 400 MW

The Indian solar producer has also increased its cell manufacturing capacity at its Bengaluru facility to 300 MW as it responds to the government¡¯s Make in India program.

Tata Power Solar, the solar power arm of the Indian industrial conglomerate Tata, has announced that it has doubled its solar module manufacturing capacity and increased its cell capacity by 65% in response to the government¡¯s Make in India program.

Rising from 200 MW to 400 MW, module capacity at the Tata Power Solar fab in Bengaluru is now one of the largest in the country, with cell capacity now up from 180 MW to 300 MW.

As part of the expansion, Tata Power Solar has also made the facility entirely automated, and ramped-up capacity in what the company claims is record time.

¡°We are happy to see our team responding to the government of India¡¯s call of ¡®Make in India¡¯,¡± said Tata Power Solar chairman Anil Sardana. ¡°A robust domestic, qualitative manufacturing base is the backbone of any nation and is a strong foundation for long-term viability of the sector.¡±

The Modi government has been swift in its support of growing India¡¯s installed renewable energy base, with solar capacity tripling on the past three years to reach 10 GW of cumulative solar power installed. However, much of this growth has been achieved with the use of lower-cost solar components from China, with Indian-made produce barely getting a look-in.

In the middle portion of last year, analysis from Mercom Capital Group shows, India imported $1 billion in solar products during a period when the sector¡¯s entire import and export activity was $1.22 billion. These figures paint a clear picture of the imbalance that exists, and with Indian solar modules still an average of 10% more expensive than Chinese modules, change is far from the horizon.

Prior to Tata Power Solar¡¯s capacity increase, Mercom calculated that India had 8,008 MW and 2,815 MW of module and cell production capacity respectively. However, a vast portion of this potential capacity remains idle and outdated, with operational capacity closer to 5.2 GW (modules) and 1.4 GW (cell).

Factors holding back Indian domestic solar manufacturing are many, not least a lack of support from the government, despite the programs put in place under the Make in India scheme. Some tenders issued under the National Solar Mission (NSM) do reserve some capacity that must be built with domestically produced solar components, but India¡¯s previous Domestic Content Regulations (DCR) have already fallen foul of World Trade Organization (WTO) rulings.

However, Tata Power Solar CEO Ashish Khanna is confident that the Tier-1 firm¡¯s support of domestic manufacturing will set India¡¯s solar industry in good stead over the coming years, which are expected to see the nation add a further 90 GW of capacity by 2022.

¡°This expansion and modernization has come on the backdrop of our landmark achievement on being the first Indian company to have shipped 1 GW of modules worldwide,¡± said Khanna. ¡°We have again demonstrated our long-term commitment to manufacturing the best quality panels for our international as well as Indian clients.

¡°This also validates our capability to manufacture solar panels and cells comparable to the best in the world.¡±

( Mar 15,2017 / pv-magazine.com£©

¡ö SPI Energy unit to sell 4.8 MW in Japan

SPI Solar Japan, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Chinese PV group, has agreed to sell its entire interest in land and project development rights for 4.8 MW of PV capacity near Tokyo.

It expects to finalize the sale of the two projects by July, according to an online statement.

SPI Japan did not disclose additional details about the deal, but said that it will still provide EPC services for the arrays in Shibayama, Chiba prefecture,

SPI Energy ¡ª best known for its online Solarbao platform, which helps retail investors in China make small investments in solar projects ¡ª recently shifted its global headquarters from Shanghai to Hong Kong.

In January, the NASDAQ regulator threatened to de-list SPI Energy¡¯s shares, less than a year after the company started trading on the NASDAQ Global Select Market.

The market regulator gave the company 60 days to submit its results for the second quarter of 2016 in order to remain listed. The stock closed up 8.1% on Tuesday afternoon in New York at $1.20.

SPI Energy¡ª which is led by chief executive Xiaofeng Peng, the founder of LDK Solar ¡ª was also late in reporting its full-year $185 million loss for 2015, which followed a string of annual losses from 2012-14.

In February, SPI Energy revealed that it had secured a ¡ê5.15 million ($6.3 million), 10-year loan facility from Spanish lender Santander to refinance an 8.1 MW solar portfolio in the UK.

( Mar 15,2017 / pv-magazine.com£©

¡ö Moixa, Hitachi collaborate on GBP 10.8m Smart Islands EV, solar+storage project on Isles of Scilly

The British archipelago of islands to become global testbed for Smart Islands project that aims to provide model for use of electric vehicles and home batteries in a smart energy system.

The sunniest, remotest and most energy-poor region of the United Kingdom is poised to become a global testbed for measuring the efficacy of using electric vehicles ¨C charged by solar panels ¨C to play a leading role in managing a low-carbon smart energy system.

The Isles of Scilly, an archipelago located 28 miles off the coast of southwest England, have been selected for a GBP 10.8 million ($13.2 million) project by the Hitachi Europe-led Smart Energy Islands (SEI) project, which will see up to 100 rooftop solar systems, two 50 kW solar gardens, around 290 home energy management systems and a handful of smart batteries installed across the islands.

These systems will be controlled via integration with Hitachi¡¯s Internet of Things (IoT) platform, which will act as a central point of control for an Electric Vehicle Management System and a Home Battery Management System.

Moixa, a leading British developer of storage technology and software, will integrate ten of its home batteries into the system, installed at selected smart homes on the islands that will also be fitted with a variety of smart energy technologies, including air source pumps and other energy software provided by PassivSystems.

The majority of the funding (GBP 8.6 million) for this SEI project comes from the European Regional Development Fund, which will lay the foundations for a global Smart Islands program that aims to cut average electricity bills on islands by 40% by 2025, while also increasing renewable penetration and electric vehicle (EV) road-share to 40%.

EVs¡¯ role in the Isles of Scilly project is key. The EV Management System will control and learn to optimize how EV batteries can be better integrated into the islands¡¯ energy system. The software will employ learning algorithms to ensure that when EVs are deployed they are maintained at optimum states of charge, thus ably supporting the energy system. Solar+storage in the home will also be carefully managed to balance local energy needs.

Ideal testbed

The Isles of Scilly hold a unique position in Europe. Although part of the U.K., the 2,200 islanders suffer from a low-wage economy and poor housing insulation, making them susceptible to some of the highest energy bills on the continent. Solar power capacity is around 270 kW of mostly residential installations, but this project will boost that capacity to 448 kW with the addition of 100 extra residential rooftop arrays.

¡°Our systems will support the reduction of fuel poverty on the Scilly Isles and support their path to full energy independence,¡± said Moixa CTO Chris Wright. ¡°They will be scalable and flexible so they can be replicated easily to allow communities all over the world to cut carbon and benefit from the smart power revolution.¡±

Wright added that the Moixa technology will enable ordinary people to play a key role in altering their future energy system. ¡°Home batteries and electric vehicles controlled by smart software will help create a reliable, cost-effective low-carbon energy system that will deliver savings to homeowners and the community.¡±

The Isles of Scilly have only around 1,000 private dwellings and just nine miles of road, which makes it a good location for a pilot scheme of this nature that combines electric vehicles, solar array and home batteries.

EVs are widely tipped to play a larger role in the world¡¯s transition from a high- to low-carbon economy. Globally, 14 countries have plans to put 13 million EVs on their roads by 2020, and if current 60% growth in uptake is maintained, EVs could represent one-third of all road transport by 2035.

( Mar 15,2017 / pv-magazine.com£©

¡ö Estonia to replace feed-in premium scheme for renewables and solar with auction mechanism

The Estonian government plans to replace the current FIP scheme for renewable energies with an auction mechanism within the next few months. The country¡¯s installed PV capacity reached 10 MW at the end of 2016.

Estonia¡¯s government is planning to change the law regulating electricity markets, replacing the current feed-in premium scheme for renewable energies with an auction mechanism.

According to Andres Meesak, CEO of the Estonian PV Association, changes in regulation are currently being discussed in Parliament, and details of the new auction scheme will most likely be made public within the next two months.

The association has proposed an extension of the current FIP scheme for installations below 200 kW for a further three years, although the government is considering an extension only for PV systems smaller than 15 kW.

The new regulation is intended to make installation of renewable energy power systems on most new buildings mandatory from 2021 onwards. This measure, according to Meesak, will be particularly favorable to solar, due to the fact that the cheapest way to achieve the zero-energy building (NZB) class is through the installation of a PV system. Meesak claims that from 2021 onwards there will be added PV capacity on new and renovated buildings of up to 25 MW per year.

Under the current regulations, there is a technology neutral feed-in-premium for all renewables, which amounts to €53.7 ($57.1)/MWh, paid in addition to the wholesale electricity price. The FIP is paid only for the electricity injected into the grid, and not on self-consumption.

¡°Investment support is granted by different governmental agencies from time to time, for the diversification of business in agricultural enterprises, for renovation of apartment blocks, energy efficiency support for schools and other municipal buildings,¡± Meesak told pv magazine. These measures are not permanent and are announced once or twice a year, depending on the funds available. The investment support usually covers about 30% of CAPEX.¡±

Estonia¡¯s cumulative PV capacity reached 10 MW at the end of 2016. New additions for 2016 totaled 3 MW, up from 2 MW a year earlier. Meesak forecasts that a further 5 MW of new PV systems could be connected to the local grid in 2017.

Estonia has already reached its target of 25% of renewable energy in gross final energy consumption set by the National Renewable Energy Action Plan. According to a recent report from Eurostat, the country was able to cover 28% of its energy demand with renewable energies in 2015. Most of the country¡¯s renewable energy generation capacity comes from biomass, wind and hydroelectric power stations.

( Mar 15,2017 / pv-magazine.com£©

¡ö PV CellTech kicks off in Malaysia

The second annual PV CellTech conference kicked off in Penang, Malaysia on Tuesday.

The event brings together top figures from the PV manufacturing value chain including Stuart Wenham of the University of New South Wales, SCHMID PV¡¯s Chritian Buchner, Qi Wang, the chief scientist at Jinko Solar and Gunter Erfurt, the COO of Meyer Burger.

¡°I know that everyone in this room shares a similar vision for the importance of technology adoption in the PV supply chain,¡± said David Owen, founder and CEO of Solar Media, the publisher of PV Tech and organiser of the PV CellTech event during his welcome speech.

The event brings a live event to complement the Photovoltaics International Journal and PV-Tech.org. PVI celebrates its tenth anniversary in 2017.

Full house @pv_tech #pvcelltech conference.in Malaysia. The future of PV manufacturing is here in this room! ic.twitter.com/1v53Butc4T¡ª¡ª David Owen (@SolarChampion) March 14, 2017

The PV CellTech conference is led by Finlay Colville, head of market research at PV Tech and Solar Media who is also chairman of the event¡¯s advisory board.

¡°Having tracked technology adoption in PV for more than seven years, rigorously and consistently there is no one more qualified to take on the responsibility for bringing all of us together here in Penang to continue and indeed drive the vision for PVI into the next ten years,¡± said Owen.

¡°Whether you are an old friend or new friend I welcome you all to this unique technical event and am excited to see what you come up with for the next ten years of commercial PV manufacturing development.¡±

( Mar 14,2017 / pv-tech.org£©

¡ö Canadian Solar signs PPA for 80MW of solar projects in India¡¯s Maharashtra

Canadian Solar has signed 25-year power purchase agreements for an aggregate 80MW(ac) of solar power projects in the Indian state of Maharashtra with the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI).

Canadian Solar, which continues its downstream progress, was originally awarded the projects via a competitive auction for a total of 450MW(ac) capacity. The benchmark tariff was set at INR4.43/kWh (US$0.066) and the firm bid for viability gap funding (VGF) support of INR1.999 million/MW (US$30,379).

These projects are due to start operations by late 2017.

Shawn Qu, chairman and chief executive of Canadian Solar, said: ¡°We are pleased to secure our first 80MW(ac) of solar power projects with SECI, a bankable and reputable off-taker operating under the Government of India. This investment adds to our India pipeline that stands at 110MW(ac) and represents a significant milestone for Canadian Solar in one of world's fastest growing renewables markets."

