Residential PV

BloombergNEF Analyst Jenny Chase says the world installed 268 GW of new solar capacity in 2022, with annual installations expected to hit 315 GW in 2023. In a recent interview with pv magazine, Chase pointed to a large backlog of delivered PV modules in Europe that still have yet to be installed.

Poland’s Energy Regulatory Office has awarded 486 MW of solar in its latest renewables auction, which was largely unsubscribed. It allocated 150 MW for installations smaller than 1 MW, with a lowest bid of PLN 0.24477 ($0.056)/kWh, and 336 MW for larger installations, with a lowest bid of PLN 0.23677/kWh.

The Flemish government will halve the solar panels premium from a maximum of €1,500 ($1,594) in 2022 to €750 from Jan. 1, 2023. It will also end the home battery premium earlier than initially announced, from April 2023. The premium for heat pump boilers, on the other hand, will be retroactively doubled.

US-based Emporia Energy has developed a home battery system with an inverter and transformer. The lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery has a storage capacity of 8.2 kWh, and up to six modules can be combined for up to 49 kWh of energy storage. The inverters come in 7.6 kW or 9.6 kW versions.

Chinese module manufacturer DAS Solar has launched an all-black bifacial glass-glass module series with an output of 410 W to 430 W. The new series features efficiencies of up to 22% and a temperature coefficient of -0.3% per degree Celsius. The company is offering a 15-year product warranty and a 30-year power warranty for 87.4% of the initial yield.

In another record year for solar, SolarPower Europe estimates PV in Europe grew by 47% in 2022, rising from 28.1 GW in 2021 to 41.4 GW this year. Germany installed the most with 7.9 GW, followed by Spain at 7.5 GW, and Poland at 4.9 GW. For the first time, the top 10 European solar markets all added at least 1 GW.

India is a long way behind its rooftop solar target of 40 GW by 2022, with just 10.4 GW installed through to September this year. To understand the issues, pv magazine speaks to Amplus Solar pv magazine in an interview about factors holding back rooftop solar development in the country.

The California Public Utilities Commission has approved Net Energy Metering 3.0 and has slashed payments to send rooftop solar electricity to the grid. New rooftop solar projects are now considered uneconomical without attached batteries.

Slovenia’s cumulative PV capacity additions could grow from 466 MW in 2021 to 724 MW by the end of this year. The residential market will account for almost all new capacity, and demand is expected to grow under a net-metering scheme extension until the end of 2023.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly has approved new provisions to make solar installations mandatory for new homes. The rules apply to homes with total rooftop areas of more than 20 square meters, and to buildings with rooftops smaller than 2,000 square meters.