Japan

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.

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.

Doubling down on renewable energy investment and energy transition spending is required to ensure a truly green global recovery from the Covid-19 crisis and its economic aftershock, claims the International Renewable Energy Agency.

EV sales are set to be 1.7 million off because of the economic fallout of the Covid-19 crisis, however analyst BloombergNEF predicts that will be less of a hit than the anticipated fall in sales of conventional cars, increasing the penetration of electric models into the overall market.

Year 2019 saw some 19.5 GW of wind and solar energy contracted by corporations globally through power purchase agreements, up more than 40% from the previous year’s record. The bulk of this purchase occurred in the U.S. with tech companies and oil and gas majors leading the charge. India, however, saw a drop amid rollback of attractive policies, says a new report from BloombergNEF.

The Japanese electronics giant has unveiled three monocrystalline half-cut cell modules said to provide 2-3% better performance than standard, full cell panels. The claimed efficiency of the modules exceeds 19.5% and Sharp says power output ranges from 330-395 W.

The joint venture between Japanese majors Toshiba, Denso and Suzuki will make the investment in the Gujarat plant over the 2021-25 period, having pumped Rs12.5 billion into the first phase of development.

Market intelligence company Navigant Research has developed a country forecast of the global market. Incentives and pricing will be the main driver of installations, though the market will continue to be concentrated in certain key regions, including India, for now.

Integrated power infrastructure offers an emerging investment opportunity in Asia as the region expands and adapts its energy mix to address sustainability and resilience goals. Narsingh Chaudhary and Mitesh Patel, of engineering, procurement and construction business Black & Veatch, tell pv magazine more.

The global installed capacity will grow from a modest 9 GW/17 GWh as of 2018 to 1,095 GW/2,850 GWh in the next two decades. Just 10 countries will account for almost 75% of the overall gigawatt market, with China, USA, India and Germany leading the pack.