₦airaland Forum

PV inverter manufacturer SMA Solar has officially reached 1GW of solar inverter sales in Thailand — which now stands as the fourth market in the APAC region where SMA has reached that marker.

SMA first established a presence in Thailand in 1998 and opened its subsidiary in 2011 to further spur development in the area.

Over the years, SMA Thailand has seen strong growth in the utility market, largely due to the government’s policy to boost the amount of electricity drawn from renewable energy sources.

The Government Agencies and Agricultural Cooperative solar farm program — initiated by the National Energy Policy Council (NEPC) — provides 800MW of licenses to grow additional opportunities for more utility-scale PV in Thailand.

Suntisuk Mathinapitak, SMA Thailand country manager, said: “SMA’s market leading position has been built on a reputation of state of the art, robust and reliable technology from Germany, backed by excellent local service. … 2015 has been a successful year for solar farm projects in Thailand and with the Government Agencies and Agricultural Cooperative solar farm program as well as emerging residential and commercial markets SMA expects to see further growth in this region.”

The federal government of Nigeria is set to sign up for a solar energy partnership with the UK government to bring greater access to electricity to the African country’s residents, according to a Nigerian government release.

Nigerian vice president Yemi Osinbajo flew to London from Abuja to participate in the launch of the Energy Africa Campaign and to sign the commitment today.

Around 600 million people in sub-Saharan Africa are currently without electricity access, which accounts for 70% of its population.

As part of a wider UK government initiative to bring more power to Africa, the new UK and Nigeria partnership plans to bring solar power to millions of homes in Nigeria. This will be based on a model of installation and payment that has already worked successfully in Kenya and Tanzania.

Anthony Ighodaro, chair, African Renewable Energy Alliance (AREA), told PV Tech that six countries, represented by various ministers were present at the launch to sign similar agreements including Ethiopia, Somalia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Sierra Leone, and Nigeria.

He added that there are number of compacts that have been drafted with respect to the different countries, which are likely to include policy measures that are mainly related to solar

Solar is the choice energy resource because vast rural areas of Africa have no realistic chance of being connected to the grid for decades and off-grid applications are less expensive, said the UK department for international development (DFID).

PV panels have dramatically fallen in price, with imporved battery technology and more efficient appliances such as lightbulbs. Common access to mobile payments also allows access to to energy via micro- pay-as-you-go schemes.

A DFID statement said: “We want to accelerate the development of the emerging solar market in Africa. Together with African governments, investors, businesses, NGOs, think tanks and other donors, DFID will work to increase investment in off-grid energy firms, overcome regulatory barriers, foster innovation, and accelerate delivery of solar energy systems to households across Africa.”

The wider campaign aims to help Africa achieve universal energy access 2030, because it will take until 2080 for universal electricity access on the continent at the current trajectory, according DFID.

At present half of sub-Saharan African businesses claim poor electricity access constrains their business, and power outages costs the region 1-2% of its GDP annually, said DFID.

Osinbajo will speak at the Energy Africa Campaign launch alongside the UK minister for international development, Grant Shapps, and the former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, as well as other leaders from Africa.

Energy storage is likely to be a near future “game changer” for Australia and could make the country the world leader in solar-plus-storage, a new report claims.

The Climate Council, a non-profit organisation formed after the dissolution of the country’s Climate Commission, issued “Powerful Potential: Battery Storage for Renewable Energy and Electric Cars” yesterday.

According to the council, which was crowd-funded back into existence after its abolition by former prime minister Tony Abbott, Australian households are likely to keep installing batteries either for existing solar installations, or new ones, driven by high electricity prices. The commercial opportunity this presents will also lead to increased competition between suppliers, accelerating the fall in costs. Climate Council also considered the synergistic effect of the EV market on stationary storage prices and vice versa, claiming that electric cars could be cost-competitive with petrol and diesel within 20 years.

Among the headline findings are a claim that it could cost a similar amount to install energy storage in the Australian home as it will be to remain fully dependent on the grid by 2018. Climate Council also quoted International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) statistics explaining that adding 4kWh of storage to a 5kWh PV system can double onsite self-consumption from 30% to 60%.

