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India’s leading infrastructure finance company IL&FS expects up to Rs 80 billion from wind and solar asset sales.

India contributed to one-third of the global sales of distributed solar products during January-June 2018. Indian manufacturers can further leverage the International Solar Alliance (ISA) platform to engage with the global market, says Viraj Gada, GOGLA’s India regional representative and spokesperson for The India Distributed Energy Forum and Expo (IDEF), in an interview with pv magazine ahead of the event on January 30 and 31 in New Delhi.

“One billion mini-grids, one billion home lighting systems, one billion solar PV ports, 10 million jobs and energy for all have-nots around the world. This is the primary dream of the Global Solar Council (GSC) and we shall achieve this by 2030,” Pranav R Mehta, who took over as Chairman of Global Solar Council today, told pv magazine in an exclusive interview.

Tariff ceilings, safeguard duties, a falling rupee and mandated manufacturing capacity turned 2018 into a year of annulled tenders, and no shows by bidders.

2018 has been a volatile year for the Indian solar industry, with several hits and misses. They include the government yo-yoing over safeguard duties, annulled tenders, confusion over Goods & Services Tax (GST), record installation figures, yet predictions that the country will not meet its ambitious target of achieving 100 GW solar capacity by 2022.

Having reflected on the year gone by, it is time to turn attention to the coming year. Many predictions may not fully, or even partially, bear the fruit they promise – and the unexpected is always lurking in the background – however they can be a useful indicator of certain pathways and growth areas. With this in mind, the pv magazine team has compiled a list of the top 14 solar PV and energy storage trends expected to characterize 2019. What do you think? Have we missed anything?

More predictions from IHS Markit reveal that 123 GW of solar PV installations are expected in 2019 – up 18% on the capacity additions expected this year. It also sees a market shift away from China, with two thirds of capacity located elsewhere. The overcapacity situation is also expected to ease.

The state has withdrawn its transmission charges waiver for solar projects bigger than 500 MW in capacity. While unhappy developers are protesting, industry experts deem it sensible for the government to apply a limit to – and possibly plan a phased withdrawal of – incentives for the solar sector.

As problems with component failure have already laid bare, there is a clear need for contract clarity at every stage of a PV project, from material and component sourcing to power purchase and operations agreements. Here, pv magazine investigates a little covered issue for module buyers, which could threaten insurance coverage and the overall success of a project further down the line.

A new era in the Chinese energy transition is on the menu and renewables are the order of the day, according to the latest China Renewable Energy Outlook (CREO). China will not require a gas bridge between coal and renewables, it finds, adding that renewables will become the core of the nation’s energy system by 2050, with annual PV installs of between 80-160 GW possible. Not only that, but electricity supply could be cheaper in this future than it is today.