The energy storage company is ramping up R&D efforts to try and fast-track commercialization of the more productive – and more expensive – battery tech. The news was announced as part of an uninspiring first-half update thanks to falling lithium salt prices.

A spokeswoman from the Chinese manufacturer of the Swan series of double-sided solar panels says monofacial modules will soon be consigned to residential use as the price gap between them and higher-yielding bifacial products rapidly closes.

The Palo Alto company says it has improved its large scale battery offering with the new product in the wake of the success of its Powerpack-driven big battery in Australia. The Megapack can be deployed at a 250 MW/1 GWh clean energy plant four times faster than a fossil fuel alternative, claimed the business in a blogpost.

The ministry slammed the business for delays to a planned site in the village of Bhamer but a spokesman for the developer said the scheme was held up for 18 months by the state government of Maharashtra.

The world’s number one mono silicon module manufacturer will add another 5 GW to its annual panel production capacity in 2020 as it pursues 16 GW of output this year and 25 GW next year.

In news that will add urgency to Indian government efforts to establish a domestic storage industry, funding has apparently been secured for 16 GWh-plus production lines in Sweden and Germany. Is India at risk of being left in the starting blocks?

A report on the prospects for a mooted $2.6tn electric vehicle market over the next decade says PHEVs – part electric, part gas-guzzling – are already losing market share rapidly to pure electric rivals, and will be extinct by 2030.

The NYSE-listed developer appears to have turned the corner after reporting a full year profit of Rs138,493 after a Rs10 lakh loss a year ago. Borrowings are on the rise though, as the company plans to drum up an ever larger project portfolio.

Falling PV panel prices led to notable year-on-year falls in the cost of developing solar plants around the world. India led the way with PV projects costing a weighted average of just $793/kW of capacity installed in 2018. Costs in China dipped to $879/kW last year, while solar projects in US and Australia cost $1,500.

Some 168 projects will be developed across 16 provinces free from central government subsidy. The fact the average capacity of such projects has tumbled indicates Beijing’s plan to accelerate the arrival of subsidy free solar may be on track.