With copper prices rising, inflation driving up the cost of living, and organised criminal gangs stepping up operations in the United Kingdom and across Europe, solar project owners need to be more conscious than ever of security, reports Max Hall.

A study of the investment and innovation needed to achieve the European Green Deal’s aviation ambitions has highlighted the key role that synthetic fuel can play until hydrogen and electric flights become a reality.

Indonesia will have to get to work installing more than 24 GW of solar this year – and every year – if the region is to achieve the 2.1 TW to 2.4 TW of photovoltaics the International Renewable Energy Agency has estimated it will require to achieve a net zero carbon energy system by 2050.

The city authority wants a developer to construct a 7 MW solar project for it as part of a push to widen its sources of electricity, and says clean energy will be cheaper than – largely coal-fired – grid power from Eskom.

China installed 37.73 GW of solar in the first seven months of this year, according to official estimates. JinkoSolar said it is struggling to cope with power rationing in Sichuan province, while Shunfeng said it expects to record a hefty net loss for the first half.

Investments in renewables are hitting new highs in China, as recurrent Covid-19 outbreaks and a crisis-stricken housing market threaten the world’s second-biggest economy, according to BloombergNEF.

The average global price of solar kilowatt-hours fell 13% on 2020’s prices, as around two-thirds of the renewables capacity installed last year was cheaper than the lowest-cost fossil fuel alternative.

The Vietnamese government is reportedly concerned about legal action from solar investors if its new power development plan does not prove ambitious enough.

A prominent analyst in China expects the price of the solar panel raw material to pass CNY 300 (AU$65.5) per kg soon and says the sky-high prices will continue at least through September.

Singapore’s Energy Market Authority has already attracted proposals for 1.2 GW of renewable electricity, to be generated in four southeast Asian nations, and wants to raise that figure to 4 GW by 2035.