A Bangladeshi government minister has announced 40% of the nation's electricity will come from renewables by 2041. Junior power minister Nasrul Hamid made the declaration yesterday, at an inauguration ceremony for Bangladesh's largest solar rooftop, a $16 million, 16 MW array in Chittagong. The government in March said it would reformulate its renewables policy after it fell well short of a target to generate 10% of its electricity from clean power by last year. Around 3% of Bangladesh's power came from clean sources at that point. “Renewable energy will be the main source of energy in the future,” the minister said on Sunday, emphasizing the benefits offered by commercial solar rooftops. “The share of renewable energy is increasing in [the] fuel mix,” said Hamid, in part thanks to the rising popularity of net-metered solar arrays like the one installed at an export processing zone owned by Korean clothing and textiles company Youngone Corporation. Export processing zones are areas with less onerous customs and tax charges where manufacturing takes place solely for export. The minister said plans to expand the Chittagong array to 40 MW next year would encourage other businesses to follow suit. The politician stressed, however, that the big land requirements of large scale, ground-mounted solar plants would mean wind, tidal and energy-from-waste facilities would also have big roles to play in reaching the government's 2041 target. Youngone Corporation intends to expand its Chittagong project to around 40 MW of generation capacity, with 4.3 MW due to come online before November and the balance expected next year. The intention is for all 34 factories at the Youngone export processing zone to be powered entirely by the eventual 40 MW of solar capacity. With the rooftop array net-metered, any excess power generated will be exported to the grid. Lee Jang-Keun, South Korean ambassador to Bangladesh, said of the rooftop array: “This is how businesses can get along with nature and reduce the threat of climate change.” Bangladesh has around 746 MW of renewable energy generation capacity and the first stage of the Chittagong array has taken the nation to 40.72 MW of net-metered rooftop solar.

Global solar installation in 2020 Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, preliminary reported market data shows that the global PV market again grew significantly in 2020. At least 139,4 GWdc of PV systems have been installed and commissioned in the world last year. The total cumulative installed capacity for PV at the end of 2020 reached at least 760,4 GWdc. While these data will have to be confirmed in the coming months, some important trends can already be extracted: The Chinese PV market went back to a market level it experienced in 2017, after two years in a row of market slowdown. In 2020, 48,2 GW of PV were installed, compared to 43,4 GW in 2018 and 30,1 GW in 2019. China remains the leader in terms of cumulative capacity with 253,4 GW installed, almost one third of the global PV installed capacity. Outside of China, the global PV market grew from 79,2 GW in 2019, to at least 90 GW in 2020, a 14% increase year on year. The European Union installed close to 19,6 GW and the rest of Europe added around 2,6 GW. The largest European market in 2020 was Germany (4,9 GW), followed by the Netherlands (3,0 GW), Spain (2,8 GW), Poland (2,6 GW), Belgium (1,0 GW) and France (0,9 GW). The US market saw its market increasing to 19,2 GW; a new record, with utility-scale installations accounting for about 73% of the new additions. Vietnam takes the fourth place with an impressive annual installation of 11 GW. Japan ranks fifth, with an estimated 8,2 GW annual installed capacity. Some other key markets contributed significantly to new additions in 2020, such as India (close to 5 GW, but in significant decline compared to last years), Australia (4,1 GW), Korea (4,1 GW), Brazil (3,1 GW), Taiwan (1,7 GW), Mexico (1,5 GW), followed by the Philippines (1,1 GW) and South-Africa (1,0 GW). Preliminary numbers show to Mexico and South Africa could have installed close to 1 GW as well. Among the top 10 countries, there are now six Asia-Pacific countries (Australia, China, India, Japan, Korea and Vietnam), two European countries (Germany and the Netherlands) and two countries in the Americas (Brazil and the USA). The level to enter the top 10 global markets in 2020 was around 3,0 GW; a stable level compared to 2019 and twice the level needed in 2018. The top 10 countries represented around 78% of the global annual PV market, a slight increase compared to 2019. However, compared to previous years, the market is still showing a decreasing market concentration trend. Honduras, Australia, Germany, Greece, Chile, Spain, the Netherlands, Italy, Japan, Israel, Belgium, India, China, and Turkey now have enough PV capacity to theoretically produce more than 5% of their annual electricity demand with PV. PV represents around 3,7% of the global electricity demand. The contribution of PV to decarbonizing the energy mix is progressing, with PV saving as much as 875 million tons of CO2eq. However, much remains to be done to fully decarbonize and PV deployment should increase by at least on...

