To earn reasonable returns on solar projects, developers must factor in the various risks and correctly estimate the cost of every component before bidding.

Capacity additions will, however, rebound in 2021 to exceed 2019 levels as the majority of delayed solar projects come online.

Fenice Investment Group will subscribe to compulsorily convertible preference shares (CCPS) of SILRES Energy Solutions at Rs 10 per CCPS. The investment is expected to complete by May 25.

In its largest order in Australia, the Indian multinational company has bagged Rs 2600-crore (AUD 525 million) EPC work along with Rs 415-crore (AUD 85 million) operations and maintenance job.

The market will be driven by shared-mobility electric car deployment and will see annual growth of up to 61.7% for battery management systems.

The developer has decided to cancel the power purchase agreement for the 600 MW project that it won at a tariff of Rs 2.44/kWh as it fears commissioning to stretch beyond a 6-month extension from the scheduled date.

The electricity generated from the ‘Capex’ mode solar project shall be used to support the HAL office infrastructure. Commissioning period is three months.

The inefficiency and irregularity of cleaning the solar panels manually, and the associated use of water defeat the purpose of shifting to renewable energies.

The integrated power producer, which has 138 MW of operational solar capacity and 2730 MW of state-of-the-art gas based power plants, sees opportunity of flexible generation to sell pooled round-the-clock power [renewable + gas] at competitive cost on a long-term basis.

June 11 is the new deadline to bid for supply of the balance-of-system (BOS), installation and commissioning of 735 (3×245 MW) Nokh Solar Park project in Jaisalmer district.

Light- and elevated temperature-induced degradation (LeTID) of PV cells can have far-reaching impacts on the efficiency of modules. Alison Ciesla and Brett Hallam of the University of New South Wales argue that accelerated testing, such as that included in the forthcoming IEC standards, is critical for LeTID identification and quantification in order to manage these impacts.

A Spanish start-up has developed a system which offers automated fault detection in solar panels at any scale.

A major advantage of this design is the ability to string cables over a longer distance without the support needed in traditional racking approaches.

Scientists from Saudi Arabia have proposed a new PV panel cooling technique which employs an atmospheric water harvester. The device uses waste heat from the PV panel to collect atmospheric water at night and then releases it during the day to cool down the module. The researchers claim the device may also be improved to produce liquid water, which could be used for the cleaning of the modules.

A German-Israeli research group has gathered for three days to discuss which storage technologies may outperform lithium-ion batteries in the future. They concluded that there is no such a thing as a “post Li‐ion” era in sight. They recommended a “side‐by‐side” approach for multiple technologies in different applications, as well as the hybridization of technologies. The group highlighted the strong potential of redox flow storage, which in their view may outperform Li‐ion, although only for stationary applications.

As importing solar cells becomes costlier and time-consuming in the Covid-19 scenario, most of the module manufacturers in India are eyeing solar cell production—says Loom Solar co-founder and director Amol Anand in an interview with pv magazine.

Industry body FICCI has recommended an extension of the FAME II Scheme by at least one year to 2023 as it feels change in the consumer behavior can impact the demand for electric vehicles (EVs) in the short term.

The New Delhi headquartered company has its own state-of-the-art, automatic module manufacturing facility with a capacity of 350 MW per annum in Greater Noida, Gautam Budh Nagar district of Uttar Pradesh.

U.S. researchers have created an inorganic mixed halide perovskite solar cell which they claim shows no thermal degradation even at 200 degrees Celsius for three days. The device can be used in tandem junction cells and is designed for use in real-life environments with high solar irradiation.

The Bengaluru-based solar module manufacturer, which has a state-of-the-art facility with capacity of 150 MW per annum, had closed the operation of its units since March 24 after the government announced lockdown to contain Covid-19 spread.

The recently concluded 400 MW renewables auction to supply 24-hour electricity saw winning bid of INR2.90/kWh—a new milestone after peak+off-peak tariff of INR4.07 was achieved in January’s 1.2 GW auction demanding assured power supply during peak demand hours.

The projects shall be co-funded by India’s Department of Science & Technology and the European Commission’s Innovation and Networks Executive Agency. The aim is to make energy supply cleaner, more efficient and affordable by smartly integrating large amounts of renewable energy in local energy systems. Proposals can be submitted till September 1.

The developer can opt for solar, wind or an hybrid facility alongside an energy storage system to ensure 24-hour power supply.

While the solar and storage pairing is still relatively new, the growth over the next five years will be significant globally. As against just 5% in 2019, by 2025 more than 25% of all behind-the-meter solar systems will be paired with storage.

Analysts at Bloomberg New Energy Finance say the lowest-cost projects financed in Australia, China, Chile and the UAE in the last six months hit a levelized cost of energy of just $23-29/MWh and the best solar and wind projects will produce electricity for less than $20/MWh by 2030.

Distributed generation with battery storage can revolutionize solar development in India in the shortest time period with minimal investment.

The draft Electricity Bill 2020 moves us with a toolbox of structural reforms, towards not only efficient but also a progressive electricity market.

Given the close links between energy and economy, an impact analysis is needed to evaluate the sector and initiate suitable measures against unusual circumstances. Government policy thinktank NITI Aayog is working on a roadmap to improve energy data management system for India. The centralized energy data unit will host all demand and consumption data related to all forms of energy, which can be used by researchers, policymakers and business strategy formulators alike.

Earlier this year, when a landmark tender by India’s nodal agency for solar energy, Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), concluded the largest solar-cum-storage tender globally (~3 GWh of storage connected to 1.2 GW of solar), it highlighted a critical challenge India faces in bringing solar energy to scale: battery storage technologies.

This article talks about the areas the government needs to address both immediately and in the long run to help the ailing solar industry in the country.