India officially passed 10GW of solar installations last week, according to central government data.

( Mar 14,2017 / pv-tech.org£©

¡ö Trina Solar completes deal to take company private

The deal that will take Trina Solar private has been completed, the company has announced.

Shares in the Chinese Silicon Module Super League (SMSL) manufacturer have been suspended at the company¡¯s request ahead of its delisting. Trina also confirmed its intent to halt its reporting obligations. It has merged with Red Vibernum and is now a subsidiary of Fortune Solar Holdings. A consortium led by Trina¡¯s chairman and CEO Jifan Gao will now acquire Fortune Solar in an all cash transaction.

Although there have been no details from the company, it is widely anticipated that it will eventually list on an exchange either in Hong Kong or mainland China.

Around 90% of Trina¡¯s shareholders approved the deal at a vote in December 2016.

Yali Jiang, an analyst with Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF), told PV Tech at the time that conditions in the US had become tougher for solar firms.

¡°The main intention is probably to re-list at a higher market value on other platforms in mainland China and Hong Kong,¡± she said. ¡°It is now more challenging for solar manufacturing companies to issue new equity offerings in the US, as US investors are becoming cautious about solar stocks after losing money on several high profile examples."

( Mar 14,2017 / pv-tech.org£©

¡ö ROUNDUP: India¡¯s largest floating PV plant, EDF solar construction, KfW funding India¡¯s IREDA

NTPC installs India¡¯s largest floating solar plant in Kerala

Indian utility NTPC has installed the country¡¯s largest floating PV project standing at 100kW capacity at Kayamkulam, Kerala.

The technology was developed by NTPC Energy Technology Research Alliance (NETRA), the R&D arm of NTPC, in collaboration with the Central Institute of Plastic Engineering & Technology (CIPET).

The Kayamkulam station system was installed by EPC firm Swelect Energy Systems with support from NETRA and NTPC in just 22 days.

NTPC said that floating PV systems are fast emerging as an alternative to conventional ground-mount PV systems, which are land intensive. They also conserve water and the cooling effect on the panels helps to increase generation.

The firm touted a huge potential for this technology across India and said NTPC itself could install around 800MW across various reservoirs. It cited Kerala as having the greatest potential given the present land constraints and abundance of water bodies. NTPC has started working on a utility-scale floating system in this state.

Mining and power firm NLC India is also setting up a 5MW floating solar PV plant in the Andaman and Nicobar islands, while Sri Lanka's government recently announced plans to tender for a 100MW floating PV plant on a central reservoir.

EDF starts construction of eight wind and solar plants

French renewables firm EDF Energies Nouvelles (EDF ENR), a subsidiary of the EDF Group, has started construction on eight solar and wind projects amounting to 190MW capacity.

The projects are due for commissioning in the next few months.

In France¡¯s latest energy tenders, EDF ENR won two large-scale ground-mount PV projects, with combined 15MW capacity. It also won 24 rooftop projects totalling 8.7MW in the self-consumption allocation, nearly half of the 20MW awarded.

KfW funds Indian energy efficiency and IREDA rooftop PV efforts

German development bank KfW is providing a €200 million (US$213 million) loan to India¡¯s Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) to increase energy efficiency in households, industry and agriculture.

Overall, the Federal Republic of Germany has committed €600 million for energy efficiency measures in India, including €50 million for EESL in 2014. EESL was set up by the Indian Ministry of Power in 2010 as a joint venture between NTPC, Power Finance Corporation, Rural Electrification Corporation and Powergrid.

Indian news outlet Economic Times also reported that KfW is providing €500,000 funding to the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA). These funds will be used to ensure quality of PV projects and to help implementation of rooftop PV projects. IREDA will also be able to assess future PV market trends with the financing.

( Mar 14,2017 / pv-tech.org£©

¡ö Zambia to tender 150MW-250MW in ¡®Scaling Solar¡¯ Round 2

Zambian State-run firm the Industrial Development Corporation Limited (IDC) has invited expressions of interest for 150MW-250MW of solar PV capacity in Round 2 of the ¡®Scaling Solar¡¯ programme.

The first ¡®Scaling Solar¡¯ round for 100MW in Zambia, facilitated last June by International Finance Corporation (IFC), an arm of the World Bank, saw a new benchmark for low-cost solar power in Sub-Saharan Africa in June. The winners of the auction were Neoen and First Solar, who jointly bid at just US$0.0602/kWh.

Once the second auction is complete, a third round will see the remaining 250MW-350MW tendered to make up the full target of 600MW.

IDC expects both individual companies and consortia to participate in the tenders, including international, regional and local companies.

Even with the low prices achieved in Round 1, the ¡®Scaling Solar¡¯ scheme is not without opposition. For example, a panel at Solar Media¡¯s annual Solar Finance & Investment Europe last month said that the programme could be fostering a race to the bottom for unrealistic tariffs, diverting focus from essential bankability.

Riaan Meyer, managing director, GeoSUN Africa, a South African firm that specialises in on-site solar resource assessments, told PV Tech that many developers are not yet aware that the 'Scaling Solar' initiative is now also available in Senegal, Madagascar and Ethiopia. He also highlighted that all related projects will have solar-meteorological stations installed with the data made available to developers. This is critical in a region where quality solar mapping is widely unavailable.

( Mar 14,2017 / pv-tech.org£©

¡ö South Australia plans 100MW battery, dispatchable renewables and 250MW gas plant

In a major energy strategy upheaval, the South Australian government is providing significant funding to support energy storage projects, starting with a 100MW grid-connected battery that will be the largest in the country.

The aim is to modernise the state¡¯s grids and help support the increasing penetration of renewable energy capacity. Blackouts in the region caused a vicious nation-wide debate about what had caused the power cuts last year, with the matter still unsettled in some quarters.

South Australia's new plan was announced just a few days after Tesla chief Elon Musk confirmed via Twitter that his company could solve South Australia¡¯s grid crisis with a 100MW battery, which he would provide free of cost if not commissioned within a 100 days of being asked.

Following this, John Grimes, CEO of the Australian Energy Storage Council, said that the state government has been ¡°at pains¡± to stress that there will be an open, competitive tender process to build the 100MW project.

For the overall storage push, the Renewable Technology Fund will provide AU$75 million in grants and AU$75 million in loans for a range of eligible storage projects, including solar thermal, biomass, hydrogen energy and pumped hydro.

The government also cited the ability of storage to help dispatch renewable energy as and when it is needed. It will therefore tender the remaining 25% of its electricity load to technologies that support dispatchable renewable technologies, with new contracts to commence on 1 January 2018.

Gas still prioritised

While the storage funding was welcomed by the industry, solar advocates criticised the revamped focus on gas as the government simultaneously announced plans for a 250MW gas-fired electricity generator, claiming that unclear policy setting had led to stagnation in thermal generation investment. It also said the gas plant could be switched on in times of emergency, therefore adding security to the system. This project will also be tendered soon.

In the interim period, the State government will work with South Australia¡¯s transmission and distribution companies to provide up to 200MW of temporary generation. No more detail was given on how this temporary power would be sourced.

Claire O¡¯Rourke, national director of campaign group Solar Citizens, said: ¡°We have the technology without gas for a reliable, stable and affordable energy supply system, what we lack, as always, is the political will.¡±

Clean Energy Council chief executive Kane Thornton said: ¡°The range of measures announced by Premier Jay Weatherill demonstrates that renewable energy and energy storage can contribute toward a more resilient and secure energy system.

¡°Energy storage is obviously going to be a huge part of Australia¡¯s energy future, and the SA government¡¯s funding for new large-scale battery technology will help accelerate its adoption and start to reduce its reliance on increasingly expensive gas power.¡±

He said the high-profile Twitter interaction between Elon Musk and Mike Cannon-Brooke, the founder of software firm Atlassian, about storage¡¯s ability to solve the grid crisis had helped to capture attention across the world and had made known that the technology is progressing far faster than people had anticipated.

Energy Networks Australia CEO John Bradley, whose organisation has previously attacked the Renewable Energy Target (RET) and pushed for gas over renewables, welcomed the integrated approach to power system security, including both storage technologies and gas supply development, but said a wider national plan is still required.

He added: ¡°This plan encourages new gas supplies which help to support system security, allows a competitive process for large-scale storage and enables gas-fired generation to support a stable and reliable grid.¡±

Rest of the plan

The state government will also introduce a new target requiring energy retailers to get more electricity from what it described as cleaner generators that produce their electricity using South Australia¡¯s abundant natural resources, whether this be from gas, solar, wind, biomass or graphite, which is used for batteries.

The aim is also to create more self-sufficiency using local resources, while reducing dependence on coal from Victoria. Retailers will be compelled to source a percentage of energy from local generators rather than from Victorian coal through the state interconnector.

Applicants for new electricity-generation projects of more than 5MW capacity will also be required to demonstrate how they add to local energy-system security.

The state is also drafting new legislation ¡°to ensure that South Australian energy users are not held hostage to unwarranted market behaviour¡±. It will give the Minister for Energy new powers to direct the national market in the case of an electricity supply shortfall.

In related news, energy storage has also received a big boost in Victoria after its state government announced another AU$20 million for large-scale energy storage, in addition to the AU$5 million already pledged.

( Mar 14,2017 / pv-tech.org£©

¡ö Solar Power Portal Awards 2017 spotlight: International solar project award

Nominations for the Solar Power Portal Awards 2017 are now open, and this year we welcome back the award for best international solar project.

After being first introduced at the 2015 awards the category was absent last year. But, due to popular demand, the award marks its return in 2017 and will once again be awarded in conjunction with sister publication PV-Tech.

The International solar project award recognises truly innovative or defining solar projects completed outside of the UK and Ireland after 1 June 2016. All types of solar project are valid (residential, commercial and ground-mount) and must represent the best practice the global solar community has to offer.

Details of project specifics ¨C size, location, any relevant subsidy support/financing agreement ¨C should be included, as well as a summary of what sets this project apart from the crowd.

2015¡¯s winner

International solar developer Backwoods Solar took the spotlight at 2015¡¯s ceremony for its work powering remote polling stations in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

This year nominations will remain open until midnight 31 May 2017 before a three-week judging process takes place.

Registration and the nominations process is simple and takes a few minutes of your time. Follow our simple guide below to walk you through the process.

How to Enter - 5 Easy Steps

- Firstly, create a profile by accessing this page of the SPP Awards 2017 microsite.

- Once registered, log in where prompted to bring you to the submission area.

- Click ¡®Submit Your Nomination¡¯ in the navigation bar, followed by ¡®add new¡¯

- Select your required category from the drop down box, and go through the process by following the simple steps

- You can add the names of associated applicants and save a submission to be continued later. Once complete, click ¡®save and submit¡¯.

( Mar 14,2017 / pv-tech.org£©

¡ö Power Electronics to offer 275MW of inverters for two solar installations in Mexico

Power Electronics announced that it will supply 275MW of its HEC V1500 solar inverter series for two large-scale PV projects in Mexico.

The installations will be developed by Iberdrola Renovables, while Iberdrola Ingenier¨ªa will provide engineering, procurement and construction services. One project ¡ª the Hermosillo PV plant ¡ª has a capacity of 100MW and will be developed in the state of Sonora. The other installation, the Santiago PV plant, will have a capacity of 170MW and will be developed in San Luis de Potos¨ª.

Both solar plants are expected to be operational by 2018.

With these two new projects, Power Electronics now adds over 5GW of installed PV capacity and nears 1GW with its new portfolio of 1500V inverters.

Now lifted by long-term energy auctions, clean energy certificates and new fiscal incentives, Mexico aims to reach the goal of having 35% of its energy generated from renewable energy sources by 2024.

