Rajasthan Electronics & Instruments Limited (REIL), Jaipur, has invited bids to supply 4.3 W and 4.5 W multicrystalline silicon solar cells. The deadline for submissions is June 4.

This year, pv magazine is setting a new editorial agenda. Via our program, UP, we will be diving deep into the topic of what it means to be truly sustainable, looking at what is already being done, and discussing areas for improvement. Over the coming weeks, months, and years, we will share our findings across our various digital platforms, in our print magazines, and via our roundtable events and webinars. Are you UP for it?

Borosil Glass Works plans to consolidate its solar business by amalgamating Gujarat Borosil, Vyline Glass and Fennel Investments, while simultaneously demerging its consumer and scientific glassware business. Post restructuring, Borosil Glass Works will be renamed as Borosil Renewables.

In a recent survey, an overwhelming 73% of respondents said they remain upbeat about India’s renewable growth prospects, despite recent policy reversals and various other operational challenges the industry faces.

This is Tata Power’s fourth major partnership with an energy retailer to expand its presence in the e-mobility business. As part of the MoU, the private-sector electricity generator with work with Mahanagar Gas Limited (MGL) to set up solar rooftop projects and commercial-scale electric vehicle (EV) charging and battery swapping stations.

Waste-to-energy, battery lifecycle solutions and hazardous waste management will make up an increased share of Fortum’s business in future. While solar will continue to be a mainstay for the Finnish clean energy company in India, Fortum wants to deepen its presence in the electric vehicle space with smart solutions, according to Sanjay Aggarwal, the company’s India MD, and Juha Suomi, area director for Asia, who spoke exclusively to pv magazine.

The procurement – for PV capacity at the Dholera Solar Park – attracted bids for just 300 MW as developers shunned a tariff ceiling of Rs2.75/kWh.

Policy certainty and more financial subsidies would incentivise the market, as would support for domestic manufacturing and simplifying the net metering application process.

After two decades of growth, the amount of newly installed renewable energy capacity is no longer rising and, despite a 7% growth in electricity generation from clean energy sources, global energy-related carbon emissions have risen 1.7%.

The German EPC contractor is also building a 250 MW AC ground-mounted solar farm in Karnataka. Overall, with an already installed capacity of more than 370 MWp and other projects under implementation, it expects to cross 1 GW of installed capacity in India by the year end.

A research team has applied a waterproof coating obtained from graphite to a perovskite cell intended to power the production of hydrogen underwater. The cell is said to have worked underwater longer than expected.

And the analyst expects that annual new additions figure to rise to 10.6 GW in 2025. This year the U.S. will surpass South Korea as the largest storage market due to new capacity for solar-plus-storage projects. In Japan and Australia, growth will be spurred by the termination of FIT programs.

With concern rising about future solar waste in India, research by the University of New South Wales has examined the economic barriers, technologies and opportunities offered by recycling end-of-life silicon PV modules.

India’s leading solar region has been forced to apply the brakes to new solar with its power distribution companies having fulfilled their renewable purchase obligations for the next two years. Projects driven by federal agencies will continue, however.

As the nation aims for 100 GW of solar capacity by 2022 it is staring at up to 1.8 million tons of PV waste by 2050. A solar waste management seminar organized by consultancy Bridge To India in New Delhi brought stakeholders together to discuss how a PV waste management system could help.

The Japanese multinational will transfer its Panasonic Energy Malaysia unit to Chinese heterojunction module provider GS-Solar as part of a broader cooperation agreement. Panasonic’s solar R&D business will form part of a JV in Japan to be 90% owned by GS-Solar.

With last year’s embarrassing manufacturing-linked capacity tender limping along, it has been reported that the Indian government – whichever form it takes after the current elections – is considering a new tender to incentivize the establishment of a domestic solar industry.

Under the partnership, projects will be sought on nomination as well as through competitive bidding. Exicom shall also help state-owned Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) to set up electric vehicle (EV) charger manufacturing facility for e-mobility business.

After a detailed review of solar panels manufactured at Vikram Solar’s plant in West Bengal, US-based Black & Veatch concluded that its modules successfully meet the requirements of respective international standards.

According to the Korean manufacturer, its Q.Peak Duo-G6 module is produced with larger wafers than those used in the G5. This is said to increase module yield by around 6% for a power output ranging from 355-420 W.

Government-owned Bharat Heavy Electricals and the Automotive Research Association of India will combine their respective strengths in technology development and testing and certification to work on electric and trolley buses, EV chargers and battery and charger testing.

The Indo-Tibetan Border (ITB) Police Force at Lingdum in East Sikkim has invited bids for supply and installation of 10 KWp and 5 KWp solar power plants at its five border outposts.

Deployment of lithium-ion battery storage systems is growing rapidly, with Wood Mackenzie recently predicting that the U.S. market alone could be worth $4.7 billion within the next five years. Demand is rising for both grid-scale and behind-the-meter applications in a number of markets throughout the world, particularly in East Asia, the global hub of lithium-ion battery production. But a recent string of fires in South Korea – one of the world’s biggest markets for stationary storage, thanks to a concerted government push – has rekindled smoldering concerns about safety.

The Department of Science & Technology (DST), Government of India, and Swedish Governmental Agency for Innovation Systems (Vinnova) have created funding mechanisms through which companies may seek support for joint R&D projects. The projects should aim to develop renewable, energy storage and waste management technologies that can be commercialized over two years through joint cooperation between India and Sweden.

The EPC contractor and solar PV module manufacturer aims to capture over 15% of India’s Rs 600 crore off-grid solar inverter market by 2022, thus becoming one of the largest solar inverter players in the segment.

India needs a manufacturing policy that is scalable, secure, strategical and supportive and promotes both the growth and spread of solar while protecting the interests of domestic manufacturers.

Situated in south-east India, the state of Andhra Pradesh is a leading producer of renewable energy with 7.2 GW of installed capacity as of December 2018. The state’s share of renewable energy as part of total capacity has trebled in the last four years from 11% in 2014 to 30% in 2018.

The last 10 years have seen India emerge as a solar superpower, setting an example from which many emerging countries in Africa and Southeast Asia are eager to learn.

India has set exceptionally ambitious renewable energy targets including 175 gigawatts (GW) of renewables by 2022, 275GW by 2027, and to achieve 40% of electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuels by 2030. India seeks to tender another 80GW of renewables in total over the coming two years.

In recent years, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has laid the foundation for a clean energy expansion through robust policies and initiatives. India’s solar energy capacity has jumped a thousand-fold from a mere 17 MW in 2010, to more than 23 GW in 2018. Similarly, the wind market has more than doubled in recent years, from around 13 GW of installed power in 2010, to 34 GW by June 2018. These developments help move India closer to its ambitious clean energy goal of 175 GW installed capacity by 2022. However, in spite of several public financial institutions, private banks, and non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) providing capital, financing remains a key barrier in scaling India’s clean energy markets further.