Over 1.4 million Australian households already have rooftop PV installed, with system size averaging 4.5kW and payback time is still less than 10 years – Climate Council quoted a survey which even said the average payback time for 700 households interviewed was as little as three years and two months, with PV already reaching grid parity in every regional capital of the country expect Canberra.

Adding a battery in some parts of the country puts the total system payback time up to between six and 12 years at present, which Climate Council claims could fall to eight years by 2020 and six years by 2030. The city council of Adelaide is trying to push this process along a little, offering a rebate of up to AUS$5,000 for energy storage batteries, AUS$5,000 for solar PV, AUS$5,000 for energy efficiency upgrades to apartments, AUS$500 per EV charge controller and AUS$1,000 for LED lighting.

The research published by the Climate Council uses a variety of statistics from other sources and some of the group’s own research to reinforce an argument that has already been quite well discussed within industry circles, but its publication is also an attempt to send out a message on the expected positive impact of energy storage to the wider Australian public.

"Australians are forging a people-led renewables revolution," McKenzie said.

Chinese-owned German CIGS thin-film module manufacturer has broken ground on a new factory in Bengbu, Anhui province, China.

The 300MW initial phase of the new fab is expected to begin production in early 2017 and heralds what is expected to become a much larger operation of some 1.5GW.

CTIEC, the engineering and project development branch of CNBM, the building materials group that bought Avancis last year, the Bengbu Investment Group and the Bengbu Gaoxin Investment Group jointly plan to invest €1.43 billion (US$1.62 billion) in the facility.

"In addition to the basic cost benefits of a fully integrated thin-film production, this expansion also enables us to take advantage of volume effects for further cost reductions,” said Franz Karg, CEO of Avancis. “With this giant solar project, we also use the unique opportunity to produce and market our thin film technology locally in the centre of the world's largest photovoltaic market."

Avancis’ existing production line in Germany will also be expanded to serve the European market, the company said without giving further details.

SolarCity is looking to hire as many new employees in just one day as it does on average every month, targeting the hire of 500 workers across 10 US states.

The installation and leasing company, which has in recent quarters taken a share of around a third of all residential installs in the US according to GTM Research, will hold an “all-day hiring event” this Wednesday, 21 October.

The new hires will join 14,000 existing employees at SolarCity Corporation, with the company citing growing demand in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic regions and California as the reason behind the expansion. The event will be held in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and various parts of California.

UK government 'doesn’t support solar development'

Meanwhile, in a move that had been expected behind the scenes since the government announcement of severe cuts to support for renewable energy, SolarCity has reportedly pulled its mounting systems subsidiary, Zep Solar, out of Britain’s solar industry.

Zep Solar had set up offices in Milton Keynes, a town just north of London, around eight months ago. Zep had been gearing up to launch its mounting systems, including technology developed specifically for the UK’s commercial and residential rooftop markets, during the Solar Energy UK show hosted by Solar Media, PV Tech’s publisher, last week. Zep Solar’s UK bosses, Jo Ferriter and Chad Medcroft, had previously given PV Tech a tour of the company’s UK facilities and discussed some of the technologies appropriate to the UK market for a feature in PV Tech Power journal.

UK national newspaper The Guardian reported today that SolarCity had issued a statement saying it had put its expansion plans to the UK “on hold indefinitely”, and said the recently proposed changes through its Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) showed that the UK’s government “doesn’t support solar development”. The Guardian news story, which appeared to misunderstand Zep Solar’s business and described it as a vendor of solar panels, also mentioned the recent closures of three other large PV or PV-related businesses in Britain, including Mark Group, in which SunEdison was involved.

PV Tech is seeking further comment from SolarCity.

The company has also announced that it will host its latest quarterly earnings call on Thursday, 29 October. SolarCity will issue its third quarter financial report after the close of markets that day, with the conference call scheduled to take place at 14:00.

Topics covered in that call may include progress at the firm’s fledgling manufacturing facilities, which have started running pilot production of a high efficiency module from a 100MW line. SolarCity produced a conversion efficiency world record-beating module from the line recently, which has sparked both headlines and competition at 22.04% efficiency, with Panasonic announcing that one of its non-commercial modules had been recorded at an even higher efficiency just a day later. A Panasonic representative said the timing of the two announcements was coincidental in an interview with PV Tech last week.

