Highlights

Decentralized model of solar project development has avoided the need to spend huge amounts on grid upgrades in India’s newest state. With EV charging plans advancing Telangana now intends to change policy to reflect falling solar costs.

The projects—to be set up on ‘build-own-operate’ basis—will be awarded through bidding followed by reverse auction with tariff ceiling fixed at Rs2.95/kWh for 25 years. Bidding closes on September 25.

Solargiga highlighted the fact safeguarding duty has recently been reduced in India when considering solar opportunities around the world as part of its first-half update to the Hong Kong stock exchange.

The energy storage company is ramping up R&D efforts to try and fast-track commercialization of the more productive – and more expensive – battery tech. The news was announced as part of an uninspiring first-half update thanks to falling lithium salt prices.

The state plans to achieve half the amount by 2021-22 under its new draft solar policy. The package also suggests establishing a research hub, privately financed solar parks and encouraging commercial self-consumption of clean energy.

New analysis predicts more than 150 GW of tracker capacity will be installed in the next five years – around a third of all ground mount projects up to 2024. Rapid growth in Europe, the Middle East and Africa; and the better cost structures possible from combining trackers and bifacial modules are singled out as key trends.

Pilot-scale operations at a facility near Mumbai successfully recycled the spent Li-ion batteries. The company seeks to eventually scale up the capacity to recycle 500 tonnes of spent Li-ion batteries.

The charging stations—located at the resorts of Haryana Tourism Corporation Ltd at Ambala, Kurukshetra, Karnal, Panipat and Samalkha (Sonepat)—are equipped with a rooftop solar power plant each to supply green energy for electric vehicle chargers.

While China hosts the lion’s share of production capacity for solar modules, many other parts of the world harbor the ambition to build manufacturing industries of their own. Italy’s Ecoprogetti is building production lines all over the world in 2019, and pv magazine had the chance to catch up with the family-owned company’s CEO Laura Sartore, who sees India and the Middle East as the key markets for the PV production equipment business.

A spokeswoman from the Chinese manufacturer of the Swan series of double-sided solar panels says monofacial modules will soon be consigned to residential use as the price gap between them and higher-yielding bifacial products rapidly closes.