A petition has been filed with the North Carolina Utilities Commission in a bid to stop ratepayer money being used to fund campaigns against renewables and the climate.

A survey reveals greenwashing among major U.S. investor-owned electric utilities, which have been accused of using disproportionately high ratios of renewable versus fossil fuel images and language, while at the same time helping to block renewable energy policies. pv magazine speaks to the lead researcher.

In the recently released World Energy Outlook, the International Energy Agency (IEA) foresees a steady decline in the global expansion of PV to 2035. In response, Dutch researcher Auke Hoekstra has updated his graphic, IEA versus reality in solar PV.

Canada-based Silfab Solar has invested US$40 million in U.S. solar PV module manufacturer, Itek Energy, LLC’s Bellingham, Washington production facility.

China has officially filed two complaints with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) against the United States, in response to its 30% Section 201 and 25% Section 301 tariffs.

While total corporate funding was down in H1 2018, compared to a year earlier, due to lower investment in the Smart Gird and Efficiency categories, battery storage companies recorded an increase of 12%.

The Chinese ingot, wafer cell and module giant has signed a significant sales contract for the shipment of solar PV modules to an unidentified customer in the United States.

While overall global investment in clean energy saw a decrease of just 1% year-over-year in the first half of 2018, solar’s share dropped 19% following changes to China’s PV policy and lower project costs, says Bloomberg New Energy Finance. It forecasts this trend to continue throughout the year.

The Norwegian polysilicon maker has announced that it will today lay off around 100 employees from its Washington plant and reduce production, as a “direct result” of the trade dispute between the United States and China.

BNEF predicts that solar PV capacity will grow 17-fold, and wind six-fold, by 2050, to account for nearly half of global electricity generation. Investments will reach $11.5 trillion. Cost reductions will drive this charge, particularly in the battery market. Despite this, the electricity sector is still failing to bring CO₂ emissions down to the required levels.