Regional Markets
1. China
The Novel Coronavirus impacting China’s PV industry
Due to the novel coronavirus, tendering activities from the following cities or provinces are suspended or postponed: Beijing city, Chongqing city, Hebei province, Henan province, Hubei province, Jiangxi province, Jiangsu province, Liaoning province, Ningxia province, Shanghai city, Shanxi province, Tianjin city, Tibet province.
For more information, please refer to the State Grid and China Southern Power Grid.
China’s NEA issues an urgent notice to stop the PV developers from rushing
China’s National Energy Agency has issued an urgent notice, urging the power plant investors, developers or owners to adhere to safety and quality standards, instead of rushing to complete their projects by March 31 or June 30.
The leadership team of the Forerunner PV base project in Baicheng, Jilin province, has already issued a notice, stating that the resumption of the project construction will be delayed. The resumption date is to be determined.
2. Germany
Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin (HZB) has set another new record for the world to see: a perovskite/silicon tandem PV cell that could achieve 29.15% efficiency, which has already been verified by the Fraunhofer ISE, the largest solar research institute in Europe. The key to success lies in the optimized layers and perovskite composition.
3. Morocco
The Moroccan Agency for Sustainable Energy(Masen) has launched a tender for constructing a 400 MW PV power plant, which is part of the first phase of the Noor PV II project.
The project involves numerous PV arrays, which will be constructed in eight different sites. The deadline for the submission of tender documents is Feb. 28. Please refer to Masen’s website for more details regarding the tenders. The projects are part of Morocco’s efforts to produce 2 GW of solar energy under the Noor Solar Plan.
4. Spain
By the end of 2019, Spain’s cumulative PV installation was 8.7 GW. The newly installed PV capacity in Spain stood at 3.975 GW in 2019, up 18.8% YoY, which was mainly contributed by the solar projects from the renewable energy auction held in July 2017.
This has set a new record for Spain, where the PV generation stood at 261.7 MW in 2018, 135 MW in 2017, and only 55 MW and 49 MW in 2016 and 2015, respectively.
Spain’s renewable energy alone has produced 97,826 GWh of electricity in 2019, which has covered 37.5% of the energy demand. Solar power generation was up 18.8% YoY.
5. Vietnam
Vietnam’s EVN, the state-owned power company, has upheld its decision to leave the solar tariff for rooftop projects unchanged until 2021. Provided that the size does not surpass 100kW, the rate shall remain at US$0.0935/kWh, as opposed to $0.0838/kWh, which was suggested before the decision was made.
The company has cited the tariff as one of the main drivers of residential and commercial PV installations. Vietnam is aiming to increase the share of renewable energy to 10% of its national energy mix by 2030. The new PV generation of 4.5 GW has been generated since the FiT scheme was introduced in 2017.
Company
1. Ingeteam
The Spanish inverter manufacturer presents its new hybrid inverter for residential projects. The new device comes with a maximum power point tracking system, making it the perfect candidate for the rooftop PV systems that are facing east or west.
The new inverter is also compatible with most of the lead-acid and Li-ion batteries made by major energy storage brands. The production of the new inverter is expected to begin in May.
2. Innogy
Ireland’s DS3 program is proving quite attractive for foreign investment: The German energy company, Innogy, has announced its plans to invest €25 million in building its first storage project in the nation. The construction will commence in 2020. The commissioning activities are expected to be performed in 2021.
Ireland hopes to have renewable energy to meet 16% of its national energy demand in 2020.
3. Tesla
Tesla Energy is finally seeing the light from the end of the tunnel: the solar installation has increased from 43 MW to 54 MW, up 26% QoQ. Its storage business has got a long-awaited boost, which saw the installation jump from 477 MWh in 2019Q3 to 530 MWh in 2019Q4.
During an earnings call in 2019Q4, Elon Musk has also expressed his confidence in Tesla’s new product Solarglass Roof. Given that all new homes in California are required to install solar panels from now on, Tesla is witnessing a strong demand for Solarglass Roof. The CEO believes that, despite the challenges, Solarglass Roof will be one of Tesla’s major product lines.
4. NV Energy
NV Energy today issued a request for proposals to add new renewable energy projects to its portfolio. This statement is issued when the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada's (PUCN) has just confirmed that 1,190 megawatts of new solar energy and 590 megawatts of battery storage are to be built in Nevada. The facilities are expected to be up and running by Jan. 1, 2024.
5. Solar Integrated Roofing
Solar Integrated Roofing Corporation, an integrated solar and roofing installation company, has finalized the acquisition of Milholland Electric, Inc. The company is now on a +$25 million run-rate in revenues. David Massey, CEO of SIRC, said, “We have been very busy executing on a number of items according to our business plan. One of the major items on our plan was to close the Milholland acquisition. I can’t stress the importance of not only closing this acquisition, but of having Brian Milholland be a part of this company as an important leader of our team.”
(Photo Credit: Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay)
