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A long-expected cut to China’s solar Feed-in Tariff rates has been confirmed by Chinese news outlets, which are reporting confirmed rates for the country’s 2017 solar Feed-in Tariffs — though the good news is that the cuts are less than had been anticipated. We have been expecting confirmed modifications to China’s solar Feed-in Tariff (FiT) rates for a few months now. Late September saw the release of unofficial draft proposals put forward by the country’s National Energy Administration to cut FiT rates for ground mount and distributed generation solar PV power for 2017.
China's 2017 Solar Feed-in Tariff Rates Higher Than Anticipated | CleanTechnica
On 27 December 2016, China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) published the new feed-in tariffs (FiT) for PV systems to be installed in 2017. The 13% to 19% reduction compared to 2016 tariff rates are in line with the IHS assumptions for the China PV demand forecast published in the PV Demand Market Tracker on 9 December 2016. As anticipated, the reduction of the FiT is accompanied by a grace period for PV systems that were approved before the end of 2016, but not installed. Such projects have until 30 June 2017 to be installed and connected in order to benefit from the 2016 FiT. As developers rush to install projects under the grace period, IHS forecasts that China will add 15 GW of PV installations in the first half of 2017.
China confirms 2017 PV FiT rates in line with IHS forecast assumptions - IHS Technology
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Solar power projects bid at low tariffs may be at risk as the prices of photovoltaic panels have risen amid a push in the U.S. to impose anti-dumping duty on cheaper imports from China. Tariffs could also rise from record lows as uncertainty over costs may deter renewable energy producers from quoting low rates in future auctions. The price of Chinese solar panels rose to 20 percent in the last six months to 35 cents per watt, Sanjeev Aggarwal, managing director and chief executive officer of Amplus Energy Solutions Pvt. Ltd, a solar rooftop project developer, told BloombergQuint.
Rising Chinese Solar Panel Prices May Put Indian Projects At Risk - Renewable Energy World
China has installed 24.4 gigawatts (GW) of solar PV in the first six months of 2017, including an extraordinary 13.5GW in the month of June alone, as developers rushed to complete installations to capitalise on a higher feed-in tariff that expired on July 1. According to the data from the China PV Industry Association (CPIA), the 24.4GW of new capacity — a combination of large and small scale — represented an increase of 9% year on year. It is also equivalent capacity to Australia’s entire coal fleet, and more than four times its installed solar capacity. The boost in installations was also accompanied by a 28% jump in the amount of solar cells produced in the first half to 32GW, while the output of solar modules rose 26% to 34GW. “June was prime time for developers making sure their systems were connected to the grid in order to enjoy the 2016 FITs, which were reduced between 13 and 19 per cent from July 1,” consultant Frank Haugwitz wrote recently.
China Brings 13.5 Gigawatts Of Solar PV Online In A Single Month | CleanTechnica
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About 200 megawatts per hour pulse from Latin America’s largest solar power station into nearby transmission lines that stretch more than 600km south to the capital Santiago from its location in the Atacama Desert, one of the driest and sunniest places on earth. “This is the face of the future of Chile,” says José Ignacio Escobar, general manager in Latin America for Spain’s Acciona, which built and operates El Romero. “Chile may be poor in old energy, but it is very rich in renewables. Can you see a single cloud?” he asks, gesturing towards the indigo sky that is so clear that the world’s most powerful telescopes are built in the Atacama. It is only recently that Chile began to harvest the formidable power of the Atacama’s sun. Just five years ago, the country produced negligible amounts of renewable energy and was heavily dependent on imports from its unreliable neighbours, suffering from blackouts and some of the highest energy prices in the world. But this shortage of fossil fuels has stimulated an unprecedented boom in investment in renewable — and especially solar — energy since then, despite a contraction in investment in almost all other sectors during a period of economic stagnation at the end of the commodities boom.
Chile learns to harvest its formidable solar power opportunities
A unit of China Three Gorges Corp. is building a 1 billion yuan ($151 million) floating solar power plant, the world’s biggest, in the nation’s eastern province of Anhui. China Three Gorges New Energy Co. started building the 150-megawatt project in July and part of the plant has connected to the grid, according to a Dec. 10 statement. The project features panels fixed to floats on the surface of a lake that formed after a coal mine collapsed, according to the unit. The entire facility is expected to come online by May 2018. Floating solar is getting bigger in China, where ground-mounted projects aren’t used to full capacity because of grid congestion. About 5.6 percent of solar power generation was idled in the first three quarters, according to data from the National Energy Administration.
China Starts World's Biggest Floating Solar Project - Bloomberg
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China, with the world’s largest power system, faces an uphill struggle in trying to contain double-digit rates of renewable curtailment. Even though power shedding dropped 1.4 percent in the third quarter, compared to the first half of this year, “whether the curtailment rate will go back up again after new projects start commissioning remains a concern,” said Xiaoyang Li, market analyst at MAKE Consulting. Oversupply, system inflexibility and transmission bottlenecks mean power generated in China’s northern provinces regularly fails to make it to the load centers near the coast. According to China’s National Energy Administration (NEA), the renewable energy abandonment rate in the third quarter of this year was 33 percent in Gansu and 29.3 percent in Xinjiang, both in the northwest of the country.