Ground-mounted utility scale solar PV power systems continued to clearly dominate the solar space in 2019 – and this won’t change until 2024. The segment had a share of around 64% last year, which is anticipated to hike to 69% in 2021, and then remain flat at around 68% for the coming years. The slight ‘weakness‘ of utility-scale solar in 2019 is in direct relation to the market developments in China and India. Both world leading markets have been strongholds of ground-mounted PV power plants. While the termination of the feed-in tariffs for large-scale power plants in May 2018 in China resulted in immediate market contraction, it also directly had a positive impact on rooftop PV. This development continued in 2019 when solar demand in China fell even steeper. Still, close to 60% of the solar capacity added in China last year were utility-scale power plants. The other leading market that disappointed last year was India, where the bulk of the total installed capacity are ground-mounted power plants. Less PV demand in India meant less utility-scale power plants for the world. On the other hand, the United States, as the world’s No. 2 PV market, saw increasing demand in 2019, mostly driven by a year-end deadline for the 30% ITC, which primarily triggered investments in utility-scale PV capacities. However, deploying large volumes of utility-scale solar is much simpler to deploy than creating a distributed PV rooftop market, which requires a substantial period of time and a lot of effort to educate consumers, while setting up an effective platform with the right financing instruments and technical standards. That’s why emerging markets usually begin their solar chapter with tenders for utility-scale solar and frequently struggle to set up the distributed rooftop segment, even if politicians generally prefer PV on roofs which they consider the natural place for the technology as it avoids any potential conflicts on land use. A good example for such a development is India, which targets 100 GW of solar by 2022, with 40 GW coming from rooftop solar. But of the 35.7 GWAC total of solar power capacity installed by the end of 2019, only 4.4 GWAC were rooftop systems—the vast majority (88%) was utility-scale PV power plants. The Indian Government had approved 1.7 billion USD under its Sustainable Rooftop Implementation for Solar Transfiguration of India (SRISTI) programme in 2018 to accelerate the installation of rooftop solar. Instead, an economic slowdown had pulled that rooftop solar down, resulting in the first decline for the small segment in five years in India. Two relatively recent solar feed-in tariff hot-spots and new GW-scale markets, Vietnam and Ukraine, have been also focusing on utility-scale solar, whereas the European country’s net metering programme has been nurturing a small rooftop market as well. However, even the most advanced solar rooftop market, Australia, with more than 2.3 million solar homes, has recently been leaning towards uti...

Recently, a 1MW solar tracker project located in Rayong, Thailand is under smooth installation, which adopted Solaxisys ANT-cloud solar tracker with precast concrete foundation. Due to the impact of Covid-19, the completion will extended to at the end of August, 2021. About ANT-cloud ANT-cloud the multi-actuator single-axis 2P solar tracker, is the best match with bifacial modules. Designed with patent linear-actuator drive through electric synchronously, this advanced system is free from transmission bar which allows for quick installation, convenient maintenance and low consumption, effectively reducing the labor cost. What are the tracker’s advantages for this projects? As for installation efficiency , Solaxisys Ant-cloud is equipped with easy-installed actuator  which only require one single person to install, the patent torque tube fastener also provide a unique way for 2 times faster installation. Solaxisys’s sales engineers came on site to give any support for the smooth installation. Moreover, with Astronomical Algorithms+Intelligent Algorithms, Solaxisys Ant-cloud solar tracker can iterate the optimized tracking angle for each controller with a 0.5%-3% power generation increased compared with traditional algorithm. Upon completion, intelligent O&M based on self-developed SCADA platform can offer system potential risks forewarning and weather condition warning to ensure the stability of power plant. Ant-cloud solar tracker has proven to be proper solution for large scale solar power plants in many other countries such Mexico, China, Armenia, etc. A few of projects utilized Solaxisys’s tracker in Thailand are under production and will add to local clean energy generation.

