Sub-Saharan Africa

The International Solar Alliance has selected India’s Super Energy Service Company to roll out its agricultural solar initiative across 13 nations. Almost a third of India’s three crore of agricultural pumps are currently powered by diesel.

While Africa has emerged as a dynamic, fast-moving hub, Asia leads in capacity deployment with its total capacity more than tripling to nearly 4.3 GW in 2017 from 1.3 GW in 2008, finds IRENA. Particularly, in India, a strong policy has pushed deployment of off-grid solar for agriculture and public end-uses.

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.

Dr. Frank Rijsberman, Director-General, Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), South Korea, speaks to pv magazine about his recent participation in the International Solar Alliance founding ceremony held on March 11, 2018. He mentioned that in ISA member countries, correct energy policies, and risks in the investment are critical and need to be addressed.

International Solar Alliance (ISA), now registered under the United Nations, is organizing its first summit to be held this Sunday March 11. It is also set to host a founding ceremony of ISA in the presence of French President, Emmanuel Macron, Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi and Bangladeshi President, Abdul Hamid. Government dignitaries of member countries are joining, and 51 solar projects will be signed, by announcing the concrete instrument to facilitate the project execution.

Su-kam Power Systems Ltd, Managing Director, Kunwer Sachdev speaks to pv magazine about the latest developments in Inverter technology. Moreover, he talks about the solar market in India from the inverter perspective, Su-Kam products Solarcon and Brainy, and he explained why DC electricity is superior to AC.

50 projects will be signed on March 11, 2018 during ISA Solar Summit, and 71 will be signed on April 20, 2018 at RE-Invest summit. Now, with five new countries, Madagascar, Gabon, Rwanda, Sri Lanka, and Uganda, the number of nations to have ratified the International Solar Alliance (ISA) framework agreement has reached 26.

Investors throughout the world made 406 investments in large-scale renewables in 2017, collectively valued at roughly €40.1 billion (US$49.5 billion), but solar is set to grow more in terms of capacity than any other clean-energy technology over the next half-decade, according to a new report. Battery storage will play a crucial role in this, it found.

The PV plant will be the nation’s largest once complete, and will be implemented under the International Finance Corporation’s Scaling Solar program.

With two new countries, the Republic of Guyana, and Togo, the number of nations to have ratified the International Solar Alliance (ISA) framework agreement has reached 21. ISA will host 6th International Steering Committee (ISC) meeting on February 20.