The French oil and gas giant already owns half the stake in the Indian developer’s 2.3 GW operational solar assets in India through a joint venture.

Applications are invited from start-ups with ready-to-deploy solutions in areas like distributed solar, Internet of Things (IoT) applications in energy, battery storage and electric mobility. Winners will be supported through seed capital to scale up.

The developers’ body has sought the power minister’s intervention to withdraw the restriction of 10 kW capacity for net metering under the recently notified Electricity (Amendment) Rules, 2020, saying the provision will prevent high-load industrial consumers from switching to solar.

The Bengaluru-based TresMoto is developing a range of smart, electric two-wheelers designed exclusively for delivery fleet usage with artificial intelligence-driven remote diagnostics and detachable batteries. 

The National Solar Energy Federation has asked the State to consider a 15-year electricity duty exemption, transmission charges on the entire capacity instead of per-kWh basis, and delinking of the secondary RE source capacity from the rated power capacity of the primary RE source to promote hybrid project deployment.

Domestic bids are invited to set up a 25 MW (AC) grid-connected solar plant at Bharat Coking Coal Limited’s Bhojudih Coal Washery in West Bengal. Bidding closes on March 10.

A study has analyzed the technical and financial feasibility of floating solar at hydro power plants. The report concludes floating PV reduces evaporation from hydropower reservoirs and the water saved can be used to generate more electricity.

Bids are invited to supply, install and commission an aggregate 317,975 quantity of 1-10HP off-grid solar pumps across India. Bidding closes on February 4.

The 50 MW project at the 200 MW Kasargod Solar Park in Kerala was completed well ahead of the scheduled date.

Switzerland’s Smartvolt has developed a special mounting system that facilitates the quick deployment of small ground-mounted PV systems at the base of ​​wind turbines.

Dutch company Rads Global Business has developed an anti-soiling coating for solar PV modules that is claimed to reduce cleaning cost by around 60%. The anti-reflective and anti-corrosive coating is also said to mitigate potential-induced degradation (PID).

The PV module relies on Jinko’s TOPCon mono cell technology, for which a record efficiency of 24.9% was announced last week. TÜV Rheinland has confirmed the result.

The use of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells as backup power generation in solar microgrids could drive down costs and improve efficiency, according to an international group of researchers. They have proposed a new energy management system that could be ideal for hybrid solar-hydrogen microgrids in remote locations.

The government should consider offering a 50% capital subsidy for setting up R&D and quality testing infrastructure within the manufacturing units and a 200% super-deduction for the R&D expenditure on new and clean solar technology development. Simultaneously, it should look at implementing tariff barriers on imports for at least four-five years.

Scientists in Japan demonstrated a hard-carbon electrode that can greatly increase the capacity of a sodium-ion battery. With further work on the long-term performance, the discovery could make sodium-ion batteries better able to compete on energy density with their lithium-ion counterparts.

The Chinese manufacturer, which has a central and string inverter factory in Bengaluru, sold a minimum 3 GW of the cumulative sales last year alone. Going forward, it has a strong order book for the upcoming solar capacity too.

The result was confirmed by Germany’s Institute for Solar Energy Research (ISFH).

A new report says the imposition of safeguard duties and basic custom duties is only a partial solution to help the domestically produced solar modules remain competitive with imported panels. The government needs to adopt a long-term strategy towards PV manufacturing that supports backward integration and sustained innovation.

The Indian manufacturer has unveiled Series 6 mono-PERC modules in 120, 144, and 156 half-cell versions with claimed efficiency between 18.34% and 21.02%.

Manufacturers have until January 11 to bid for the supply of an aggregate 8,352,000 quantity of multicrystalline and mono PERC silicon solar cells using five bus bars.

Bids are invited to set up a 20 MW (AC) grid-interactive solar plant with 20 MW/50 MWh battery energy storage under turnkey mode in Leh district.

Researchers in Finland have demonstrated the technical feasibility of an off-grid residential PV system combined with short-term battery storage and seasonal hydrogen storage. The proposed model is applicable only to northern climates, as higher levels of solar radiation in southern locations would mean a reduced need for seasonal storage. It was tested in an existing single-family house in Finland with a 21 kW rooftop array and a ground source 6 kW heat pump.

The floating restaurants and boats shall have on-board Li-ion battery storage to continuously power main motors and utility loads for six hours on a single charge. The batteries shall be charged by solar power and AC current from the shore to ensure the loads’ uninterrupted operation.

With this, green hydrogen (hydrogen produced using renewable energy) would become cost-competitive with hydrogen from fossil fuels in certain industrial applications such as ammonia production for fertilizers.

The selected applicants are required to execute projects across categories like solar-powered cold storage, solar water pumps, solar-powered reverse-osmosis water systems and off-grid solar systems for primary health care centers on a turnkey basis. The work includes engineering, supply, erection, commissioning along with maintenance support for three years.

Feeder segregation, i.e., the installation of dedicated electricity supply lines for agriculture, is often celebrated as the solution to the electricity utilities’ pain point of free or highly subsidized electricity supply for agriculture. But does it address the root cause of the issue?

The nation is already firmly positioned to lead the world in the clean energy revolution. Consolidating this position would unlock significant economic growth and competitiveness by attracting domestic and foreign investment, creating jobs, and improving public health.

The minimum solar tariffs discovered fell by 131.5% over the last five years, with an 18% drop achieved in the last five months alone.

Climate Policy Initiative and REConnect Energy have developed an innovative mechanism called Garuda to retire old, inefficient thermal plants with equivalent renewable capacity. The scheme proposes a blended tariff that would include the normal tariff for the new renewable energy plant plus the cost of decommissioning the old fossil fuel plant, while making the provision for green bonds to finance RE. 

It has been a rocky year for installers with issues like availability of modules from Chinese suppliers, restricted construction due to local lockdowns, and uncertainty over import duties. Going forward, the market could see a dramatic rebound if net-metering is allowed with a current cap of 1 MW and re-introduced in the states that have shifted to gross-metering.