Source: https://www.energymagazine.com.au/rooftop-solar-australias-second-largest-generator/ The Australian Energy Council (AEC) has released its Quarterly Solar Report, revealing that rooftop solar is now the second largest generator by capacity in Australia – contributing over 14.7GW in capacity. The AEC’s Quarterly Solar Report shows while coal-fired generation has more capacity, rooftop solar is continuing to expand with 109,000 systems installed in the second quarter of 2021. AEC Chief Executive, Sarah McNamara, said, “While the 2020/21 financial year was difficult for most industries due to the impact of COVID-19, Australia’s rooftop solar PV industry does not appear to have been overly affected, based on this AEC analysis.” Solar uptake by state New South Wales cracked the nation’s top five with two postcodes during the 2021 financial year, with the biggest growth for NSW solar installations landing north west of the Sydney CBD Victorian postcodes 3029 (Hoppers Crossing, Tarneit, Truganina) and 3064 (Donnybrook) have held the top ranks for the past two years; these suburbs had an equivalent number of solar systems installed with capacities of approximately 18.9MW Queensland claimed four spots during 2020 but southwest Brisbane’s 4300 is the only postcode in the top ten in 2021, ranking third with nearly 2,400 systems installed and 18.1MW connected to the grid Western Australia has three postcodes in the top ten, each installed around 1800 systems with a capacity of 12MW in FY21 “All jurisdictions, except the Northern Territory, hit records for the number of solar panels installed compared to the previous financial year,” Ms McNamara said. “During the 2020/21 financial year, around 373,000 solar systems were installed on Australian homes, up from 323,500 during 2019/20. Installed capacity also jumped from 2,500MW to more than 3,000MW.” Ms McNamara said that continued low technology costs, increased working from home arrangements and a shift in household spending to home improvements during the COVID-19 pandemic played a key role in the increase of rooftop solar PV systems.

At least 455GW of new solar PV capacity will need to be installed each year by the end of this decade for the world to reach net zero status by 2050, new analysis by BloombergNEF (BNEF) has found. The research and consultancy firm has published the 2021 edition of its New Energy Outlook, which maps the world’s transition to net zero status in three specific trajectories labelled ‘Green’, ‘Red’ and ‘Gray’. The Green scenario, wherein the majority of the heavy lifting with regards decarbonisation of the power sector is done by a mix of solar PV and wind, will require a trebling of annual solar installation rates by the end of the decade. Furthermore, the market potential for solar PV under BNEF’s Green scenario states that as much as 20TW of solar may be installed by 2050, equivalent to an average of 632GW of solar PV being installed each year over the next 30 years. Renewables installations of that ilk will require energy storage deployment to increase significantly too, with at least 245GWh of energy storage needed to be deployed each year by 2030 to facilitate the growth of renewable power. The need for such significant quantities of renewables power generation is due to its status as the “backbone” of the energy transition, the report reads, with solar PV and wind requiring an urgent acceleration for renewable power to contribute. The next nine years are critical to get global markets on track and the power sector must make significant progress this decade. More than 75% of total emissions reductions required this decade must come from the power sector, a fact which will require rapid deployment of solar PV and wind. Compared to 2019 levels, BNEF’s analysis shows power sector emissions must fall by 57% by 2030 and by 89% by 2040, to pave the way for greater electrification of sectors where emissions are harder to abate. The energy transition will, as BNEF’s analysis shows, require a significant increase in annual investment. Depending on the model, BNEF argues that between US$92 – 173 trillion of investment will be needed to achieve net zero. That would require at least a doubling of current investment trends, rising from an annual investment of US$1.7 trillion invested in 2020 to between US$3.1 – 5.8 trillion a year each year for the next three decades. But that investment will not be in vain, and would indeed pale compared to the costs of mitigating climate disasters associated with inaction. “The capital expenditures needed to achieve net zero will create enormous opportunities for investors, financial institutions and the private sector, while creating many new jobs in the green economy,” Jon Moore, chief executive at BNEF, said. BNEF’s Green scenario is not the only plausible route to net zero. Under its Red model, which prioritises emergent technologies such as green hydrogen and modular nuclear reactors, nuclear power would provide two-thirds of total primary energy demand by 2050. Likewise under BNEF’s Gray model, which envisages the ma...