Italian-based renewable energy developer Enel Green Power (EGP) has teamed with Italian asset management firm F2i (Fondo italiano per le infrastrutture) to consolidate a total of 210MW of operating PV power plants in Italy into a 50/50 joint venture.

EGP said that the deal was to enable greater value creation from the pooled plants, including reducing operating costs and future project financing costs as well as improving energy management of the plants.

EGP said it would contribute through its subsidiary Altomonte FV, 105MW of PV assets, while F2i would add 105MW of PV assets via its subsidiary, F2i Solare.

The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of 2015, which would raise around €121 million for EGP, which also has an option to buy a majority share in the JV.

The Italian PV power plant business was expected to go through a period of consolidation of assets owners are from a large base of financial institutions and private operators.

Hawaii’s public utilities commission has ordered the immediate closure of the US island state’s solar net metering programme to new customers in the Hawaii Electric Companies (HECO) service area.

Although the commission said it saw PV as a key contributor towards Hawaii’s goal of sourcing 100% of its energy from renewables by 2045, it said a transition away from net metering was “essential” in securing the long-term growth of solar and other distributed sources.

A ruling issued by the regulator on 12 October orders the HECO net metering programme to be capped at current levels. All existing customers and those with applications submitted by 12 October will be unaffected, but the scheme is now effectively closed to any new applicants.

Issuing the order, the commission said net metering had been an “extraordinary success” in Hawaii, but said an evolution in distributed energy resource (DER) policies was necessary: “A transition away from NEM is essential to ensure all customers benefit from continued growth in distributed energy, not just those who have the ability to install solar PV or other forms of DER.”

To replace net metering, the commission outlined three replacement rate structures – a “grid-supply” option, a “self-supply” option and a time-of-use option.

The grid-supply option will function much like net metering, offering residential and commercial solar users credit to export excess power to the grid as needed. The commission said this option would be capped, and new PV customers would pay a minimum bill of US$25 per month.

The self-supply option is aimed at customers who want to use most of the power they generate, most likely via the combination of battery storage with a PV system. Customers pursuing this option would be offered an “expedited” interconnection review and not be restricted to any cap.

The time-of-use tariff is intended to allow customers to save money by shifting energy demand to the middle of the day to take advantage of lower-cost solar energy. Initially, the commission said the tariff would be available for any residential customers that opt in to the programme.

“By sending the right price signals to customers, customers can increase energy demand during times of high solar supply and alleviate some of the grid constraints to further renewable integration. This new tariff will also spur investment into new “smart home” and “smart business” technologies that can help customers take advantage of this programme,” the commission said.

A blog post from the Hawaii Solar Energy Association offered a cautious response to the commission’s proposals: “These new rules are clearly going to impact rooftop, and especially pre-paid leases—which will hit lower income customers the most. At the same time, the Commission has given storage a boost, and is asking industry to take the lead here. Also keep in mind that this is the first part of the process as we will now move onto phase 2 of the docket. Our industry is resilient. Let’s absorb what we have here and consider our next steps."

Hawaii’s public utilities commission has ordered the immediate closure of the US island state’s solar net metering programme to new customers in the Hawaii Electric Companies (HECO) service area.

Although the commission said it saw PV as a key contributor towards Hawaii’s goal of sourcing 100% of its energy from renewables by 2045, it said a transition away from net metering was “essential” in securing the long-term growth of solar and other distributed sources.

A ruling issued by the regulator on 12 October orders the HECO net metering programme to be capped at current levels. All existing customers and those with applications submitted by 12 October will be unaffected, but the scheme is now effectively closed to any new applicants.

Issuing the order, the commission said net metering had been an “extraordinary success” in Hawaii, but said an evolution in distributed energy resource (DER) policies was necessary: “A transition away from NEM is essential to ensure all customers benefit from continued growth in distributed energy, not just those who have the ability to install solar PV or other forms of DER.”

