• May 29, 2023

According to the latest data from the Danish Energy Agency, as of the end of March 2023, the cumulative installed solar capacity in Denmark reached 3,251 MW, distributed in 131,979 photovoltaic systems. Self-consumption PV installations built without subsidies accounted for 1.72 GW, while solar arrays under PPAs accounted for 336 MW. In addition, projects selected in the public tender contributed 248 MW, while photovoltaic systems installed under the expired incentive scheme accounted for 938 MW. The agency recorded 236 MW of new PV capacity in the first quarter of this year and said in a statement that developers will connect more PV installations to the grid in the first three months of 2023 than in all of 2021. The agency also said that Denmark will install more than 1 GW of photovoltaic systems between March 2022 and March 2023. Large corporations are increasingly prioritizing clean electricity from solar energy, resulting in an increasing market share of unsubsidized large-scale PV projects. Despite potentially lower economic margins compared to wind power, these PV installations continue to gain traction in the market, driven by the desire for sustainable energy solutions. According to a recent report by Rystad Energy, Denmark is expected to lead Scandinavia in solar development, reaching 9 GW of photovoltaic capacity by 2030. Denmark will also lead in the use of green hydrogen, accounting for 12% of the European market, Rystad Energy said.

• May 23, 2023

The Spanish cabinet has approved a 2.19 billion euro ($2.38 billion) investment plan. The strategy, first proposed by the Ministry of Ecological Transition and Population Challenges and the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, aims to combat drought and strengthen water resources. These include the construction of desalination plants powered by solar power plants, support for the reuse of urban water, reduction of expenses on affected agricultural farms, and relief of pressure on the aquifers that supply the Doñana National Park. The government authorized state-owned company Acuamed to tender for the new desalination plant and photovoltaic solar park, allocating a budget of 600 million euros. Acuamed will develop agreements to incentivize investment in photovoltaic parks and set a maximum selling price for desalinated water. Spanish developers have implemented projects using photovoltaic power generation to address water shortages through desalination plants.

• May 18, 2023

The Bulgarian Ministry of Energy has announced the launch of a 240 million Bulgarian lev ($134 million) rebate program open to applications for households installing solar water heating systems and rooftop photovoltaic arrays, which may also be paired with battery storage. The Bulgarian Ministry of Energy has launched a solar rebate program of up to 240 million BGN to help households reduce their carbon footprint and lower household electricity bills. Homeowners can now apply for funding for solar water heating systems and rooftop photovoltaic systems up to 10 kWp, which may also be paired with battery storage, the department said. The deadline for applications is November 10. Following final approval by the Union Council, funds totaling BGN 140 million will be distributed through Bulgaria's National Recovery and Rehabilitation Programme, with the remainder coming from additional funds from the state and private entities. Funds up to 80 million BGN will be distributed in the first round of financing. According to the long-awaited financing plan, solar water heating systems can be fully funded, but not exceeding 1961 levs; photovoltaic systems below 10 kwp can receive subsidies of up to 70% of the total project amount, but not exceeding 15,000 levs . To apply for financial assistance, households should still be using inefficient heat sources such as wood or coal-fired stoves, boilers or fireplaces, and must be the applicant's permanent residence. According to Solar Energy Europe (SPE), Bulgaria's cumulative installed PV capacity has reached 1.5 GW by the end of 2022.

• May 15, 2023

The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) has released new data on the capital costs of solar PV, onshore and offshore wind for the period 2020-2021. The results show that Germany and the Netherlands have the lowest capital costs in Europe, both at 2.2%, while those in the US, China, India and Australia are 5.4%, 3.9%, 7.1% and 4.6% respectively. IRENA has released its first report on the cost of financing renewable energy, covering solar PV, onshore and offshore wind technologies in all major global markets. The agency drew data from 172 survey responses and 33 interviews with 56 experts providing cost of capital (CoC) data for at least one of the three renewable energy technologies from 45 countries on six continents. The results show that Germany and the Netherlands have the lowest capital costs for utility-scale PV of all regions surveyed, at 2.2% each. In Europe, Sweden follows at 3%, Denmark and the UK at 3.3%. Spain, France and Italy have CoCs of 5.1%, 3.4% and 4.3%, respectively. Ireland, Portugal and Ukraine had the least favorable results at 9.9%, 10% and 12.2% respectively. In North America, the United States has a CoC of 5.4%, while Mexico has a CoC of 8.7%. In South America, Chile beat Brazil's 7.6 percent with 5.7 percent. The best results in the African region were South Africa and Kenya, both at 6.9%, while Tunisia had the worst results at 10.7%. China leads the global cost of capital at 3.9%, followed by Australia at 4.6%, followed by India at 7.1%. Mature PV markets reflect good capital costs in China, North America and Western Europe, IRENA said.

