Asia

IHS Markit: At 10% market share, Swinerton Renewable Energy maintained its position as the preferred EPC contractor in the U.S. First Solar and Cypress Creek intend on exiting the EPC segment, creating opportunities for established local EPCs and the emerging group of international firms eyeing the growing U.S. utility-scale market.

Proclamation issued Oct. 10 cites impact of imported bifacial panels on U.S. solar manufacturing, while also raising the scheduled fourth-year tariff rate from 15% to 18%. 

Dean Solon of Shoals Technologies Group: “The short version is that it’s been a damned good year.” An interview with Shoals covers the growth of large solar projects in the U.S., high AC/DC ratios and the real costs of using cheap components.

Investors continue to invest and clean energy entrepreneurs continue to innovate — despite, or because of, global setbacks.

Huanghe Hydropower Development has connected a 2.2 GW solar plant to the grid in the desert in China’s remote Qinghai province. The project is backed by 202.8 MW/MWh of storage.

Also in the brief: China claims world’s largest solar ‘rooftop’ at 200 MW. And Midwest energy companies pledge to build nation’s largest interstate electric vehicle charging network.

Also in the brief: Re-retiring Maui’s 72-year-old, 38-MW oil-fired plant — by adding more solar-plus-storage. Colorado Springs Utilities plans for a 175-MW solar farm to be coupled with a 25 MW battery storage system, all built and installed by Boulder-based juwi.

More than 1 GW of subsidized small solar arrays were installed in China last month alone and manufacturer Suntech has announced the start of operations at its 500 MW Indonesian cell and module fab.

Why is an essentially bankrupt Chinese solar company that had already furloughed most of its staff receiving $5 to $10 million from the U.S. treasury?

Also in the brief: A surge of nuclear outages in the U.S. this summer, Japan’s struggle to drive down renewables costs