Commercial & Industrial PV

New and Renewable Energy Development Corporation of Andhra Pradesh Ltd has issued a rooftop solar installations tender for 15 MW on government buildings, and 20 MW for residential, commercial and industrial sectors. The single project size should be in the range of 1 kW to 500 kW.

Latest Global Solar Demand Monitor from GTM Research forecasts 6% annual increase in PV installation growth although current largest markets will register 7% contraction while geographic diversification poised to grow.

A new report published by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization outlines the benefits of solar powered irrigation systems to both large and small scale farming operations in developing countries. The report also stresses the need for comprehensive management and regulation of such systems, to avoid unsustainable water use.

New quarterly figures from Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) show that investments in solar PV arrays of less than 1 MW hit US$14.3 billion worldwide in Q1 against 10% year-on-year contraction in global renewable investments.

Technology multinational, Apple Inc. has announced that its global operations are now 100% powered by clean energy. Additionally, another nine of Apple’s manufacturing partners have committed to powering their production with 100% clean energy, meaning a total of 23 suppliers have now made this commitment.

Freyr Energy has completed 640 kW of solar PV rooftop plants in Manipur, North East India, including a 100 kW off-grid battery powered system, for a total investment of around INR 50 million (around US$769,175).

With 11 GW, India is set to become the second largest solar PV market in 2018, usurping the U.S., as global demand reaches 113 GW, says IHS Markit. It adds that Q4 will be the biggest quarter in history for installations, with 34 GW expected.

Through the company’s sun2fix open access solution, Inidan subsidiary of swiss-based renewable firm will install a 7MWp solar PV power plant in Solapur district of Maharashtra.

Dr. Frank Rijsberman, Director-General, Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), South Korea, speaks to pv magazine about its ventures in the Indian solar and storage market. Rijsberman outlines that the country’s growing and diversifying economy, with its ambitious renewable targets, can help to capitalize on the demographic dividend. As a result, it can become the world’s primary consumer sustainable growth market.

Testing from TÜV Rheinland has revealed that PV inverters and battery storage systems are vulnerable to hacking. By changing system parameters, a hacker could potentially cause a battery system to corrode, “making it like a ‘bomb’.”