SolarPower Europe revises down global outlook for 2018… but only a bit
Despite recent developments in China, the European solar association believes global newly installed PV capacity this year will reach 102 GW, only 5 GW lower than its previous guidance.
64 MW Warwick project helps UQ go 100% renewable
The University of Queensland (UQ) will offset 100% of its electricity needs with renewables by 2020. The milestone will be achieved through existing rootop PV arrays, and a freshly approved 64 MW solar farm near Warwick, in the state’s Southern Downs region.
Remote communities to light up with 5.6 MW of PV through SETuP
The second stage of the SETuP project is rolling out Solar PV to communities in the Northern Territory, with the project set to be completed by November 2018.
BNEF expects 34% fall in PV module prices in 2018
The analyst is expecting carnage throughout the solar value chain as the result of reduced policy support for deployment in China.
California generates more power from solar than gas in May
During May utility-scale solar provided 17% of generation on California’s grid, outpacing gas for the first time on a monthly basis.
“New wave” of PPAs breaks, Flow Power signs Kiamal Solar Farm offtake agreement
Commercial electricity retailer Flow Power has signed an offtake deal through to 2030 for a quarter of the production from the Kiamal Solar Farm, in Victoria. Total Eren – developer of the $90 million, 200 MW project – has now signed three bilateral PPAs with offtakers – pointing the way for project developers as large-scale solar’s competiveness continues to grow.
China: 2018 installations could drop by more than a third
On Friday, three Chinese government ministries issued a joint “2018 Solar PV Power Generation Notice.” Its impact has been hotly debated since, with two key conclusions: the largest market segment – utility-scale PV – will take a pounding and not come close to last year’s record installation figure of just under 34 GW; and the expanding distributed generation market segment, which rose 360% from 2016 to 2017, will also be severely impacted by a 10 GW cap on new projects.
China PV slowdown could prompt deep module price falls in Q3
New policies affecting all solar market segments in China are likely to lead to production overcapacity in the second half of 2018. The new regulations, announced June 1, will likely see the Chinese market decline from an expected 40-45 GW to 30-35 GW for the year, analysts report.
Mars Australia to go 100% solar by 2020
On the back of a 20 year power-purchase agreement with Total Eren, the global confectionary giant has taken 100% renewable energy pledge for its six Australian factories.
Bungala Solar Project starts generating to grid
A 45 MW portion of the Bungala solar farm has begun feeding electricity into the grid. The entire first phase of the project – a 137.7 MW PV plant – is expected to be completed in a few months.