( Mar 14,2017 / pv-tech.org£©

¡ö Enertronica forms US subsidiary, plans to develop 50MW PV portfolio

Renewable energy company Enertronica announced Monday that it has formed a new subsidiary company in the US ¡ª NewCo, Enertronica, Inc. The new company is owned 100% by Enertronica SpA and was incorporated in Delaware. Enertronica Inc. already holds offices in both Massachusetts and Nevada.

In a corresponding move with the establishment of Enertronica Inc., the subsidiary has signed off on an engineering contract for two solar projects with a total generation capacity of 50MW. These two installations are expected to be built in the US in 2017-18.

The total value of the engineering contract is worth approximately US$500,000 and will be completed in 2017. The company expects to be involved in the construction of both installations.

Vito Nardi, president and CEO of Enertronica SpA, said: "The group is meticulously respecting their expectations for growth in the US market. The goal of setting up a new subsidiary in the USA was not only respected but was crowned by the signing of a contract by the high strategic importance. With this step the presence in the United States becomes important above all is testament to the ability of the group to meet its growth plans and above all to respect the promises and expectations of the market. Expectations now are even more ambitious, and that will certainly be respected."

( Mar 14,2017 / pv-tech.org£©

¡ö Vivint Solar extends credit facility for three years

Residential solar company Vivint Solar announced Monday that it has extended the term of the availability period for borrowing under its aggregation credit facility by three years to March 2020 ¡ª with the final maturity of the facility set for September 2020.

The facility, which originally began in September 2014, has offered debt capital to Vivint Solar for new residential PV customers and installations until Vivint has aggregated the contractual cash intake from those projects into pools that support long-term debt facilities.

The aggregation facility includes the option to hedge interest rate risk as the company borrows against new solar systems and borrow up to approximately US$375 million on a revolving basis.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch stands as the structuring and administrative agent, ING serves as the documentation agent and Deutsche Bank is the swap coordinator under the credit facility.

Thomas Plagemann, chief commercial officer and head of capital markets at Vivint Solar, said: "We are pleased to be able to extend this critical borrowing facility that enhances our capital availability and security with the support of Bank of America Merrill Lynch and the rest of the lender group. Our strengthened financial position provides greater financing flexibility to meet our strategic growth objectives."

( Mar 14,2017 / pv-tech.org£©

¡ö Four bidders for Turkey¡¯s 1 GW Konya solar PV plant

The names of four consortia that will bid for Turkey¡¯s 1 GW solar PV plant in Konya have been revealed. The tender will take place on 20th March.

The deadline for submitting an application to bid for Turkey¡¯s 1 GW solar PV plant in Konya expired today at 12 noon, local time.

According to information provided by Turkish Solar Energy Society Solarbaba, there were four application submissions by the following consortia:

1.Limak Yatirim, China Machinery Engineering Corporation and Hareon

2.Acwa Power, Chint and Kibar Holding

3.?al?k Enerji and SolarGiga

4. Kalyon Enerji and Hanwha QCells

Of these joint ventures, Limak Yatirim, Kibar Holding, ?alik Enerji and Kalyon Enerji are local Turkish companies. Most of the rest are, perhaps unsurprisingly, Chinese, with the exceptions of Saudi Arabia¡¯s leading EPC firm Acwa power and Korea¡¯s Hanwha QCells.

Based on the Konya tender rules, local manufacturing of PV modules, cells, wafers and ingots is mandatory. Local manufacturing for the inverters is also mandatory, but there is no clear definition about what comprises a ¡®local¡¯ inverter, so perhaps local assembly alone will be sufficient to qualify for the tender.

A crucial question remains: why would a foreign investor want to build a local manufacturing unit to comply with the tender rules, to be awarded the 1 GW project if the investment is pricey and there is not a strong domestic solar market?

Turkey aims to install 5 GW of solar PV capacity by 2023. To date it has installed about 1 GW of solar PV capacity.

Should a Chinese firm want to target non-Turkish solar markets, they can already do so by selling their modules manufactured in China, which are more price competitive.

A possible answer to the previous question is that Chinese bidders are promised other projects too, not necessarily in the solar PV sector. Chint for instance is a leading investor in power transmission systems, and China Machinery Engineering Corporation is a construction and engineering company. Most of the local Turkish companies too are active in various sectors, outside solar PV.

Nevertheless, Ates Ugurel, founder of Solarbaba, told pv magazine ¡°it is nice to see names like Hanwha QCells, Chint and Acwa Power.¡±

( Mar 14,2017 / pv-magazine.com£©

¡ö Engie plans to acquire RWE¡¯s renewable energy unit Innogy, reports

The French energy giant is offering to acquire Innogy, the renewable energy unit of German power provider RWE. Innogy acquired German developer Belectric and its huge solar power plant portfolio in January.

The French energy giant Engie is planning to acquire German renewable energy company Innogy, a unit of Germany¡¯s power provider RWE, according to Bloomberg, which cited an unidentified source familiar with the matter.

The article reports that Engie is now conducting preliminary deliberations and that a final decision has not yet been taken. Innogy had a market value of approximately €18.6 billion ($19.8 billion) at the close of final trading on Mar. 13, according to Bloomberg.

Meanwhile, German financial newspaper Handelsblatt reported RWE¡¯s Rolf Martin Schmitz as saying that although the company is always considering every option, and is constantly in talks with all market players, a 2015 board resolution obliges the group to maintain a 51% stake in the unit. This means it can sell only the remainder of the 77% stake it currently holds.

Innogy completed the acquisition of German PV power and storage specialist Belectric in January 2017. Through this acquisition, Innogy added much-needed large-scale solar PV and storage capabilities to its portfolio. Belectric¡¯s global portfolio consists of 280 utility-scale solar plants and rooftop arrays, amounting to more than 1.5 GW of installed solar capacity.

Engie has started to expand in the renewable energy sector over the past two years. In May 2016, it acquired 80% of Green Charge Networks (Green Charge), a battery storage company based in California. In July 2015, Engie had acquired a 95% stake in French solar developer Solairedirect for $222 million. The company is currently active in the PV sector through its subsidiaries Engie Green, La Compagnie du Vent, La Compagnie Nationale du Rh?ne (CNR) and Solairedirect.

( Mar 14,2017 / pv-magazine.com£©

¡ö Trina Solar goes private

The Chinese PV maker has completed its merger transaction and will now become a private company. Trading of Trina¡¯s shares on the NYSE have been suspended pending de-listing.

Yesterday Trina Solar announced that it has completed the transaction that will allow it to become a private company. Trina has requested that trading of its shares be suspended on the New York Stock Exchange, pending the de-listing of the company in 90 days or less.

Under the acquisition by a consortium led by Trina Solar Chair and CEO Jifan Gao, Trina will compensate shareholders with $11.60 per share traded on NYSE, for an estimated total of $1.1 billion. The company will formally become part of private company Fortune Solar Holdings Ltd.

For several years Trina was the world¡¯s largest PV module maker, until being edged out of the top stop by JinkoSolar in 2016. The company¡¯s move can be seen in relation to the struggles of many publicly listed solar companies.

¡°2016 was really bad for solar stocks,¡± Mercom Capital CEO Raj Prabhu told pv magazine. ¡°Funding becomes very difficult when the valuation of the company, especially a public company, is down.¡±

The press has speculated that Trina Solar will later re-list on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange or another Asian exchange, which Prabhu says is a possibility. ¡°It all depends on how they are valued,¡± he notes.

( Mar 14,2017 / pv-magazine.com£©

¡ö Canadian Solar signs PPAs with SECI for 80 MW of solar in India¡¯s Maharashtra state

The Chinese solar firm has finalized power purchase agreements with the Solar Energy Corporation of India for 80 MW of solar PV capacity awarded to the company under the recent Maharashtra tender.

Chinese vertically integrated solar company Canadian Solar has announced today that it has agreed power purchase agreements (PPAs) for 80 MW of Indian solar PV capacity with the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI).

The 80 MWac of PV projects were awarded to Canadian Solar under the recent 450 MW solar auction in Maharashtra, a state in the western region of India. Canadian Solar, which has a growing global downstream pipeline of solar parks, will commence construction of this 80 MW capacity later this year.

SECI, which is the Indian government¡¯s corporate solar arm, has signed 25-year PPAs for the solar power to be produced by the projects. For Canadian Solar, the company¡¯s Indian pipeline now stands at 110 MWac, which ¨C according to company CEO Shawn Qu ¨C represents a ¡°significant milestone in one of the world¡¯s fastest-growing renewables markets¡±.

India is poised to supplant Japan as the world¡¯s third-most dynamic solar market in 2017, with most analysts expecting the country to add at least 8 GW of new solar capacity this year, while some suggest that it could reach 10 GW.

Cumulatively, India surpassed that 10 GW threshold in the past few days, but the country still needs to add 90 GW of solar over the next five years if it is to hit its nationally mandated solar target of 100 GW by 2022.

( Mar 14,2017 / pv-magazine.com£©

¡ö Vattenfall uses BMW car batteries for storage projects at winds farms

German car maker BMW will provide Vattenfall with 1,000 lithium-ion car batteries. Vattenfall will use the batteries, which are also used for the vehicle BMW i3, for storage projects at wind farms.

BMW has agreed to provide Sweden-based power company Vattenfall with 1,000 lithium-ion batteries. The batteries, produced at the BMW factory in Dingolfing, southern Germany and commonly used for the BMW i3 electric vehicle, will be used by Vattenfall for storage projects at its wind power stations.

¡°Energy storage and grid stability are the major topics of the new energy world¡±, said Vattenfall vice president Gunnar Groebler. ¡°We want to use the sites where we generate electricity in order to drive the transformation to a new energy system and to facilitate the integration of renewable energies into the energy system with the storage facilities.¡±

Vattenfall said that the first storage project of this kind will be developed at the 122 MW onshore wind farm ¡°Princess Alexia¡± in the Netherlands. The storage system will have a capacity of 3.2 MWh and will be Vattenfall¡¯s largest storage project in the country.

Furthermore, the Swedish power company is planning to develop projects utilizing the BMW batteries at its wind farm Pen y Cymoedd (230 MW) in South Wales, UK.

Vattenfall said it will also use large battery storage at the planned wind farm in Hamburg-Bergedorf, northern Germany. The project is being developed in partnership with the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences (HAW) and the company Nordex.

( Mar 14,2017 / pv-magazine.com£©

¡ö Neoen secures 25-year PPA for 54 MW solar project in Zambia

The French developer has secured a 25-year PPA for Zambia¡¯s largest PV plant. The project, which was selected in an auction held by the World Bank in 2014, will sell power to local utility ZESCO at US$0.0602 per KWh.

French developer and independent power producer Neoen has signed a 25-year power purchase agreement for a 54 MW PV project with ZESCO, Zambia¡¯s national power utility. The plant will sell its power output to Zesco at a price of $0.0602 per KWh. The tariff is non-indexed and represents the equivalent of $0.47 per KWh over contract life.

In a statement to pv magazine, the company has confirmed that the signing of the PPA took place in early March. The securing of the contract marks a big step in the development of the project, which if completed will be Zambia¡¯s largest solar plant, and the first project implemented in the frame of the Scaling Solar program, developed by the World Bank Group (IFC).

Neoen will develop the plant in partnership with U.S. solar manufacturer First Solar, which will provide approximately 450,000 modules for the project, and Zambian public investment fund Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), which will retain a 20% stake in the installation.

The plant will be located in the Lusaka South Multi-Facility Economic Zone and will be developed under Zambia¡¯s utility-scale Independent Power Producers (IPP) scheme.

The $60 million project was selected by the World Bank in an auction held in June 2014. The tender attracted 48 solar power developers, seven of which submitted final proposals. The winners of the first auction were First Solar, Neoen, and Enel Green Power, the renewable energy division of Enel. At the time, the bid of Neoen and First Solar, 6.02 cents per KWh, was a record low for Africa.

In late February, the Zambian government received the greenlight from the World Bank to receive funding and support for the development of 500 MW of new solar PV capacity.

