China

Planning ahead is crucial to ensure the Indian solar industry bounces back quickly and the slowdown is not carried forward to 2021-22, say BloombergNEF analysts even as they estimate 75% fall in PV imports in the first quarter of year 2020 over the previous quarter and revise annual capacity addition forecasts.

The Chinese inverter manufacturer will supply its 1500V 3.125 MW central inverter solution for Indian developer Avaada Energy’s upcoming PV projects in India.

Sliding electricity demand and declining commercial and industrial activity could prompt distribution companies to block or delay payments to solar power producers.

U.S.-owned analyst Wood Mackenzie expects solar demand to decline but predicts the market will recover, with the prospects for the energy transition remaining intact.

Researchers in China have ranked some of the most commonly used battery chemistries according to parameters deemed important for grid-level storage. The team gave a score in each category and determined a winner – and it wasn’t lithium-ion.

Researchers from China are proposing to use spent battery lead for creating a perovskite that can be used in the production of solar cells that are based on this promising material. The proposed one-step process, which was tested in the production of a 17.38% efficient perovskite heterojunction cell, is said to be cheaper and less energy-intensive than other recycling processes for waste lead from lead-acid batteries.

The U.S. ITC has released a report highlighting changes in the domestic solar cell and module manufacturing industry, showing that while there has been an increase in domestic module manufacturing, the overall program’s success, relative to the $740 million in tariffs, has created little measurable benefit.

Lobby group the National Solar Energy Federation of India says around 4 GW of solar plant capacity is likely to be affected by component shortages after the outbreak of the virus in China.

Delay in sourcing of PV modules from China can cause project cost and time overruns, inviting penalties for missing the commissioning date.

While lithium batteries have taken center stage for energy storage, vanadium redox flow batteries could gain considerable traction in 2020. In previous years, vanadium battery installations around the world have done little more than provide proof of concept and a test bed for manufacturers, argues David Gillam from Mastermines. He looks at what may have changed since then and why a surge in batteries utilizing vanadium may be closer than many believe, with China taking the lead.