To replace net metering, the commission outlined three replacement rate structures – a “grid-supply” option, a “self-supply” option and a time-of-use option.

The grid-supply option will function much like net metering, offering residential and commercial solar users credit to export excess power to the grid as needed. The commission said this option would be capped, and new PV customers would pay a minimum bill of US$25 per month.

The self-supply option is aimed at customers who want to use most of the power they generate, most likely via the combination of battery storage with a PV system. Customers pursuing this option would be offered an “expedited” interconnection review and not be restricted to any cap.

The time-of-use tariff is intended to allow customers to save money by shifting energy demand to the middle of the day to take advantage of lower-cost solar energy. Initially, the commission said the tariff would be available for any residential customers that opt in to the programme.

“By sending the right price signals to customers, customers can increase energy demand during times of high solar supply and alleviate some of the grid constraints to further renewable integration. This new tariff will also spur investment into new “smart home” and “smart business” technologies that can help customers take advantage of this programme,” the commission said.

A blog post from the Hawaii Solar Energy Association offered a cautious response to the commission’s proposals: “These new rules are clearly going to impact rooftop, and especially pre-paid leases—which will hit lower income customers the most. At the same time, the Commission has given storage a boost, and is asking industry to take the lead here. Also keep in mind that this is the first part of the process as we will now move onto phase 2 of the docket. Our industry is resilient. Let’s absorb what we have here and consider our next steps."

Germany-based PV module manufacturer Heckert Solar said was expanding production capacity to around 300MW to improve cost competitiveness.

Heckert Solar said the capacity expansion was expected to be complete by the end of the first quarter 2016, providing around 60MW of new capacity. Details on capital expenditure requirements were not disclosed.

However, the company noted that the with the capacity expansion it was also migrating module production from 4 to 5 busbar technology, providing an increase in module efficiencies, as part of its strategy to remain competitive and response to the possible expiration of the minimum import pricing (MIP) of Chinese produced modules.

Michael Bönisch, sales manager of Heckert Solar GmbH said, "We have fewer concerns about the unfair competition from some Chinese manufacturers, as compared to the legal and political uncertainties. Should the latter be dispelled, we are ready to quickly invest in the further expansion of our production capacity. "

Recently, German-based PV module assembler, aleo solar said it was adding 200MW of solar cell production to its previously dedicated module manufacturing facility via its parent (Sino-American Silicon) subsidiary Sunrise Global Solar.

Atlanta-based solar cell and module manufacturer Suniva has announced that the 3MW PV project that it is powering has officially broken ground in Michigan.

The project stands as the first of its kind for Consumers Energy, Michigan’s largest utility. It will be developed over 6.8 hectares of land at Grand Valley State University, with the university taking part in the Solar Gardens program as a customer.

Dan Malone, senior vice president of energy resources at Consumers Energy, said: “This project represents a cornerstone for our new Solar Gardens program, providing an avenue for customers to participate in the development of renewable energy that helps us continue to power homes and businesses across our state.”

Matt Card, vice president, global sales and marketing of Suniva, added: “Suniva’s primary focus is to offer the highest quality solar products at maximum value, while achieving the highest power possible. The maturing U.S. market continues to validate the value of our high-density solar modules. We are very pleased that we can continue to give back to the US solar marketplace and the domestic economy, through the continued creation of U.S. jobs.”

PV super league member Canadian Solar is to build the largest PV power plant in Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan.

Canadian Solar said that the 47MW plant in Mashiki Town was expected to start commercial operation in the first quarter of 2017 and was covered by 20 year feed-in-tariff contract at the rate of JPY36.0 (US$0.30) per kWh with Kyushu Electric Power Co purchasing the electricity.

Dr. Shawn Qu, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Canadian Solar said, "The Mashiki solar project is our largest Japanese project to start construction, and represents an important milestone as we continue to make progress developing our high-value solar project pipeline in this important market."

The managing director of PV mounting systems specialist Renusol, Stefan Liedtke, left the company at the beginning of this month, with his replacement joining from rival firm Schletter.

Liedtke has been with Renusol for five years and was previously head of sales and marketing. On leaving the company at the end of September, he sent a letter notifying contacts and business associates, including PV Tech, that his departure was effective as of the beginning of October.