( Mar 14,2017 / pv-magazine.com£©

¡ö Tongwei subsidiary announces joint venture with Longi

Sichuan Yonxiang Co. Ltd, a subsidiary of Chinese industrial giants Tongwei, has announced the creation of a joint venture with Longi Green Energy Technology. The joint venture plans to build a new polysilicon production plant in Sichuan Province, China, with an annual capacity of 50,000 metric tonnes.

An announcement from Tongwei states that the company has signed an ¡®investment agreement¡¯ with Leshan Wutongqiao District People¡¯s Government to invest in the construction of the facility, which will be built in two phases.

The joint venture will have a total investment capital of CNY 1.2 billion (US$173 million). Yongxiang Sichuan will invest CNY 1.02 billion (85%) of the shares, with Longi putting in CNY 180 million (15%).

According to Tongwei, the first phase of the project witll begin construction on June 30 2017, with the plant expected to begin operation in 2018. The second phase will then be implemented based on market demand.

Last month Daqo Energy¡¯s new facility in Xinjiang came online, and several other polysilicon producers are expanding their production in China. There have been estimates that as much as 50,000 MT of new capacity could be in place by the end of 2017. So, if successful, this new joint venture could have major market implications, particularly for those importing into China.

¡°Tongwei¡¯s announced construction schedule for the first 25,000 MT of the polysilicon plant in Leshan is very ambitious,¡± comments Johannes Bernreuter, head of Bernreuter Research. ¡°If successfully implemented, the additional capacity will exacerbate the cut-throat competition on the polysilicon market.¡±

Longi, the largest monocrystalline wafer supplier in the world, continues to pursue an aggressive expansion strategy as its products increase their share of the crystalline silicon market.

In August 2016 the company announced plans for a fab in Malaysia producing ingots, wafers, cells and modules. With this joint venture, Longi is covering another step in the PV supply chain, by adding polysilicon production capacity.

¡°Tongwei is going to build the backbone for Longi¡¯s monoscrystalline expansion strategy,¡± Bernreuter told pv magazine. ¡°Both together are trying to emulate the thriving business model that GCL-Poly has established with its massive combined production capacities for polysilicon and multicrystalline wafers.¡±

( Mar 14,2017 / pv-magazine.com£©

¡ö Sungevity files for bankruptcy amid rumors of IKEA buyout

Four days after laying off an estimated 400 employees, Sungevity has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Meanwhile former employees say that a potential acquisition of the company¡¯s European business by IKEA is afoot.

Two months after Sungevity¡¯s ¡°reverse merger¡± and plans to go public failed, the residential solar installer has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy. As part of the company¡¯s restructuring Sungevity has entered into an agreement under which Northern Pacific Group will acquire all of the company¡¯s assets, including equity interests in the European operations, pending an auction of company.

Sungevity expects to complete the auction and sales process by the end of April. And while the company says that its operations will continue uninterrupted during the bankruptcy proceedings, Sungevity¡¯s statement on its bankruptcy comes four days after employees say they were laid off without notice or severance. The company did not respond to pv magazine requests for information, however the Kansas City Star reported 400 layoffs in California and Missouri.

This comes only two years after Sungevity opened its office in Kansas City, Missouri. A former employee estimates that there are only 150 employees left in the company from a high of 1,200.

Sungevity notes that it has been able to raise $20 million to fund its operations during the bankruptcy and sale process, however use of these funds is subject to court approval.

¡°The actions we have announced today will allow Sungevity to emerge as a stronger and more competitive company,¡± stated Sungevity CEO Andrew Birch. ¡°With its market-leading software platform and its high quality employees who provide unwavering commitment to customers and exceptional service, Sungevity intends to be at the forefront of the industry as solar continues on its growth trajectory in the years ahead.¡±

The bankruptcy filing comes as a former employee revealed to pv magazine that Sungevity was in talks towards a sale of the company¡¯s European business to IKEA. This employee notes that while sales personnel were laid off, the company¡¯s software team was largely intact, which would be important for IKEA to be able to provide in-store quotes on the spot to customers in target markets in Germany and Italy.

GTM Research had listed Sungevity as the United States¡¯ fifth largest residential solar installer in 2016. The company had long touted its asset-light approach, with virtual site assessments that did not require a truck roll and partnerships with installers instead of an in-house team.

However, unlike the leading three installers ¨C SolarCity, Sunrun and Vivint ¨C Sungevity had remained a private company, without access to public market financing. The reverse merger with Easterly would have given it $600 million in capitalization, but since that fell through the company¡¯s fortunes have taken a turn for the worse.

And even for the largest installers, the residential business has not been easy. SolarCity was acquired by Tesla last fall after reporting massive losses for several quarters, and Vivint has struggled to regain its footing and access financing in the wake of a failed acquisition by SunEdison.

( Mar 14,2017 / pv-magazine.com£©

¡ö Panama reports 46 MW of new large-scale solar capacity for 2016

With seven large-scale PV projects connected to the grid last year, Panama has reached a cumulative PV capacity of 89 MW.

Panama added 46 MW of new large-scale PV capacity in 2016, according to local regulator Autoridad de los Servicios P¨²blicos (ASEP). Seven ground-mount PV plants ranging in size from 500 kW to 10 MW were connected to the local grid, thus bringing the country¡¯s cumulative PV capacity to 89 MW.

According to ASEP¡¯s figures, PV represented 2.87% of the country¡¯s power generation capacity at the end of 2016. ASEP reports that operational PV installations were also able to cover 0.67% of the country¡¯s electricity demand last year.

Moreover, ASEP revealed that it has granted final approval to 20 PV projects totaling approximately 300 MW, and provisional approval to 36 solar projects with a combined capacity of 430 MW to date.

There are several different models for large-scale PV development in Panama. Some PV plants sell power to the local grid at market prices, as with the project Divisa Solar developed by UK company Solarcentury, others are entitled to receive a special tariff through an auction mechanism.

Last year, Panama¡¯s government held an auction which was won by a solar project submitted by Italian developer Enel Green Power.

Panama also has a net-metering scheme for PV systems installed for self-consumption. ASEP has previously reported that 109 installations totaling 7 MW were installed in the country under that scheme at the end of March 2016.

( Mar 14,2017 / pv-magazine.com£©

¡ö Italian PV demand maintains steady pace in January, new opportunities for business

The Italian PV market maintains its path of stable growth in January with approximately 25.7 MW in new systems. Meanwhile, the local government agency GSE has published new rules for the revamping and repowering of existing installations. The Italian renewable energy sector believes that the new rules will create new business opportunities for both solar manufacturers and developers.

Italy¡¯s solar capacity increased by about 25.7 MW in January, according to provisional numbers released by local renewable energy association Anie Rinnovabili.

Compared to January 2016, last month¡¯s performances represents a 7% increase. The new capacity comes mostly in the form of residential PV systems up to 20 kW, the association said. January¡¯s growth is substantially in line with the market trend, a monthly increase of about 30 MW, registered over the past two years.

The Italian regions with the largest growth in terms of new MWs were Basilicata, Emilia Romagna, Lazio, Lombardia, Veneto, Valle d¡¯Aosta e Toscana.

The Italian grid operator Terna has also reported that PV was able to cover approximately 3.8% of the country¡¯s electricity demand with 1,082 GWh in January 2017. Power generation from solar source was up 7% from January 2016 and up by 117 GWh from December 2016.

Italy had a cumulative installed PV capacity of around 19.2 GW at the end of 2016.

Meanwhile, the government-owned energy agency GSE has published new rules for the technological improvement of existing PV installations.

The rules are intended to simplify the technical and bureaucratic procedures for the revamping and repowering of PV power systems installed under the country¡¯s FIT scheme Conto Energia, which was closed in mid-2013.

This market segment offers good opportunities for operators of existing systems, taking into account that under the five incentive programs Conto Energia Italy has installed over 17 GW of solar power.

Anie Rinnovabili said that the new rules will provide new business opportunities for solar module and inverter manufacturers, as well as for PV plant operators. Solar project developers will also take advantage of the new rules because they will be involved in implementing the upgrades, the association added.

The revamping procedure is intended to restore original performance to an existing PV installation, while the repowering procedure, which includes the substitution of modules and inverters, is aimed at increasing capacity and production.

( Mar 14,2017 / pv-magazine.com£©

¡ö Global MLPE market to grow to $1.16bn by 2021 in wake of new regulatory requirements, finds Frost & Sullivan

Growth in distributed renewable power generation is sparking raft of regulatory requirements that benefit module level power electronics, says a Frost & Sullivan report.

The global module level power electronics (MLPE) market ¨C comprising DC power optimizers and microinverters ¨C will enjoy a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.4% between now and 2021 as more countries embrace distributed renewable power generation, finds a new report by analyst firm Frost & Sullivan.

Reaching a market value of $1.16 billion in 2021 ¨C up from $648.7 million last year ¨C the MLPE sector will enjoy the benefits of supportive regulatory requirements and energy efficiency drives in both developed and developing markets, the report adds.

The maturing and expanding solar industry will increasingly turn to the power gains proffered by MLPE components, while governments will seek to introduce policies that will increasingly require the types of safety features offered by products such as DC power optimizers, including rapid shutdown capabilities.

Further, the modernization of grid infrastructure will smooth the passage for greater uptake of grid-connected residential and commercial rooftop solar systems fitted with MLPE, while public attitudes towards energy efficiency and clean energy will grow ever more positive.

¡°With movement towards renewable power and distributed power sources, the MLPE market is expected to sustain further significant growth in all regions of the globe,¡± said Frost & Sullivan energy and environment research analyst Manoj Shankar. ¡°To gain a competitive advantage and increase market share in a highly consolidated and fiercely competitive market, MLPE companies must innovate their products to reduce prices, seek geographical expansion, and invest in partnerships or merger and acquisition strategies.¡±

Additional key points raised in the Frost & Sullivan report suggest that low product prices will continue to drive adoption rates of MLPE, with the total MW-level of MLPE-powered installations rising from 3.3 GW in 2016 to 10.7 GW in 2021. This would represent a CAGR of 26.2%, which is more than double the CAGR expected in market growth and highlights how price pressures are biting down hard on the sector.

In emerging solar regions such as Latin America and Africa, the report adds, supportive government policies ¨C allied to lower costs ¨C will boost adoption rates of MLPE, while the growth of rooftop solar in markets traditionally dominated by ground-mounted PV development, namely China and India, will also provide a sustained and substantial boost for the sector.

In the more developed solar markets of the U.S., Japan and Europe, a lack of protocol standards and inconsistent regulations need to be addressed, but the report adds that demand for greater safety will benefit MLPE growth.

Shankar concluded: ¡°Renewable energy targets and regulations are set to play a major role in the development of the MLPE market as countries move towards more efficient and sustainable power generation.¡±

( Mar 14,2017 / pv-magazine.com£©

¡ö Poland added 94 MW of PV capacity in 2016

The Polish solar market has seen its largest growth in 2016 with approximately 94 MW in new installations. The country¡¯s cumulative installed PV power had reached 192 MW at the end of December. A more stable regulatory framework is giving investors more confidence.

Poland¡¯s solar market grew by approximately 94 MW last year. According to provisional figures provided to pv magazine by local PV analyst Piotr Paj?k, which cites data from the polish PV association (PTPV), the country¡¯s installed PV capacity had reached 192.8 MW as of the end of December 2016.

The cumulative capacity at the end of 2015 was 98 MW, while at the end of 2014 Poland had only 27 MW of grid-connected PV installations.

The current cumulative capacity consists of 17,000 PV systems up to 40 kW, totaling 93.7 MW, and 473 installations exceeding 40 kW with a combined capacity of 99.1 MW.

Paj?k believes that in 2017 the Polish PV market will show the same trend registered last year. This year, Paj?k stressed, the first MW-sized PV plants will be connected to the national grid, developed as a result of the auction held last December. Furthermore, Paj?k explained that this year¡¯s growth will benefit from an increasing amount of EU funding. ¡°The regulatory framework now appears stable, and this may finally give investors some confidence in the medium-term,¡± Paj?k said.

