Asia

With its feed-in tariff set to expire at the end of June, Vietnam is considering different levels of payment, classified across three irradiation regions and involving four solar technologies. Future payments would range from $0.0659-0.0985/kWh, with the cloudy north in line for the highest tariffs and with the government likely to revise tariffs for new projects every two years.

The Brisbane-based battery supplier has deployed 10 of its zinc-bromine flow batteries coupled with three li-ion batteries to store solar generated power in a far-flung village in northern Thailand.

As India plans to set up large lithium-ion battery plants, the Lithium Triangle countries in South America (comprising Chile, Argentina and Bolivia) have offered to meet India’s growing demand for lithium.

A research team has conducted a demonstration of economic feasibility for battery-assisted, low-cost hydrogen production from solar energy. The scientists claim their system will mean hydrogen can be produced for $0.15-0.25 per cubic meter.

Elon Musk’s company is seeing tremendous success with its EVs and global manufacturing, and dramatically scaling its energy storage deployment, but the Solar Roof is still not being widely deployed.

The Chinese module maker said the result was certified by the Photovoltaic and Wind Power Systems Quality Test Center at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The record, Jinko said, is thanks to its high quality n-type wafers, selective doping technology and advanced fine-line printing.

The world’s biggest solar market reached a cumulative installed PV capacity of 174.63 GW at the end of last year.

Last week, Chinese manufacturers Risen Energy and LONGi both announced conversion efficiency records for PERC cells as the twin quest to drive down costs and increase energy output shows no sign of abating.

The Taiwanese market research company has published its latest price trend data for PV modules, cells, wafers and silicon. Across the value chain, rising demand is causing stockpiles to dwindle and utilization rates to rise. Prices are rising in China as well as for high-efficiency products. Module prices have stabilized.

The EV and battery maker wants to start production of its Model 3 for the Chinese market by the end of the year. Next year, according to high-profile CEO Elon Musk, mass production of electric cars will start there, and this is expected to include their batteries as well.