Renusol was taken over by US company RBI Solar in 2014. Its products include the MetaSole for trapezoidal sheet metal roofs, and VarioSole, which is for tiled roofs, as well as a number of flat roof, ground mount and flat roof integrated PV mounting systems. The company also claims to have been among the first to promote East-West orientation commercial rooftop mounting systems in Europe. The most recent volume of PV Tech Power, Solar Media's technical journal for the downstream PV sector, featured a discussion of cost reduction measures and innovations in the commercial rooftop mounting sector, in which Renusol was profiled, along with SolarCity subsidiary Zep Solar and Chinese-Australian company Clenergy.

At the beginning of this year the company also launched a ‘universal clamp’ for residential installations. RS1 can be used as either a mid- or end-clamp, using a simple swivelling and locking mechanism, winning industry awards this summer.

Lietdke’s replacement Sven Künzel will take over the role on 1 December, with Renusol management colleague Dieter Heck taking over in the meantime. Lietdke’s permanent replacement Künzel was previously international sales manager at the US subsidiary of Schletter. According to Lietdke’s farewell letter, Künzel has extensive experience of mounting systems in the ground mount PV sector.

Indian government plans to waive transmission charges for electricity coming from renewable energy sources will benefit some PV developers in the "short term", according to an Indian market consultant.

Jasmeet Khurana, senior consulting manager at analyst firm Bridge to India, told PV Tech that the majority of renewable power in India is consumed in the same state where it was produced, but for India to reach its target of 60GW utility-scale solar by 2022, some energy must be transported to other states.

The country has already invested heavily in building green energy corridors to transport electricity from states that are rich in renewable resources to power-hungry states such as Delhi and Maharashtra.

Some states with strong renewable resources cannot absorb the higher capacity of intermittent power in local load centres. Furthermore, long distance transmission of power can help ease the pressure of land cost and availability for solar projects, because less fertile land can be used for generation of power, said Khurana.

He added: “The role of interstate transmission of power will become crucial as the penetration increases.”

He warned, however, that this free transmission incentive from the government is for the "short-term" and the green energy corridors must be seen as a long-term investment. PV developers, for example, should not expect to get the benefits of free transmission for the entire life of their projects, because the free transmission investment will need to pay for itself eventually.

Khurana cited the state of Delhi as a potential beneficiary from the new policy, because land in Delhi is expensive and scarcely available. The power distribution companies of Delhi plan to buy solar power from projects set up in states such as Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, a state which has already approved an order in August to reduce transmission charges by 50% for open access solar projects.

Khurana said: “Typically, they would need to pay around INR0.50 (US$0.008) to INR0.60/kWh for transmission. If the transmission charges are waived off, the cost for procurement of power can come down by around 8-9%. That will be a significant saving.”

He added that large private power consumers across India will also benefit from this saving, because they can source their power using open access from renewable resource rich states.

Vineet Mittal, vice chairman of PV developer Welspun Renewables, told PV Tech: “This step by the government could be a defining moment in the journey of renewable energy in India, particularly for the solar sector.

“Since transmission is a crucial element of the power infrastructure and amounts for a significant portion of the cost, this will be a huge incentives to developers. This will bring down the solar tariff, which is at the cusp of attaining grid parity, substantially down. Overall, it is a win-win situation for all the stakeholders.

“In the current grid and transmission infrastructure, transmission losses are a big challenge for both the developers and the distribution companies. Waiving off the transmission charges will help both immensely in the long run.”

Indian newspaper Economic Times reported today that energy minister Piyush Goyal announced the waiving of the transmission charges.

Goyal said: "We are bringing out a legal framework where all inter-state transmission of renewable energy will be at zero cost.

"I have already started with INR380 billion (US$5.8 billion) of green energy corridors. We are identifying more areas and are urging states to come with area where we can expand renewable energy so that more transmission grids can be made which the central government is doing.”

Taiwan-based merchant solar cell producer Motech Industries has reported September sales 11% higher than in the previous month and a new recent record.

Motech reported record September sales of NT$2,539 million (US$78.2 million), compared to sales of NT$2,272 million (US$69.7 million) in August. Sales are 8.65% higher year-on-year.