The Polish government introduced changes to the country¡¯s renewable energy law in July 2016. The new legislation has created an auction mechanism for PV installations with a power of more than 40 kW and a net-metering scheme for PV systems up to 40 kW.

According to Paj?k, it is currently difficult to accurately assess how the net-metering scheme is performing, because several small-sized PV projects are being implemented mostly thanks to EU funds. Under the scheme, operators of PV systems up to 10 kW are refunded 80% for each kilowatt they inject into the electricity system, while owners of PV installations ranging in size between 10 kW and 40 KW are refunded 70%.

As for the auction mechanism, the government held the first auction in late December. Through the tender, a total of 82 renewable energy projects up to 1 MW were selected, the majority for MW-sized PV plants. The highest bid was 408 PLN ($100.2)/MWh and the lowest 253.5 PLN ($62.2)/MWh.

For 2017, Poland¡¯s Ministry of Energy has planned another auction. The government is considering setting a ceiling price of 450 PLN ($110.5)/MWh for the PV source. This compares to 465 PLN ($114.2)/MWh set for the auction held in December.

Although Poland has recently implemented several policies to improve its energy system, coal power generation still represents in excess of 80% of the country¡¯s electricity mix. In early March, the Polish government formally challenged the EU¡¯s reform of the emissions trading scheme (ETS), which was approved by members states in late February, with 19 votes for and nine against.

Piotr Paj?k represents Polish renewable energy portal Gramwzielone.pl.

( Mar 14,2017 / pv-magazine.com£©

¡ö Burkina Faso: citizens, film festival and country go solar

Financing for two new large-scale PV plants, a 33 MW PV plant under construction and small installations indicate the African country embraces solar technology in order to satisfy its electricity needs.

Speaking last week at the Powering Africa Summit in Washington, D.C., Enoh Ebong, acting director of the U.S. Trade and Development Foundation (USTDA) announced the signature of a grant for a feasibility study for two 17 MW solar PV plants in Burkina Faso. USTDA has provided details for the projects. However, there is also plenty more solar activity taking place in the African country.

33 MW solar PV plant

The construction of a 33 MW PV plant in Zagtouli, is well under way, and according to France¡¯s Development Agency (AFD), a public institution, it will conclude in August 2017 at the latest. This is 14 months after the start of construction in July 2016. Upon its completion, the Zagtouli plant will supply 5% ¨C about 55 GWh per year- of the country¡¯s total electricity consumption at a very competitive price, said the AFD.

Burkina Faso¡¯s 33 MW PV plant is financed by the AFD and the European Union with €22.5 million and €25 million funds respectively.
The European Union had announced the funding in 2012 and the project was expected to already be operational by now. The implementation of the project shows how slow and tricky the development of renewable energy in Africa can be.

Nevertheless, AFD has said that the cost of construction and operation for the first two years of the 33 MW plant is half the initial estimates made in 2010. The solar plant ¡°will produce energy at an extremely low price compared to Sonabel¡¯s [Burkina Faso¡¯s national electricity company] current cost price and will thereby contribute to improving its financial situation,¡± added AFD.

State-owned electricity companies in Africa often operate in dire financial situations, and this is one of the greatest inhibitors of renewable energy on the continent.

Solar-powered cinema and households

A new cinema inaugurated in February in Burkina Faso¡¯s capital Ouagadougou also makes use of solar energy. The Canal Olympia Yennenga cinema, which can seat up to 300 people, will run on solar energy, said France¡¯s Canal Plus group, which owns the cinema. Canal Plus plans to build about 50 other cinemas in Francophone countries across Africa where the group operates.

The new solar-powered cinema in Ouagadougou co-hosted Fespaco, Africa¡¯s top film festival, that runs between 25th February and 4th March, screening about 160 films for its 100,000 visitors.

Speaking at last year¡¯s African Energy Forum in London, Burkina Faso¡¯s minister of energy, mines and quarries Oumar Dissa, said many opportunities for the solar sector lie specifically within the household segment. 80% of our households will be asked to fit renewable energy hybrid systems, e.g. using solar systems, said Dissa, adding that the ministry is also planning solar installations for remote communities.
Presently, only 15% of the Burkinabe population has access to electricity, a figure that drops to 3% in rural areas.

( Mar 14,2017 / pv-magazine.com£©

¡ö Intevac receives order for 12 ion implanters for 1GW N-type mono expansion

Specialist semiconductor and PV equipment supplier Intevac has secured its first significant PV production order for its ¡®ENERGi¡¯ ion implanter tool.

Intevac said the order was for 12 ENERGi ion implant systems for advanced solar cell manufacturing, following 2 previous unit orders from the same company that were shipped in 2016. Combined, the tools provide 1GW of N-type monocrystalline solar cell and bi-facial capacity.

"Our customer's capacity expansion of high-efficiency bi-facial solar cells incorporates our ion implant source technology as a key enabler in achieving higher-efficiency N-type solar cells," said Chris Smith, vice president of business development for Intevac's Thin-film Equipment business. "Over the past several months, we have collaborated with our customer to optimize the cell efficiency and drive for an overall lower cost-of-ownership to enable this advanced cell design."

Intevac noted that the 12 follow-on systems were scheduled to ship in the second half of 2017.

"The industry is beginning its transition to higher-efficiency solar cells, which reduce the Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE)," commented Wendell Blonigan, president and chief executive officer of Intevac. "Securing this record solar order from a leading cell manufacturer in China validates the capability and value proposition of our implant technology for high-efficiency solar cell manufacturing, and demonstrates continued and meaningful progress in our Thin-film Equipment growth strategy."

( Mar 13,2017 / pv-tech.org£©

¡ö CEFC invests AU$77 million in Queensland and Victoria PV farms

Australia¡¯s Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) has invested AU$77 million (US$58.3 million) in three solar projects in Queensland and Victoria.

The CEFC, Commonwealth Bank and Germany's NORD/LB have committed to a syndicated senior debt facility to support the three projects with Edify Energy and Wirsol providing equity. CEFC said this is Australia's largest solar project financing deal to date.

The projects with a combined capacity of 165MW(ac) are due to come online by 2018. These include:

- The 57.5MW(ac) Whitsunday Solar Farm, north of Collinsville, which has a 20-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with the Queensland Government,

- The 57.5MW(ac) Hamilton Solar Farm, also north of Collinsville, with energy to be sold to the grid mainly through an uncontracted or merchant basis.

- The 50MW(ac) Gannawarra Solar Farm, west of Kerang in Victoria, which has a 13-year PPA with EnergyAustralia
CEFC has now surpassed its original AU$250 million target under Australia's large-scale solar programme, reaching AU$281 million of commitments to seven projects so far.

CEFC large-scale solar programme lead, Gloria Chan said: ¡°The Commonwealth Bank and NORD/LB worked alongside the CEFC to complete the financing over a longer tenor, which is notable given the merchant price risk component of the project. This trend of increasing competition and appetite for renewables among domestic lenders is central to the ongoing development of large scale solar in Australia."

The CEFC recently announced a $150 million investment commitment to three large-scale solar projects in regional New South Wales, as well as a $54 million commitment to the innovative Kidston Solar Project near Townsville, which is looking to combine solar generation with pumped hydro storage.

( Mar 13,2017 / pv-tech.org£©

¡ö Africa can¡¯t afford to wait for energy investment, claims Kofi Annan report

Africa cannot wait for the development of electricity infrastructure and should exploit more quickly deployable solutions such as solar PV, according to a report by Kofi Annan¡¯s Africa Progress Panel.

The report, Lights Power Action, calls for a diverse energy mix with an emphasis on immediate deployment of off-grid solar power to help the continent¡¯s 620 million people without electricity. This should be in tandem with the improvement of grid infrastructure.

¡°What we are advocating is for African governments to harness every available option, in as cost-effective and technologically efficient a manner as possible, so that everyone is included and no one is left behind,¡± said Kofi Annan, chair of the Africa Progress Panel.

The report also talks up the use of mini-grids to help what it calls the ¡°missing middle¡±, those living between rural areas targeted for micro-scale off-grid solutions and areas connected to grid infrastructure.

¡°Traditional approaches to extending the grid are no longer viable as the main option for African countries,¡± Annan said. ¡°They will take too long and will not meet the needs of our growing economies and societies. Instead, governments and their partners need to seize the opportunity to re-imagine their energy futures.

¡°As our new report shows, where there is good leadership, there are excellent prospects for energy transition,¡± added Annan. ¡°We know what is needed to reduce and ultimately eliminate Africa¡¯s energy deficit. Now we must focus on implementation. The time for excuses is over. It¡¯s time for action¡±.

Philanthropist Bill Gates has led calls for rapidly urbanising Africa to focus on developing its grid infrastructure. Intergovernmental efforts to boost renewable energy in Africa have tended to focus at the extreme ends of the scale. Utility-scale solar projects sprang up in a number of new markets during the last 12 months.

The Annan report drew on expertise from the World Bank, a host of think tanks, former heads of state and private sector groups including Blackstone and Lazards.

( Mar 13,2017 / pv-tech.org£©

¡ö Microquanta claims 15.24% perovskite mini-module efficiency record

China-based thin-film PV firm Hangzhou Microquanta Semiconductor has claimed a new efficiency record for perovskite mini-modules of 15.24%, certified by Newport PV Lab in Montana, US.

The tested mini-module has an aperture size of more than 16cm2.

Microquanta said that by passing the 15% efficiency milestone for the first time, with previous records around the 12% mark, it has moved significantly closer towards commercialization of perovskite solar cells. It also claimed that perovskite mini-modules are desirable since they can reduce the manufacturing cost of current c-Si based solar cells by between 60-80%

Professor Yang Yang, from engineering institute, UCLA, said: ¡°In the past, perovskite solar cell is more or less like an academic research project, but with the new results from those young scientists, it has [moved] one giant step closer to the commercial applications.¡±

Professor Jenny Nelson, Royal Society fellow of the Physics Department, Imperial College London, said: ¡°Perovskite semiconductors are one of the most exciting materials for solar photovoltaic energy conversion, as they have led to remarkably high power conversion efficiencies in spite of being made by relatively simple, low cost techniques.

¡°Until now, one of the bottlenecks in bringing perovskite solar panels to market has been the drop in performance in a module, where many cells are linked together, compared to a single cell. Before this breakthrough the best performance of a perovskite mini-module was 12.1%, and now Microquanta have pushed the record to 15.2%.¡±

Microquanta was established in Huangzhou in 2015.

Last May, Imec and its Solliance partners fabricated a semi-transparent perovskite PV-module, achieving power conversion efficiencies up to 12%.

( Mar 13,2017 / pv-tech.org£©

¡ö India¡¯s domestic manufacturers let down again

Just when forecasts for India¡¯s solar manufacturers in 2017 projected a dire outlook, energy minister Piyush Goyal has said in parliament that the previously touted incentives package for domestic firms will not be moving forward for the foreseeable future.

Consultancy firm Mercom Capital Group reported Goyal's announcement that the previously considered incentive programme had seen no progress, despite the domestic industry ¡°eagerly awaiting¡± news of this special package to help them compete within the sector.

The news comes a week after Bridge to India forecast ¡°another year from hell¡± for domestic manufacturers, as a result of demand within China falling significantly and import prices being driven down even further.

Mercom listed the multiple challenges facing local manufacturers such lack of access to capital for R&D. Meanwhile, even the latest Budget in January left manufacturers disappointed and the current incentive for electronics manufacturers, known as the Modified Special Incentive Package Scheme (M-SIPS), has been mired with delays.

Operational capacity in India includes 1,448MW for solar cells and 5,426MW for modules as of the end of last year - although there is much more capacity in the country which is either out of date or obsolete.

In contrast to the manufacturing side, India's downstream sector moves from strength to strength having officially crossed 10GW installations late last week, according to the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.