China Faces an Uphill Renewable Energy Curtailment Challenge | Greentech Media
Financial advisory firm Lazard is out with its eleventh annual levelized cost of energy analysis. It shows renewable energy costs continue to drop compared to conventional generation. But the data is also a reality check. While wind and utility-scale PV can now out-compete almost any conventional generation source, including combined-cycle gas in some cases, the report also revealed that cost improvements for these intermittent renewables are diminishing. Utility-scale solar LCOE dropped 86 percent in the last eight years. For wind, the figure was 67 percent. But most of these reductions took place in the first four years under study. Looking at the last four years alone, utility-scale PV LCOE dropped 36 percent and wind fell 24 percent. And comparing last year with 2017, the LCOE reductions were in single figures: around 9 percent for utility-scale solar and 4 percent for wind.
The Inconvenient Truth About Renewables and Storage Lurking in Lazard's Latest Cost Analysis | Greentech Media
The photovoltaic industry is experiencing rapid change, with high-efficiency modules seizing market share and setting the stage for even higher efficiencies to come. Passivated emitter and rear cell (PERC) technology, and particularly the monocrystalline silicon version of PERC, is the hot adoption trend in 2017. Just two years ago, PERC cell capacity accounted for about 5 gigawatts of the market. But the drive for higher efficiencies in the world’s largest solar market, China, has turned the tables. PERC cell capacity is expected to reach about 35 gigawatts in 2017, or roughly one-third of all PV module production, according to GTM Research. PERC technology increases cell conversion efficiency by adding a dielectric passivation layer at the rear side of the cell that reduces surface recombination. Manufacturers can cost-effectively increase efficiency beyond standard multi c-Si, building higher-wattage modules, and generating more power per square foot in a solar installation. Even better, LONGi solar and another Chinese enterprise broke the world record for p-type monocrystal PERC cell efficiency three times in 10 days during October, which undoubtedly shows the strength of this advanced technology.
High-Efficiency Monocrystalline Solar Surges in 2017. Here's Why Bifacial Is Next | Greentech Media
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Useful explanation:
Electricity is very difficult to store. But most consumers use it in a very predictable pattern. So utility managers use demand curves to anticipate the electric needs of their customers. And as solar energy expands, their job is getting a bit more difficult. Solar energy production peaks at mid-day, and this causes demand for other energy to drop off. Researchers in California call this seeming drop in demand the “duck curve.” The more solar energy capacity increases, the more the curve looks like the belly of a duck. Here is the chart that illustrates the issue: That dip creates a few problems for management of the power grid. Watch the video to learn the basics about the duck curve. If you’re looking for further information on solar energy production and power grid management, I recommend reading more from Vox’s David Roberts.
This “duck curve” is solar energy’s greatest challenge - Vox
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Bit of a nasty surprise from China..
China’s recently announced changes to national solar policies will bring significant impacts for the global PV market and possibly the first contraction in global PV demand since before 2000, according to GTM Research. The country’s National Energy Administration, the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Finance released new guidance that terminates any approvals for new subsidized utility-scale PV power stations in 2018. China will also reduce its feed-in tariff for projects by RMB 0.05 per kilowatt-hour (a fraction of a U.S. cent), cap distributed project size at 10 gigawatts (down from 19 gigawatts), and mandate that utility-scale projects go through auctions to set power prices. Projects connected to the grid past June 1 will not receive feed-in tariffs. In all, the changes will significantly chill growth in a country that’s driving the global solar market.
China's Bombshell Solar Policy Shift Could Cut Expected Capacity by 20 Gigawatts | Greentech Media
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08-05-2018, 03:45 AM
(This post was last modified: 08-05-2018, 04:48 AM by admin.)
The Internal Revenue Service is extending incentives for solar power and other clean energy sources by as long as four years. Developers can claim a 30 percent tax credit for solar projects as long as they prove they’ve started construction by the end of 2019, according to an IRS notice Friday. That means breaking ground or investing at least 5 percent of the total expected costs of the installation, and they have until the end of 2023 to complete the power plants. The guidance on the investment tax credit was better than the renewable energy industry had expected, according to analysts at Credit Suisse Group AG. For projects that begin construction after Jan. 1, 2020, the credit drops to 26 percent. The incentive also applies to fuel cell power plants, small wind turbines and a few other technologies. “The news is positive for utility scale solar developers who can now avoid solar tariffs imposed on imports through 2021, procure majority of their solar panels in later years, and still qualify for the higher tax credits, analysts led by Michael Weinstein, said in the note.
World’s Priciest Precious Metal Set to Blossom as Shortage Looms - Bloomberg
California regulators Wednesday approved a historic plan to mandate rooftop solar panels on most new single-family homes built in the state. The California Energy Commission's action is expected to add on average about $9,500 to the cost of building new houses. The solar mandate, which goes into effect in 2020, received the support of homebuilder and solar trade associations as well as several large utilities. But some experts warn that increasing the cost to build new homes will only worsen the state's affordable housing crisis.
California approves plan to mandate solar panels on new homes
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