• May 11, 2023

Australia's largest rail infrastructure project, the Melbourne-Brisbane Inland Rail Freight Line, has switched to solar power to power its signaling system. The move is expected to save about A$25 million ($16.93 million) in costs. Following a successful trial of the solar signaling system at Coolleearlee in northern NSW, ARTC has approved the system for use at the remaining 82 signaling stations along the rail corridor from Albury in the south of the state to Gowrie in Queensland run. The Albury-Gowrie section is part of an ambitious inland rail project that will link the ports of Melbourne and Brisbane along a new route west of the Great Dividing Range. The line will bypass the Sydney metropolitan area and will also connect to the Sydney-Perth rail corridor. Construction on the project, which began in 2018 and was due to finish in 2025, has been plagued by budget blowouts and construction delays. While no completion date has been set for the project, ARTC has switched to a solar-powered signaling system, a move that will help save money. Rebecca Pickering, acting chief executive of ARTC Inland Rail, said using solar and battery energy storage instead of mains power for the signaling system had saved the project significant money, a move that eliminated the need to use local power infrastructure or obtain easements Mains power service for signaling sites.

• May 08, 2023

Brazil's distributed solar power generation has exceeded 20 GW. As of the end of March this year, the country has exceeded the 19 GW mark. According to data from the Brazilian National Electricity Regulatory Agency (Aneel), as of April 20, 2023, over 1.8 million distributed photovoltaic power generation systems have been connected to the grid in 5526 cities across Brazil, providing power to 2.4 million consumer units. Of the country's 20.444 GW of distributed generation, 20.186 GW comes from solar power. Sao Paulo (2.741 GW), Minas Gerais (2.653 GW), Rio Grande do Sul (2.131 GW), Parana (1.901 GW) and Santa Catalina (1.392 GW) have the largest installed capacity in Brazil. Most of Brazil's distributed solar power generation systems are installed on consumer sites. Among them, over 15.6 GW are installed in 1.5 million systems, providing energy for consumer units in the installation location. The remote spontaneous self use system ranks second with a total capacity of 4.4 GW, distributed among 325000 solar devices. The installed capacity of the energy community is only 109 MW, distributed in 4431 systems. The power generation capacity of residential roof system is 10.2 GW, accounting for a little more than half of the installed capacity of distributed generation, and distributed in 1476000 systems.

• April 25, 2023

The Italian Ministry of Environment and Energy Security has unveiled a new incentive program to support innovative agricultural photovoltaic solutions. The Italian government has submitted these new regulations to the European Commission and is now awaiting EU approval. The plan is part of Italy's National Recovery and Resilience Program (PNRR), which has a budget of 1.1 billion euros and should be sufficient to deploy around 1.04GW of installed PV capacity by June 2026. Only agricultural PV projects with vertical installation structures or high-efficiency innovative PV modules are eligible to participate in the program. Selected developers will receive subsidies up to 40% of the initial cost of procurement and installation of photovoltaic systems. These developers will receive feed-in tariff payments based on the energy they deliver to the grid. The new decree also defines "advanced agricultural photovoltaic systems". These systems must incorporate innovative installation solutions – that is, installing solar modules on the ground without disrupting the continuity of agricultural production. In summary, the new regulations define "advanced agricultural photovoltaic systems" as complex systems that both increase production potential and ensure continuity of agricultural activities.

• April 21, 2023

In the first three months of this year, Germany installed 2.65 GW of new photovoltaic capacity, up from around 1.97 GW in the same period last year. In March alone, the country's newly installed photovoltaic capacity reached 944 MW. Some 598 MW of PV capacity deployed in the first quarter of this year was installed in the southern state of Bavaria. North Rhine-Westphalia came in second with 397.6 MW, followed by Baden-Wurttemberg with 380.8 MW. As of the end of March, the cumulative installed capacity of photovoltaics in Germany had reached 70.1 GW. To meet the 2030 solar target of 215 GW, the country needs to add at least 1.55 GW of solar every month.

• April 17, 2023

British renewable energy developer Island Green Power, known as the Rangiriri Solar Farm Project and Waerenga Solar Farm Project, has announced plans to develop two new solar projects on New Zealand's North Island. The proposed 180 MWp Waerenga Solar Farm and 130 MWp Rangiriri Solar Farm are expected to generate approximately 220 GWh and 300 GWh of clean electricity per annum respectively. State-owned utility Transpower, the owner and operator of National Grid, has been named as a joint applicant as it deals with the related infrastructure. The projects have been submitted to an independent fast-track consent panel, which provides an accelerated consent process for projects that have the potential to boost economic activity and help New Zealand accelerate the rollout of renewable energy as it works towards net zero emissions by 2050.