( Mar 13,2017 / pv-tech.org£©

¡ö India crosses 10GW solar deployment ¨C MNRE

India has surpassed the 10GW solar PV installation milestone having tripled its capacity in less than three years, according to a late night Tweet on Friday from energy and mines minister Piyush Goyal.

Details on how the landmark was reached have yet to be released by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), although local news outlets claim that the crossing was made when India¡¯s largest utility NTPC commissioned another 45MW of PV at Bhadla Solar Power project, near Jodhpur, in the state of Rajasthan. That project now stands at 160MW in operation and NTPC has crossed the 500MW mark with 520MW solar commissioned.

Bright Future: India has crossed 10,000 MW of Solar power capacity today. More than 3 times increase in less than 3 years.¡ª¡ª Piyush Goyal (@PiyushGoyal) March 10, 2017

By the end of February this year, installations stood at 9,567MW and despite capacities being well below the financial year target of 12GW in 2016/17, most industry members are in awe of India¡¯s progress since the 100GW by 2022 target was confirmed by MNRE in 2015.

However, it's worth noting that consultancy firm Bridge to India reported that India actually crossed the 10GW solar deployment mark last November.

Tariffs are still reaching record lows as seen at the historic Rewa tender for 750MW in Madhya Pradesh last month with sub-three rupee prices. These were driven by an environment of capital flowing into India as well as a unique tender structure and PV equipment price declines. Even wind power prices are closing back in on solar, as seen in the latest Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) tender, where they reached around INR3.46/kWh (US$0.052).

( Mar 13,2017 / pv-tech.org£©

¡ö Daqo shifting polysilicon production to meet demand for high-efficiency mono wafers

China-based polysilicon producer Daqo New Energy is responding to the need for higher specification polysilicon demand by increased adoption of high-efficiency mono wafers, notably being required for PERC (Passivated Emitter Rear Contact) solar cells.

Gongda Yao, founder and CEO of Daqo New Energy said in its recent fourth quarter and full-year earnings call that it was experiencing a shift in the PV industry towards P-type mono wafers and cells.

¡°In particular, we are seeing a shift in industry trend, with rising demand and increasing manufacturing capacities for high-efficiency mono crystalline solar wafers and solar cells,¡± noted Yao. ¡°This has translated to increased demand for high-purity semiconductor-grade polysilicon, which only very few Chinese domestic manufacturers are able to supply.

At Daqo New Energy, we are currently upgrade[ing] our distillation process at adding specially devised [indiscernible] distillation system which will further remove impurities and improve the quality of polysilicon product. With our upgraded process high purity product Daqo New Energy is uniquely positioned to address the growth demand high-efficiency mono crystalline solar market,¡± added Yao.

Such is the demand for polysilicon that meets monocrystalline wafers and cells that Daqo expects to shift around 50% of its 18,000MT annual capacity to mono-spec requirements. The company also noted that PV manufacturers were willing to offer pre-payments to secure supply, due to limited supply compared to demand.

The company has had to increase R&D expenses to US$2.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2016, compared to US$1 million in the previous quarter to ensure its ability to meet mono-spec requirements, which included process upgrades for quality enhancement, according to the company.

There would also be a knock-on effect of increasing capital expenditures in 2017, specifically for mono demand. Daqo noted that CapEx for the full year would be approximately US$40 million to US$45 million with a certain emphasis on production projects that were specifically designed to improve purity, such as upgrading on distillation systems with technology that removes impurities from the distillation process.

Daqo noted that due to the mono shift at certain Chinese cell producers it had won new customers was witnessing strong orders and robust pricing for high quality polysilicon with demand still exceeding its recently expanded production volume to 18,000MT per annum, up 6,000MT after completing its expansion in Xinjiang, China.

Financial results

Daqo reported fourth quarter 2016 revenue of US$46.1 million, compared to US$54.3 million in the previous quarter. The company achieved a gross margin of 30.7% compared to 37.1% in the third quarter of 2016.
The company reported external polysilicon sales volume of 2,209MT in the quarter, compared to 2,838MT in the previous quarter. Annual maintenance and facility upgrades were responsible for the lower shipments in the quarter. The decrease in polysilicon revenue was also due to lower polysilicon ASP¡¯s.

In the quarter, polysilicon ASP was US$14.96/kg, compared to US$15.64/kg in the third quarter of 2016. Wafer sales volume was 21.3 million pieces, up from 14.4 million pieces in the previous quarter.

"The fourth quarter of 2016 was an important milestone for Daqo New Energy. During the quarter, we successfully completed our annual maintenance work and interconnections between our new facilities and existing facilities in Xinjiang at the same time. We also successfully completed all the construction and installation work related to Phase 3A polysilicon expansion. As maintenance, construction, installation of new equipment, and interconnection of facilities were conducted concurrently, our annual maintenance for 2016 took longer than usual to complete. However, the combination of these efforts allowed us to start initial production of our expanded production capacity in the first quarter of 2017, months ahead of our original schedule. We have already reached full production throughput of 18,000 MT per annum by the end of February 2017," said Dr. Gongda Yao, Chief Executive Officer of Daqo New Energy.

Full-year 2016 revenue was US$229.1 million, an increase of 25.9% from US$182.0 million in 2015.

Revenues from polysilicon sales to external customers were US$167.5 million in 2016, an increase of 33.0% from US$125.9 million in 2015.

Revenues from wafer sales were US$61.6 million in 2016, an increase of 9.7% from US$56.1 million in 2015. Wafer sales volume was 82.8 million pieces, an increase of 8.3% from 76.4 million pieces in 2015. Gross profit was US$80.4 million in 2016, an increase of 114.2% from US$37.6 million in 2015. Gross margin was 35.1% in 2016, which increased from 20.6% in 2015.

Guidance

Daqo said that it expected polysilicon production volume would reach 4,300MT to 4,500MT in the first quarter of 2017 and sell approximately 3,800MT to 4,000MT to external customers in the first quarter of 2017, a new record high for the company.

Wafer sales volume is expected to be approximately 23.5 million to 24 million pieces for the first quarter of 2017.

( Mar 13,2017 / pv-tech.org£©

¡ö RENA Technologies wins large orders from Asia for mono c-Si wafer texturing

Specialist PV manufacturing equipment supplier RENA Technologies has secured several major orders from Asia-based PV cell manufacturers for its alkaline texturing and junction isolation tools in the first quarter of 2017.

RENA Technologies noted that the orders equated to the production capacity of more than 4.5GW of monocrystalline silicon solar cells, which included the RENA BatchTex ¡®N400¡¯ texturing tools that enables high throughput alkaline texturing, as well as the RENA ¡®InOxSide+¡¯ inline systems that combines junction isolation and rear side smoothing for high efficiency solar cells.

¡°We are very happy that our customers continue to rely on the quality of our wet processing equipment to ramp their capacity in the field of high efficiency solar products,¡± states Dr. Christian Peter, VP Sales of RENA Technologies GmbH.

The monocrystalline solar cell equipment orders come on the back of a major order in September, 2016 from LONGi Solar, formerly LERRI Solar for the same equipment for the equivalent of 2GW of monocrystalline PERC (Passivated Emitter Rear Contact) solar cell production.

New DWS texturing technology for multicrystalline wafers

RENA Technologies also said ahead of PV CellTech conference in Penang, Malaysia that it had developed texturing solutions for diamond wire sawn multicrystalline silicon wafers with its ¡°InTex-E¡± process that uses metal-free chemistry based on HF/HNO3 etching solutions and allows for inline processing at similar footprints compared to conventional acidic texturing tools.

The industry-wide decline in wafer ASP¡¯s has led to the adoption of diamond wire sawing (DWS) technology for multicrystalline silicon wafers that avoids using slurry chemicals. However, this creates challenges in providing a cost-effective solution for texturing the wafer surfaces to limit saw damage produced by diamond wire sawing.

A keynote presentation at PV CellTech 2017 from Canadian Solar will highlight the challenges and solutions for multicrystalline wafers using diamond wire saws and texturing needs to keep P-type multi competitive with P-type mono on cost and cell conversion efficiency metrics, especially due to around 80% of solar cell manufacturing footprint currently dependent on P-type multi cells.

RENA Technologies highlighted that its InTex-E process allows for (weighted) reflection values well below the typical level of RW~26-28% for an acidic texture to values below RW<20%, indicating that its process could meet P-type multi specification requirements.

( Mar 13,2017 / pv-tech.org£©

¡ö Intevac reports massive ion implant tool order

The company¡¯s ENERGi systems will be used to enable a more than 1 GW expansion of high-efficiency n-type mono cell capacity for an un-named customer in China, a big boost for the technology.

Someone in China is setting up a very large factory for high-efficiency solar cells.

Today Intevac reported an order for 12 of its ENERGi ion implant systems by an un-named customer in China, which will enable a more than 1 GW expansion of solar cell capacity. The California-based tool maker has identified that this is the same Chinese customer that ordered two systems in 2016, which were shipped in the second half of the year.

While Intevac¡¯s ion implant systems are part of its Thin Film business, the company has revealed that these tools will be used to enable higher efficiencies in the Chinese PV maker¡¯s bi-facial n-type monocrystalline silicon PV cell production. And while more details about the technology to be supported were not available, this will be a significant expansion for bi-facial n-type mono cell capacities. N-type mono cells were only 5% of the global PV cell market in 2016, according to the latest edition of the German Engineering Federation¡¯s (VDMA) International Technology Roadmap for Photovoltaics.

These 12 ENERGi systems are scheduled to ship in the second half of 2017, and Intevac says that revenue recognition will be dependent upon the timing of customer sign-off. The company will provide an update to its revenue guidance during its first-quarter results call scheduled for May 1, 2017.

( Mar 13,2017 / pv-magazine.com£©

¡ö Etrion posts $110.4 million net loss in 2016

The independent power producer recorded a net loss of $110.4 million from its continuing operations ¡ª up sharply from $27.5 million a year earlier ¡ª due to impairment expenses totalling $75.7 million, in addition to a net deferred tax write-off of $6.9 million.

However, revenue from its 104 MW portfolio in Japan and Chile jumped 46.2% year on year to $15.2 million, according to its audited financial statements for the year to the end of December 2016.

Its sole 70 MW project in Chile generated about 159.4 GWh of electricity in 2016, while its operational 34 MW portfolio in Japan produced roughly 15.2 GWh over the same period.

¡°We are all about Japan. Great market, excellent opportunities and very attractive economics,¡± said Marco Northland, chief executive of the Geneva-based company, which is incorporated in Canada and listed on the stock exchanges in Toronto and Stockholm. ¡°Our decision to double down in this market is paying off.¡±

The company, which has partnered with Hitachi High-Tech in Japan, sees the country as its most promising, lowest-risk market.

In December, it sold its 60 MW Italian solar portfolio to EF Solare Italia ¡ª a joint venture under Enel Green Power and Fondo Italiano per le Infrastrutture ¡ª for an initial cash consideration of €78.1 million.

It said it divested its Italian assets partly to free up cash to expand in Japan.

Etrion completely exited the Italian market with the transaction, which offered a gain of $61.3 million.

In December, it announced plans to repurchase €40 million of the principal amount of its outstanding corporate bonds, at 100% of par value in addition to accrued unpaid interest.

Its cash balance hit $61.2 million at the end of the year, largely because of the divestiture of its Italian assets.

In October, its 24.7 MW project in Shizukuishi ¡ª in northern Japan¡¯s Iwate prefecture ¡ª started feeding electricity into the grid.

The company is now working on the second phase of a 9.5 MW project in Aomori prefecture. It connected the initial 5.3 MW phase to the grid in February 2017 and expects to finish building the second 4.2 MW by the third quarter of this year.

It recently reached financial close on two projects, with $61 million in project finance secured from Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank to back the construction of the 9.5 MW Aomori project.

Those funds will also be used to finance the development of a 13.2 MW array in Japan. The project in Komatsu, Ishikawa prefecture, will be operational by the third quarter of 2018.