Motech’s sales for the first nine months of the year total NT$16,423 million (US$506.1 million, 57% up on the prior year period.

Motech recently acquired rival solar cell producer, Topcell, resulting in its nameplate solar cell capacity topping 3GW, making it the largest global merchant cell producer.

Motech had also recently announced that it was also investing in its China-based manufacturing subsidiary Motech (Suzhou) Renewable Energy at a cost of RMB211 million (US$33 million) to expand capacity and improve its economies of scale at the facility.

Taiwan-based merchant solar cell producer Motech Industries has reported September sales 11% higher than in the previous month and a new recent record.

Motech reported record September sales of NT$2,539 million (US$78.2 million), compared to sales of NT$2,272 million (US$69.7 million) in August. Sales are 8.65% higher year-on-year.

Motech’s sales for the first nine months of the year total NT$16,423 million (US$506.1 million, 57% up on the prior year period.

Motech recently acquired rival solar cell producer, Topcell, resulting in its nameplate solar cell capacity topping 3GW, making it the largest global merchant cell producer.

Motech had also recently announced that it was also investing in its China-based manufacturing subsidiary Motech (Suzhou) Renewable Energy at a cost of RMB211 million (US$33 million) to expand capacity and improve its economies of scale at the facility.

International downstream player, Conergy, is to take its first steps towards becoming a solar independent power producer (IPP).

Previously focused on developing, building and maintaining PV power plants, Conergy revealed today that it would now also operate as an IPP by selectively owning solar assets.

“To date, Conergy’s strategic focus has been project development, EPC and O&M. Asset ownership is a natural progression of this initial strategy,” Conergy’s chief executive, Andrew de Pass, said. “Asset ownership reduces earnings volatility and enhances shareholder value. We believe the market values solar IPPs greater than mere development companies.”

The first plants that Conergy will take under direct ownership are a portfolio of five ground-mount projects in North Carolina totalling 28MW. These projects were completed earlier this month and will sell power to utility Duke Energy under a 15-year PPA.

“The 28MW project portfolio in North Carolina is high quality and sizeable; therefore, a good anchor for this move into asset ownership,” said de Pass, confirming that Conergy would also look at markets beyond the Americas to roll out its IPP activities.

Conergy has also named its previous head of global marketing and PR, Yann Brandt, as its new regional head of the Americas.

Brandt will have operational responsibility for Conergy in North America, Central America, the Caribbean and South America.

I use a 6KW system. The panels, batteries, inverter (PURE SINE WAVE) and the Charge Controller (MPPT) etc

solar power, good.

Founded in 2005, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2008, ReneSola (NYSE:SOL) is a leading international manufacturer and supplier of green energy products. Leveraging its global presence with offices and warehouses in more than 16 countries and expansive production facilities and sales network, Renesola is well positioned to provide the highest quality green energy products and on-time services for EPC, installers and green energy projects around the world.

Founded in 2005, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2008, ReneSola (NYSE:SOL) is a leading international manufacturer and supplier of green energy products. Leveraging its global presence with offices and warehouses in more than 16 countries and expansive production facilities and sales network, Renesola is well positioned to provide the highest quality green energy products and on-time services for EPC, installers and green energy projects around the world.

Why do we do what we do? Why do we make the effort? Because it’s important.At ReneSola, we are focused on improving production efficiency. We are also continually developing new product lines to provide additional value to our portfolio of green energy offerings; we have expanded into energy storage solutions and energy efficient lighting, among other product categories. Our strong portfolio of world-class products gives us a competitive edge in global markets. Our timely service and just-in-time shipping help our customers improve productivity. Our customers and investors trust ReneSola to be a safe, long-term investment.

Good idea! Make full use of solar energy!

Good Electrical Installation Training！

Good Electrical Installation Training

Solar charged power bank actually works.A little slow but it actually works.

Good power bank !

Recommend Renesola.

Solar-powered Hostel,good!

You can ask questions more professional with the customer service staff of Renesola.

Solar power you worth it.

You can ask questions more professional with the customer service staff of Renesola.