The long read: The afterlife of solar panels
Use of the term “circular economy” is growing in virtually every industry worldwide – solar included. As noted throughout Q3, in the UP initiative’s focus on circular manufacturing, work is already underway to integrate circular principles into all areas of business, from internal operations and supply chain management to manufacturing and installations. In a recent analysis of PV recycling, BloombergNEF detailed six conclusions for the solar industry and those who are trying to make it more circular. Cecilia L’Ecluse, solar associate, and Julia Attwood, head of advanced materials at BloombergNEF share these conclusions as part of our quarterly theme on PV module recycling.
India ranked the world’s most attractive solar PV market by Ernst & Young
The nation has earned the highest score of 62.7 in terms of attractiveness for solar PV investment and deployment in the latest ranking of top 40 countries by Ernst & Young.
WoodMac says renewable electricity generation in India could be 56% cheaper than coal-fired by 2030
The analyst said currently, India and Australia are the only Asia Pacific countries where renewable power already costs lower than new-build coal. It predicted the trend would spread to the entire region by the end of the decade, while India and Australia would see renewables becoming further cheaper than coal.
The future of cars is electric – but how soon is this future?
According to a new report by BloombergNEF, 58% of global passenger vehicle sales in 2040 will come from electric vehicles, yet they will make up less than 33% of all cars on the road.
India added just 853 MW of solar capacity in third quarter
The solar installation in India is making a slower-than-expected recovery as Covid-related disruption continues to hurt construction progress. Safeguard duty extension and module price increase have added to the pain.
India draws new record-low solar tariff of INR 2/kWh
A recent SECI auction secured the lowest bid of INR 2/kWh, 15% lower than the INR 2.36/kWh record-low winning bid by Spanish developer Solarpack in a 2 GW auction previously.
Exide Industries increases stake in lithium battery JV with Leclanché
With an additional investment of INR 33.17 crore, Exide Industries’ shareholding in the joint venture company has increased by 2.28% to 80.15% of the paid-up equity share capital.
India and Israel to work together on perovskite solar cells and lithium sulfur batteries
Low-cost batteries and novel perovskite materials are among the topics selected for joint research and development.
Government planning electric vehicle charging kiosks at 69,000 petrol pumps
An underdeveloped charging ecosystem is one of the many factors restricting the uptake of electric four-wheelers in India. A limited number of products and higher costs than combustion-engine powered vehicles are the other deterrents.
State-owned investors dump coal for solar and wind
Coal project finance in the year 2019 stood at just INR 1100 crore (US$190 million), compared to renewable energy lending aggregating to INR 22,971 crore (US$3220 million).