In addition, it expects to be ready to start construction on a 40-50 MW installation in southern Japan¡¯s Kumamoto prefecture by the third or fourth quarter of this year.

The company has 17.4 MW under construction at four locations in Japan, in addition to 200 MW of greenfield solar capacity it aims to build in the country.

It also owns a 70% stake in the operational 70 MW Project Salvador solar plant in northern Chile. The project has a PPA $0.10/kWh for the first 70 GWh of generation and a spot price forecast prepared by third-party consultants for the remaining capacity.

( Mar 13,2017 / pv-magazine.com£©

¡ö Asys introduces new metallization line

German equipment supplier Asys today announced the launch of its new dual lane metallization line for crystalline silicon cell production, Alignus 1.5s. The line features a high level of automation, as part of the company¡¯s Industry 4.0 approach, and aims to decrease cell metallization process times.

As its name would suggest, the Alignus 1.5s has a cycle time of 1.5 seconds. As such, the platform can process up to 4,800 wafers per hour. Asys says that this marks just the beginning of the process time reduction on the company¡¯s new metallization platform.

Alignus 1.5s is compatible with established cell technologies such as PERC and metal wrap through, as well as other emerging concepts including bifacial and heterojunction.

A cell-testing platform developed by Asys subsidiary Botest, which can be used on busbar configurations from two up to six busbars, is included in the line. Asys say that it can boost productivity via minimizing contact resistance using a motorized contacting unit. Performing alignment alongside testing reduces the time required for quality assurance, Asys claims.

The new Alignus metallization lines are compatible with Asys¡¯ PULSE solution, whereby warnings and system information can be sent directly to a tablet or smartwatch. By connecting operators to the production tools in this way, through the application of what is termed an Industry 4.0 approach, the PULSE platform can allow for materials to be restocked and parameters adjusted in a proactive fashion.

PULSE has already been successfully installed in several PV production lines, with improved efficiency and reduction of line stops confirmed from the customer side, according to Asys.

The December 2016 edition of pv magazine features an interview with Asys¡¯ Manager Business and Product Portfolio Development Florian Ritter and Head of Technology Sales, Solar, Harald Wanka about the PULSE platform.

( Mar 13,2017 / pv-magazine.com£©

¡ö Power Electronics provides 275 MW of inverters for two Mexican projects

The devices will be used by Spanish developer Iberdrola Renovables to build two large-scale PV projects in Sonora and San Luis de Potos¨ª.

Spanish inverter manufacturer Power Electronics will provide Spain-based renewable energy developer Iberdrola Renovables with 275 MW of its HEC V1500 inverters.

Iberdrola will use the inverters for a 105 MW (AC) solar project in the state of Sonora, northern Mexico, and a 170 MW (AC) PV plant in the state of San Luis de Potos¨ª, in the central area of the country.

Both projects will sell power and the related clean energy certificates (CEL) to local industrial customers under a PPA, according to Iberdrola.

Power Electronics stressed that through this supply agreement it has entered the Mexican market, where it is already active in other industrial segments. Mexico¡¯s PV market, the company said, has become a primary target since the local government introduced a new regulatory framework for solar and renewables.

Last year, the Mexican government has begun holding auctions for large-scale renewable energy projects. In the first two auctions, local authorities allocated approximately 3.6 GW of solar generation capacity.

( Mar 13,2017 / pv-magazine.com£©

¡ö Enertronica secures engineering contract for 50 MW of solar in the U.S.

The Italian solar company has secured an engineering contract to build two PV plants totaling 50 MW in the United States. Furthermore, Enertronica has set up a new subsidiary in Delaware.

Italian solar project developer and inverter manufacturer Enetronica Spa announced it has secured the engineering contract for the construction of two PV plants with a combined capacity of 50 MW in the United States.

The engineering services will be provided by Enertronica Inc, a new subsidiary, which will be based in Delaware and will have two offices in Massachusetts and Nevada. The plants will be installed between 2017 and 2018, the company reported.

The agreement, which is expected to be finalized by the end of this year, is worth approximately $500,000. The company said that, following the signing of this contract, it will be also involved in the construction of the two plants.

The full EPC contract supply will be provided by the company and its subsidiary specializing in the production of solar inverters Elettronica Santerno, whose U.S. unit Santerno Inc. has been active in the country for several years. Elettronica Santerno is currently providing O&M services for around 280 MW of PV plants in California.

Enetronica acquired a 51% stake in Elettronica Santerno from Italian industrial conglomerate Carraro Group in November 2016. The company acquired the controlling interest through the subscription of a capital increase in cash totaling €2.25 million ($2.40 million). Carraro said this sum was exclusively dedicated to the revival of the unit and in investments in R&D. Enertronica now has the option to acquire a further 8% interest through another capital increase of €1 million ($1.0 million) by the end of 2018.

According to Carraro¡¯s 2016 financial results, Elettronica Santerno closed 2016 with total turnover of €36.1 million ($38.5 million), an increase of 2.8% compared to €35.2 million ($37.5 million) in 2015. Last year¡¯s results, however, do not include the month of December.

( Mar 13,2017 / pv-magazine.com£©

¡ö CEFC finances 165 MW at three sites in Australia

Clean Energy Finance Corp.¡¯s (CEFC) has announced its latest round of solar financing, with A$77 million ($58.3 million) to support the development of three projects in the states of Queensland and Victoria.

The state-owned green lender described the transaction as the biggest single solar financing agreement in Australian history.

CEFC, Commonwealth Bank and Germany¡¯s NORD/LB are offering a syndicated senior debt facility to back the development of the three projects. Sydney-based developer Edify Energy, in cooperation with Germany¡¯s Wirsol, will provide equity.

¡°This latest package of transactions sets an exciting new benchmark in the provision of finance,¡± said Gloria Chan, large-scale solar program lead for CEFC.

¡°The Commonwealth Bank and NORD/LB worked alongside the CEFC to complete the financing over a longer tenor, which is notable given the merchant price risk component of the project. This trend of increasing competition and appetite for renewables among domestic lenders is central to the ongoing development of large scale solar in Australia.¡±

Edify Energy is developing the 57.5 MW Whitsunday array near the town of Collinsville. It has a 20-year PPA with the Queensland state government and is also receiving A$9.5 million in grants from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA).

Edify Energy is also building the 57.5 MW Hamilton project near Collinsville. Electricity from the array will be sold to the grid on a merchant basis.

The third project that CEFC is funding is the 50 MW Gannawarra array near Kerang, Victoria. The project has a 13-year PPA with Melbourne-based power retailer EnergyAustralia.

The three sites ¡ª which will create 300 construction jobs and annually generate enough electricity for 87,000 homes upon completion ¡ª will be operational by the beginning of 2018.

¡°Large-scale solar is finally growing at a pace and making a real impact in Australia¡¯s energy mix,¡± said John Cole, chief executive of Edify Energy.

The CEFC has now surpassed its initial plan to provide A$250 million of financing for large-scale solar projects.

Its cumulative commitments currently stand at A$281 million for seven projects, with financing to wrap up soon for other undisclosed installations.

In February, it agreed to provide A$54 million of debt financing to Genex Power to support the construction of 50 MW of solar and a 250 MW pumped hydro storage installation at a former gold mine in Kidston, Queensland.

( Mar 13,2017 / pv-magazine.com£©

¡ö Over 50,000 solar storage systems are now installed in Germany

The increase in new installations was mainly due to a 40% drop in prices over the past three years. German solar association Bundesverbands Solarwirtschaft expects their number will double to 100,000 in 2018.

According to provisional figures provided by German solar energy association Bundesverbands Solarwirtschaft (BSW-Solar), there are now approximately 52,000 operational storage systems serving PV installations in Germany. This number corresponds to a capacity of approximately 300 MWh, a BSW spokesperson told pv magazine.

Last year, the association said, about 20,000 new storage systems were installed in the country. This growth was mainly attributable to an increasing demand for self-consumption, as well as to decreasing prices.

BSW-Solar finds that prices for solar storage systems in Germany dropped by around 40% over the past three years. The association, however, has not provided specific numbers about current market prices.

Furthermore, BSW-Solar reports that one out of two individuals who plan to install a residential PV system also intends to install a battery technology. The association added it remains quite optimistic about the future of solar+storage in Germany, and that an increase in demand for this technology over the next two years is very likely.

The association forecasts that in 2018 the number of installed solar storage systems in Germany could surpass 100,000.

( Mar 13,2017 / pv-magazine.com£©

¡ö Swansea University team develop new method to improve CZTS efficiency

A research team from the SPECIFIC Innovation and Knowledge Centre at Swansea University has developed a method that could lead to efficiency improvements in CZTS solar cells.

Copper zinc tin sulfide (CZTS) has long been seen as a potential alternative to CIGS in thin film production, as it is based on materials that are cheaper and more abundant. However, its conversion efficiency has lagged behind that of CIGS. The current record for CZTS stands 7.6% for a full sized solar cell, and 12.7% for a smaller research cell, compared with 22.3% for CIGS.

The team at Swansea University etched several samples of CZTS using a sodium sulfide solution. They then used Raman spectroscopy, a technique where samples are illuminated using a laser beam and viewed under a microscope, to observe the material¡¯s performance.

¡°Raman spectroscopy is a powerful technique to identify a number of CZTS and secondary phases at the surface,¡± said a spokesperson for the research team. ¡°Raman mapping could play a significant role in monitoring absorber film quality during industrial production.¡±

Further monitoring of photoluminescence showed that the etching process had improved the material¡¯s performance. ¡°These results help us to apply the most suitable etching in device fabrication of CZTS solar cells,¡± stated the team in a press release. ¡°Future studies will focus on exploring links between Raman mapping and CZTS solar cell performance.¡±

( Mar 13,2017 / pv-magazine.com£©

¡ö Reunert takes 51% interest in South African EPC contractor Terra Firma Solutions

The South-African investment company has acquired a 51% stake in solar EPC contractor Terra Firma Solutions. The company provides EPC services for rooftop solar projects in sub-Saharan Africa

South Africa-based investment company Reunert, which manages a portfolio of businesses in the fields of electrical engineering, information communication technologies and applied electronics, announced it has agreed to acquire a 51% interest in South African solar EPC contractor Terra Firma Solutions.

The company said that, through this operation, it intends to move towards renewable energy and independent power production. Reunert noted that Terra Firma has a strong order book and firm relationships with major property and industrial groups. The company, Reunert said, is operating in South Africa, ¡°but also north of our borders¡±.

Financial terms of the transaction were not revealed.

Terra Firma Solutions has installed approximately 10 MW of PV capacity to date. The company offers a turnkey solar PV solution from feasibility study to turning on and maintaining the system.

Prior to this transaction, Terra Firma Solutions¡¯s largest shareholders were management and staff. Contributing shareholders are also the Lubner Family and local financial services provider SASFIN Bank.

( Mar 13,2017 / pv-magazine.com£©

¡ö Indian solar capacity triples in three years to push past 10 GW

Tweet by Indian power minister Piyush Goyal confirms that cumulative solar PV capacity in India has now risen beyond 10 GW, with a further 14 GW pipeline knocking at the door, and an additional 6 GW to be auctioned soon.

Death, taxes, and Indian solar reaching and surpassing 10 GW: the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) at the weekend confirmed the inevitable, with power minister Piyush Goyal tweeting: ¡°Bright Future: India has crossed 10,000 MW of solar power capacity today. More than three times increase in less than three years.¡±

In May 2014, India¡¯s cumulative solar PV capacity stood at 2.6 GW. Since then, the wheels of development have turned remarkably quickly, with a 45 MW solar project in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, developed by NTPC Ltd, taking that cumulative figure beyond 10 GW over the past few days.

India seeks to accelerate this rate of development further towards its ambitious 100 GW by 2022 target, and has an estimated 14 GW of solar projects under construction or soon-to-be developed. Furthermore, the Indian government will auction 6 GW of additional solar capacity very soon, and analysts expect India to leapfrog Japan to become the world¡¯s third-most dynamic solar market in 2017, potentially joining China and the U.S. in posting double-digit GW growth.