Sources：www.pv-tech.org European Union (EU) countries may need to ramp up renewables deployment in the next decade to meet new proposed targets aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions across the bloc. As part of its wide-reaching ‘Fit for 55’ climate plan unveiled today (14 July), the EU’s executive branch, the European Commission, has updated its Renewable Energy Directive to increase the overall binding target from 32% to a new level of 40% renewables in the bloc’s energy mix by 2030. The change aims to make the energy system cleaner and more efficient by fostering renewables-based electrification and, in sectors such as industry and transport, it will promote the uptake of renewable fuels, such as green hydrogen. To increase the attractiveness of renewables projects for private investors, the Commission proposes measures to make permitting more efficient and to promote direct contracts between producers and consumers. These measures form part of a dozen draft proposals aimed at driving down greenhouse gas emissions across the EU by at least 55% by 2030, compared to 1990 levels, putting it in on a path to becoming carbon neutral by 2050. The ‘Fit for 55’ proposals remove barriers and add incentives so that Europe can move faster towards net zero, said European Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson. “To achieve climate neutrality by 2050, we need to turn the renewables evolution into a revolution and make sure no energy is wasted along the way,” she said. The increased renewables goal will disappoint SolarPower Europe, which is calling for the EU to target 45% clean energy by 2030. Nevertheless, analysis from the trade association predicts that the 40% ambition will require a total of 660GW of solar PV deployed in Europe by 2030, up from the approximately 137GW installed as of year-end 2020. A statement from the European Renewable Energies Federation said it regrets that a higher renewables target has not been proposed, while campaign group ClientEarth said the ‘Fit for 55’ package has shied away from action at the scale required. “The Commission’s proposed renewables target is a step in the right direction but is clearly insufficient to put Europe on track for climate neutrality by 2050,” said ClientEarth energy lawyer Guillermo Ramo. Other Commission proposals include an objective to reach at least a 49% renewable share in the energy used in buildings across the EU by 2030, while tighter vehicle emission limits would effectively end new petrol and diesel car sales by 2035. Additionally, new emissions trading for transport and for fuels used in buildings would provide a price signal to reduce energy use and increase the share of renewable energy in electricity production. Despite the series of eye-catching announcements, the EU’s 55% target for net cuts to emissions by 2030 “falls well short” of what science requires to restrict global heating to 1.5°C, according to Greenpeace. “Celebrating these policies is like a high jumper claiming a meda...

