Actions taken today in the pursuit of environmentally sustainable and socially inclusive growth path in India stand to benefit more than 17 percent of the world’s population. A sustainable future for India carries an impact for the subcontinent and the entire world. At GGGI – the Global Green Growth Institute – our attention is captured […]

Budget 2018-19 has been watched with a lot of expectations and addressed three critical issues, agricultural distress being foremost, followed by employment opportunities for youth, and ways to kickstart manufacturing with large-scale private investments. ‘Saubhagya’ is one of the powerful tools that was at the top of the budget’s agenda, which Prime Minister Modi  launched […]

India’s Director General of Safeguards (DGS) has proposed a provisional duty of 70% for a period of 200 days on solar cells and modules. It has issued its recommendations in a preliminary report, completed within just a month of submission of the petition by five Indian manufacturers including Mundra Solar, Indosolar, Jupiter Solar, Websol Energy and Helios […]

Since 2014, around 29 GW of utility scale solar tenders have been issued in India. Most of this capacity (81%, 23.5 GW) has been tendered by NTPC, SECI, DISCOMs and other public sector entities for project development by the private sector. But there is also a sizeable 19% (5.5 GW) tendered in the form of […]

The Indian Railways, being one of the largest railway networks in the world, operates around 12,000 trains per day. It is also one of the largest consumers of diesel in the country, with an annual consumption of 2.7 billion liters, which includes traction requirement as well as the use of coach lights, fans, AC, etc. […]

For two separate projects, Madhya Pradesh state is witnessing delaying and associated losses. In one, ReNew Power has been slapped with $1.68 million fine for delays to a 51 MW PV project, and in another case, BHEL’s proposed 10 MW solar plant obstructed by state government.

The U.S. headquartered inverter company has mentioned that the new Enphase IQ microinverter enables faster installation and reduce maintenance costs for installers. Moreover, new technology will produce 18% more power and will be 31% lighter and 15% smaller than the current M-Series microinverters.

ReNew Power Ventures Pvt Ltd has expected to raise $800-900 million through the IPO, which it is planning to file in the coming two weeks. The renewable company has asked nine investment banks to manage the IPO.

RenewSys India has filed an application before the Directorate General of Anti-Dumping & Allied Duties for the imposition of anti-dumping duty on imports of ‘Ethylene Vinyl Acetate (EVA) Sheet for Solar Module’ from China PR, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, and Thailand.

Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs have issued a clarification regarding solar module equipped with bypass and blocking diodes. Market analysts assert that this step will increase PV installation in the second half of 2018.

A new report published by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization outlines the benefits of solar powered irrigation systems to both large and small scale farming operations in developing countries. The report also stresses the need for comprehensive management and regulation of such systems, to avoid unsustainable water use.

For 1.2 GW tender, Karnataka Renewable Energy Development Ltd (KREDL) had received bids only for 550 MW capacity. KREDL has now retendered the remaining 650 MW grid-connected solar PV project to be installed at Pavagada Solar Park in Karnataka.

New quarterly figures from Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) show that investments in solar PV arrays of less than 1 MW hit US$14.3 billion worldwide in Q1 against 10% year-on-year contraction in global renewable investments.

The Indian-headquartered EPC has set a June 2019 deadline for its plans to install 300 MW of new solar PV capacity in Vietnam, a market that is poised to boom over the next few years.

Technology multinational, Apple Inc. has announced that its global operations are now 100% powered by clean energy. Additionally, another nine of Apple’s manufacturing partners have committed to powering their production with 100% clean energy, meaning a total of 23 suppliers have now made this commitment.

Scientists from the University of Wollongong in Australia have developed battery cells based on sodium-ion technology which the university says can achieve excellent cycling stability and easily be scaled up to mass production.

Together with Austrian equipment manufacturer EVG, Fraunhofer ISE has achieved an efficiency of 33.3% on a multi-junction solar cell. The highlight of the cell is the ultra-thin II-V semiconductor layer. However, it will be a few years before mass production is possible.

Although current efficiencies for solar cells based on kesterite do not exceed 12.6%, the use of germanium may enable the development of cells with a higher energy band gap.

The group of scientists has identified a new process by which holes get trapped in nanoparticles made of zinc oxide.

Dr. Frank Rijsberman, Director-General, Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), South Korea, speaks to pv magazine about its ventures in the Indian solar and storage market. Rijsberman outlines that the country’s growing and diversifying economy, with its ambitious renewable targets, can help to capitalize on the demographic dividend. As a result, it can become the world’s primary consumer sustainable growth market.

The Asian companies will form a joint venture in India to execute the plan. The project’s total investment is expected to be around US$930 million, which will be used for the production of solar PV ingots, wafers, cells, modules and batteries.

pv magazine teams up with solar market analysts at IHS Markit to run through the top 10 crystalline silicon cell manufacturers of 2017, and the events that shaped their market landscape throughout the year.

Testing from TÜV Rheinland has revealed that PV inverters and battery storage systems are vulnerable to hacking. By changing system parameters, a hacker could potentially cause a battery system to corrode, “making it like a ‘bomb’.”

Roughly seven months after its new beginning, the German solar PV manufacturer has again filed for insolvency at the District Court of Bonn – the second time in one year. SolarWorld blames the planned phasing out of anti-dumping measures by the EU Commission against Chinese competition and the further drop in prices.

Lamination innovation: The ongoing ambition of laminator manufacturers is to develop machines that can deliver high output through a faster lamination process, while simultaneously reducing their footprint by combining several machines into one. However, an in-depth process know-how is essential in order to produce defect-free modules. Which players possess such knowledge?

The Indian multinational EPC has this week unveiled a new global division that will focus on the development of power+storage hybrid solutions. The new unit will focus initially on lighting up remote islands and has an installation target of 1 GW.

Wipro Limited and State Bank of India (SBI) has become the first from India to join The Climate Group’s global Electric Vehicle initiative, EV100. Wipro expects to scale up the EV to 1000 by 2023, whereas, SBI will set up charging stations in major residential spaces.

Shell’s new report shows a world where solar meets the largest portion of primary energy demand as soon as 2050.

Dr. Frank Rijsberman, Director-General, Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), South Korea, speaks to pv magazine about his recent participation in the International Solar Alliance founding ceremony held on March 11, 2018. He mentioned that in ISA member countries, correct energy policies, and risks in the investment are critical and need to be addressed.

‘Unprecedented challenge’ for fossil fuels as low LCOE for solar and wind power, allied to tumbling storage costs, sees renewables claim a larger share of bulk and dispatchable generation while adding vital flexibility to the global energy mix.