Last year, India¡¯s solar footprint grew by around 4 GW, and the government has been proactive in amending and molding policy to ensure continued investment in the nation¡¯s ground-mounted sector. Such incentives include cheaper renewable energy certificates (RECs) and a broader solar park target.

The market has duly responded, posting some of the world¡¯s cheapest solar power prices ¨C most notably in Madhya Pradesh, where an auction for 750 MW of solar capacity set a new low tariff of INR 2.97 per unit ($0.0444/kWh) in February.

( Mar 13,2017 / pv-magazine.com£©

¡ö Vietnam greenlights $3.3bn worth of solar PV projects ¨C reports

Country¡¯s Dak Lak province grants series of MoUs and licences for a raft of solar PV projects, including a reported 300 ¨C 500 MW solar farm to be developed by U.S. power firm AES Corporation and a mooted 2 GW project by local firm Xuan Thien Daklak, reports Reuters.

Vietnam could be poised to drastically accelerate its domestic solar PV market, with a reported $3.3 billion worth of projects last weekend given the go-ahead, according to Reuters.

Reports suggest that close to 3 GW of solar PV capacity could be constructed in the Vietnamese province of Dak Lak over the next few years, most notably in the form of a 2 GW solar PV plant to be developed by Vietnamese power firm Xuan Thien Daklak.

The proposed 2 GW plant would be located in the province¡¯s Central Highlands, says Reuters, and has already been granted a provincial government licence. Investment in the plant is likely to reach more than $2.2 billion.

Meanwhile, the local government also granted a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to U.S. power developer AES Corporation for a proposed 300 to 500 MW solar farm, which will attract investment of $750 million.

Further government licences were granted to South Korean developer Solar Park Global, which is eyeing a $45 million PV project in Vietnam, and local developer Long Thanh Infrastructure Development and Investment Company, which has outlined plans to build a 250 MW solar installation in the country.

Vietnam¡¯s solar journey thus far has largely been rooted in its attractiveness as a manufacturing hub for large Chinese firms. GCL, for example, recently invested in a 600 MW cell fab in the country, following on from JA Solar¡¯s $320 million investment in a solar cell facility in November. However, local media has reported that construction of this factory has been halted because the local Bac Giang Province government gave the go-ahead without first securing the proper construction or environmental permits. Work is expected to resume at the site later this Spring once the proper paperwork has been filed, reports suggest.

( Mar 13,2017 / pv-magazine.com£©

¡ö Certified PV project is first of its kind in Jordan

The certification of a 5 MW solar PV plant in Jordan is the first of its kind in the Middle Eastern country and opens up new trade opportunities.

T¨¹V Austria Hellas has performed the technical inspection and certification of a 5 MW net metered PV plant according to standard EN 62446, the company said recently.

The ground-mounted plant is installed at the Jordan University of Science and Technology (JUST).

¡°This project is the first PV power plant that receives this kind of certification in Jordan, which involves testing and certification procedures to ensure the quality, safety and performance of the plant as a whole, as well as its components. In addition, the application of the EN 62446 standard implies a ¡®top quality¡¯ installation and safety precautions resulting in trouble-free operation and the highest energy/financial performance for the University,¡± commented the company.

Samer Zawaydeh, a Jordan-based freelance engineering consultant, told pv magazine that ¡°there are third parties that are certified to issue certificates according to this standard and T¨¹V is one of them, and they were asked to test and certify the first plant in Jordan.¡±

The certification of a PV plant¡¯s design and construction in Jordan is a ¡°good development because it can lead to more quality projects, and since this is an international body, you expect their judgement is neutral,¡± added Zawaydeh.

pv magazine has previously reported on Jordan¡¯s net metering boom, especially in the academic sector, where universities adopt solar PV technology to reduce their electricity bills.

The certification of a PV project can eventually make it more tradable, when projects are perhaps required to change ownership.

( Mar 13,2017 / pv-magazine.com£©

¡ö Algeria to launch 4 GW solar tender by the end of March

The Algerian government is set to launch a tender for the construction of large-scale PV projects totaling 4 GW. The tender will be held in three 1,350 MW phases and will select projects with an average capacity of 100 MW.

Algeria¡¯s Ministry of Energy will launch a tender for the installation of 4,020 MW of PV capacity by the end of this month or at the latest by early April, according to government-owned news portal Portail Algerien des Energies Renouvelables citing a statement from Mohamed Arkab, the CEO of local gas and energy provider CEEG SpA, a subsidiary of Algerian state-owned electric and gas utility Sonelgaz (National Society for Electricity and Gas).

Arkab said the tender, which will be conducted by CEEG in three 1,350 MW phases, is part of the country¡¯s renewable energy policy issued by the government in 2015.

The tender will enable the construction of several large-scale PV plants in the region of Hautes Plaines (High Plains), which is located in the northern part of the country, and also in southern Algeria.

The projects will be owned and developed by special purpose companies, which will be responsible for financing, EPC works, grid-connection and the sale of power. These vehicles will be owned 51% by a domestic investor and 49% by an international partner. Algerian government-owned oil company Sonatrach will hold a 40% stake in all of these companies, while Sonelgaz and other public or private Algerian companies will hold the remaining 11%. For Algerian private investors the participation in the capital of each company will not exceed 6%. Financing for each project must be provided 30% with own funds and 70% with bank loans.

The Ministry of Energy will soon designate the local private and public companies that will have to cooperate with Sonelgaz and Algerian electronic components producer Entreprise Nationale des Industries Electroniques (ENIE) for the projects.

Arkab also stressed that the tender will include an industrial part and that CEEG is planning to build several manufacturing facilities for the production of PV components for the projects.

Algeria aims to cover 27% of its electricity demand with renewable energy by 2030. The country expects to reach this goal by installing 22 GW of renewable energy power stations, of which 13.5 GW will come from a PV source. Around 3 GW of solar must be installed in the period between 2015 and 2020, while the remaining 10.57 GW is scheduled for the period spanning 2021 to 2030.

( Mar 13,2017 / pv-magazine.com£©

¡ö PV CellTech Talk: Dr Gunter Erfurt, COO at Meyer Burger

Leading PV manufacturing equipment and technology supplier Meyer Burger has recently announced a swathe of new orders that encompass diamond wire saw equipment, PERC upgrade technology and Heterojunction (HJT) cell technology.

In the first two months of 2017 Meyer Burger announced orders worth around 90 million Swiss francs. Should anyone be sceptical that the PV industry is in the middle of a technology buy cycle they simply need to look at Meyer Burgers order intake and order backlog.

Indeed, Meyer Burger is making a major play towards next-generation solar cell technology, notably with PERC, PERT and PERL that Meyer Burger describes as PERx. Meyer Burger has stated that it has shipped and installed a total of 18GW PERC upgrades and new capacities to date. The company is targeting PERx cell efficiencies of over 22%, while its Heterojunction (HJT) technology is expected to push past a cell efficiency of 23%. To support this disruptive path, an ¡°HJT entry¡± tool, branded HELiUS has been successfully launched into the market.

Therefore some people may be surprised that at PV CellTech 2017, being held in Penang, Malaysia, a key presentation topic for Dr. Gunter Erfurt, COO at Meyer Burger is on conventional P-type multicrystalline developments.

Dr Erfurt will discuss diamond wire technology and texturing needs for greater efficiency gains for the workhorse of the industry.

Meyer Burger also returns as a key sponsor of PV CellTech and has been an important supporter of the conference format with Dr Erfurt also on the advisory board. PV Tech talked to Dr Erfurt ahead of this year¡¯s event with an emphasis on technology roadmaps and decision making on next generation solar cell choices for PV manufacturers.

Why the focus on mature technology at this year¡¯s PV CellTech?

Meyer Burger is a technology partner and not just an equipment supplier and therefore supports our customer¡¯s roadmaps in the best possible ways, including PERx roadmaps.

The P-type multi industry footprint is very large and therefore we also have a large equipment footprint. We are providing technology solutions such as diamond wire cutting and wafer texturing for downstream cell technologies to remain competitive and we want to demonstrate that we are here to partner with customers on these issues.

Do you feel the PERC efficiency roadmap is robust enough for continued efficiency gains?

¡°What has clearly changed with PERC upgrades is that it has become not a question of should the industry do this or not but only a question of what is the fastest implementation path. I also say a clear yes to the robustness of the PERC efficiency. However, for efficiency increases beyond 22%, the industry is in the early R&D development stages in my opinion and therefore it is not yet clear which paths will be the best. Meyer Burger has entered into a very efficient partnership with SERIS to provide technology support for these important topics to our Asian customers. This includes future tool and process upgrades for our proven MAiA/SiNA platform for the conversion of PERC to PERT and PERL and of course the substrates, n or p and also including multi-crystalline technologies.

To view the final PV CellTech agenda updates please click here and a final analysis of the event from Finlay Colville, you can click here. To register for the event, click here.

( Mar 11,2017 / pv-tech.org£©

¡ö PV CellTech Talk: Dr. Daniel LeCloux R&D Director & CTO, DuPont Photovoltaic Solutions

DuPont Photovoltaic Solutions is a well-known supplier of specialty materials to the solar energy industry, especially with its ¡®Solamet¡¯ photovoltaic metallization pastes that improve cell efficiencies and the ¡®Tedlar¡¯ PVF film-based backsheet materials for modules.

The company returns as a key sponsor and supporting partner of PV CellTech in Penang, Malaysia and will be active in presenting and moderating at the event. Indeed, it would be amiss not to mention that Dr. Homer Antoniadis from DuPont Photovoltaic Solutions is on the PV CellTech technical advisory board since its inception.

Having served the PV industry for around 40 years, DuPont is a pioneer in metallization pastes and serves the industry on a global basis. This poses unique challenges as well as opportunities for the company not least in meeting customer requirements across all solar cell architectures and the growing regions of the world where solar cell development and production are taking place.

DuPont therefore has to remain technology agnostic rather than focusing on picking niche markets or staying blinkered to the mainstream volume markets. However, being in such as position does provide insight into the evolving technology trends.

Mike Barker (Pictured), R&D Manager - Asia Pacific, DuPont Photovoltaic Solutions will be presenting on new metallization paste developments and roadmaps for solar cells, highlighting the evolution of cell technology & its impact on metallization paste development.

Ahead of PV CellTech 2017, PV Tech talked to Dr. Daniel LeCloux, R&D Director & CTO, DuPont Photovoltaic Solutions who will also be attending the event and moderating one of the sessions.

What key trends in cell technology adoption are you seeing at the moment?

The move to higher efficiencies continues across the PV industry. There is still an important focus on mainstream P-type cells with LDE (Lightly Doped Emitter) that still have an important role to play for improving efficiencies and lowering cost.

P-type LDE is also benefiting from fine line and ultra fine line technology that can also be used on different cell technologies to boost efficiencies.

But for higher efficiencies this will be PERC (Passivated Emitter Rear Cell). PERC is probably going to be the most important technology over the coming years and keeping up with these developments is therefore important. PERC allows the industry to capture the higher efficiencies at lower cost and risk.

Although N-type mono-based technologies have costs significantly higher than [P-type] LDE, programs such as ¡®Top Runner¡¯ in China are pushing companies to innovate in higher cell efficiencies and provides opportunities.

PV manufacturing is becoming increasingly global and after several years of anticipation, countries such as India are finally expanding. What does this mean to DuPont?

Developments in India both upstream and downstream markets were great to see in 2016. Like other developing regions we put resources in the right places to support our customers. We expand our presence accordingly to help customers get the most out of their cell efficiencies. I firmly believe that we need to be in the customer fabs as we need to know what exactly their needs are and provide solutions to their processing problems on an individual basis.

This means that we develop long-term partnerships with our customers and the long-term commitment to R&D investments serves the PV industry.

( Mar 11,2017 / pv-tech.org£©