The Federal Government has released the 2021 Australian Energy Statistics, showing that renewables are increasing as a share of generation in 2020, but coal and gas continue to provide the majority of generation. The statistics for electricity generation shows that 24 percent of Australia’s electricity came from renewable energy in 2020, up from 21 percent in 2019. This increase is driven by a boom in solar installation. Solar is now the largest source of renewable energy at 9 percent of total generation, up from 7 percent in 2019, with one in four Australian homes having solar – the highest uptake in the world. The large uptake of solar helped contribute to the record 7GW of new renewable capacity installed last year, confirming Australia as a renewable energy world leader. But according to the Federal Government, the pace of growth in renewables highlights the important role that more traditional and reliable sources of energy play in the system. This underscores the need for continued essential generation from dispatchable sources to balance and complement the high levels of variable supply entering the energy system to deliver affordable, reliable power for consumers. Importantly, gas-fired generation grew in Queensland and the Northern Territory 2020, with overall generation remaining relatively stable in recent years. Coal also continued to be the backbone of our electricity supply, representing 54 percent of total generation in 2020 and playing an essential role as a stable, baseload source of affordable and reliable power. Federal Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction, Angus Taylor, said the Australian Government is ensuring Australia’s record level of renewable energy is complemented by dispatchable generation. “My focus is ensuring Australia’s energy system remains reliable and affordable for all Australians,” Mr Taylor said. “The Morrison Government is taking strong action to stabilise the grid and get the energy generation balance right to ensure Australians can access the reliable and affordable power they need, when they need it. “We are a renewable energy powerhouse, and this is something we should be proud of, but renewables need reliable generation to back them up and maintain pressure on prices when the sun isn’t shining and the wind isn’t blowing. “Reliable sources of energy, like coal and gas, will continue to be needed to keep the lights on and deliver 24/7 power for households and businesses as more and more renewables enter the system.” Ensuring the design of the future National Electricity Market (NEM) is fit for purpose is key to the delivery of reliable, secure and affordable electricity to Australian households and businesses. The Post-2025 Market Design, which is currently open for public response, is the most critical energy reform governments have been tasked to deliver by the National Cabinet. The Federal Government said it is backing new generation, transmission and storage projects across Australia to balanc...

The Asia Solar 2020 was held in Hangzhou, China, from October 27th to 28th. On the occasion of the forum, the Solaxisys Invisible Brand Conference and the Brand Upgrade Press Conference were held at the same time. Solaxisys CEO Jasmine Huang, Senior Vice President Patrick Guo, Vice President Hannah Chen, Deputy GM Amy Kou, as well as many PV industry peers and news media gathered together to witness this important moment of Solaxisys's new journey. On the evening of October 27th, the Invisible Brand Conference opened with a video, which unfolded the suspense of the "invisible". Started from the spirit of ants, Solaxisys compared itself to the "ant in the PV industry", resonating with countless industry peers. It is the first time that domestic PV company has used IP image to build its own brand. Once unveiled, it left a deep impression on people. This time, Solaxisys not only upgraded its brand image, but also released a new brand positioning and corporate strategy. After months of planning, Solaxisys’s new logo is finally released. It is a combination of ANT (ant) and AI which extracted from the brand name of Solaxisys. The word, AI, not only symbolizes Solaxisys’s aluminum alloy material technology (chemical symbol AI), but also symbolizes the future direction of Solaxisys's R&D — artificial intelligence. Besides, our teams' down-to-earth, diligent, united and dedicated spirit are similar to the characteristics of ant. Therefore, the PV ant has been selected as the new brand visual image of Solaxisys. In addition, Solaxisys's spokesman said that the new brand positioning “Expert in Hard&Core Technology for Solar Supporting System” aims at improving the impression of solar racking, enabling more people be aware of the advanced technology of solar racking and encouraging peers to jointly stride into the new era of high-end PV. The 20-minute brand strategy speech showcased the "invisible" story of Solaxisys and put an perfect end to the brand conference. On the morning of the 28th, the Solaxisys Brand Strategy Upgrade Press Conference was held. Dozens of PV media including Energy Magazine, PVMen, IN-EN, and Solar Energy Magazine participated in the meeting. At the meeting, Solaxisys CEO Jasmine Huang said that Solaxisys changed its usual low-key style and hoped the industry will remember this hard-working "PV ant" through the brand upgrade and also hoped that more industry talents will join Solaxisys  to build an "ant nest" together and contribute to the rise of China's PV industry. Solar rackings are not only the bones of the PV plant, but also represent the backbone of the solar world. Taking the brand upgrade as an opportunity, Solaxisys will further reposition its brand, with the vision of "Chinese Backbone for Solar World". We will always regarding market as the orientation, clients demand as the core, continuous focusing on R&D and products improvement, and striving to provide high-end customized solar solutions for global c...