First Solar forced to adapt to a rapidly evolving market; good week for carbon as EU seeks to reactivate market.
Solar
Mixed Greens: UK, US form floating wind farm alliance
Joint UK/US effort to make offshore wind more productive, cheaper; Japan renewables FiT close; SunPower takes solar carports to Italy; First Solar down, Q-Cells up.
Solco eyes $100m fund to attack cost of capital
The solar firm’s new CEO wants to build an investment vehicle to address the market’s two major barriers: difficulty obtaining PPAs and cost of capital.
Solar’s path to wholesale grid parity by 2020
McKinsey report shows how solar PV reaches grid parity with fossil fuels by 2020, and explains what happened in the recent boom and solar bust.
Why utilities should fear the next boom in solar PV
A major new study finds that solar PV is cheaper than conventional alternatives in four out of five customer segments – and soon will be in the fifth. It’s a tipping point that could bring dramatic changes to the energy industry across the globe.
Pay-as-you-go solar PV arrives in Australia
California-based Sungevity and Nickel Energy combine to offer solar leasing product in Australia that can deliver large rooftop solar systems at zero upfront cost.
Made in Australia: Bringing local solar technology home
Chromasun is seeking to defy Australia’s solar drain and bring a locally-developed technology back home – with the ultimate goal of establishing a manufacturing base for hybrid rooftop concentrators that could provide greenhouse neutral energy independence for homes and industrial facilities.
Seawater greenhouse – just add solar
A commercial greenhouse in hot, dry Port Augusta? It seems incongruous, but with Sundrop Farms’ unique solar desal technology, it’s a perfect match.
Sydney Uni hails major solar PV breakthrough
Research team refines “upconversion” techniques which they describe as a “turbo for solar cells”, and will lift efficiency and slash costs.
Mixed Greens: Solar’s harsh new reality
First Solar blames ‘new market reality’ for job cuts, plant closure; soaring solar capacity predicted; $4bn in subsidies for Oz miners; biofuel boast; GHGs rising.










