[amor de cosmos]

Kenya shelves tax on solar power
SolarAid drops price of solar lamps by 16 per cent following move by MPs to cut cost of renewable energy products
By Jessica Shankleman
12 Jun 2014

Solar power companies have welcomed a move by the Kenyan government to scrap VAT on their products, delivering a significant cost reduction on increasingly popular solar lights and phone chargers.

Last autumn, the Kenyan government introduced VAT of 16 per cent on all solar products. But the move prompted complaints from the UK-based charity SolarAid, which warned that the levy would make its solar products inaccessible to poorer families.

Working with the World Bank-backed initiative Lighting Africa and the Kenya Renewable Energy Association, SolarAid has been lobbying the government to drop the tax, claiming that it hampers international efforts to eradicate the kerosene lamp from Africa by 2020.

Kerosene lamps are widely blamed for potentially harmful air pollution and carbon emissions, and impose high running costs on families and businesses when compared with solar lamps.

http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news...on-solar-power

Southern Research Institute completes solar research center
12. June 2014 | Global PV markets, Applications & Installations, Research & Development | By: Ian Clover

The new facility, located in Birmingham, Alabama, is intended to provide key insights into the optimal design of solar PV systems.

Not-for-profit scientific research organization Southern Research Institute has completed the construction of its solar research center in the U.S. city of Birmingham, Alabama.

The Southeastern Solar Research Center (SSRC) has been designed to focus on the study of solar PV systems and will host a range of research programs and initiatives, the first of which – an Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) – focuses on solar PV orientation, tracking and aging.

Michael D. Johns, VP of engineering at Southern Research Institute, remarked that the new facility will accelerate the institute's research into solar photovoltaics, providing unique data intended to aid utilities in the optimal design of solar PV systems.

*snip*

The center itself is considered completely state-of-the-art and boasts a testing area comprising multiple configurations of PV solar panel arrays, microinverters and an advanced energy-monitoring system. The center also has trackers that follow the sun throughout the day, and south-facing solar PV systems designed to accurately evaluate how the afternoon sun – a time of day when electricity use is generally higher – can be better utilized.

http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/deta...ter_100015392/
http://www.solarnovus.com/solar-rese...ute_N7845.html

Kyocera plans 430 MW Japan PV plant as country's solar shipments soar
12. June 2014 | Applications & Installations, Global PV markets, Industry & Suppliers, Markets & Trends | By: Ian Clover

While Kyocera explores the possibility of constructing a mega solar plant on the island of Ukujima, the Japan Photovoltaic Energy Association reveals 100% rise in solar shipments.

Japanese tech giant Kyocera has announced plans to develop a 430 MW solar PV project on the southern Japanese island of Ukujima in collaboration with four key partners.

Photovolt Development Partners GmbH, Kyudenko Corp., Orix Corp. and Mizuho Bank Ltd. have each reached a basic feasibility agreement for the project which, if approved, would be the largest solar PV project in the world to be built on agricultural land.

The news comes on the same day that the Japan Photovoltaic Energy Association (JPEA) announced that Japan more than doubled its solar shipments over the last fiscal year – a show of strength that justifies the hype currently surrounding the Japanese PV market.

Mega solar project

Initial planning of the proposed 430 MW solar PV project on Ukujima was begun by Photovolt Development Partners in April 2013, in part with one eye on the economic revitalization of the island, which is relatively remote and impoverished. Initial investment for the plant is estimated at 150 billion yen (US$1.47 billion), with construction penciled in to commence in the first quarter of 2016.

http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/deta...oar_100015393/

Solar Energy Increasingly Considered a Safe, Attractive Investment
Stefan Nicola and Marc Roca, Bloomberg
June 12, 2014 | 0 Comments

BERLIN -- Pension fund managers are investing more in solar energy, undeterred by declining returns because the industry is considered a safe alternative to traditional securities such as government bonds.

That’s the conclusion of executives from two of the biggest Chinese solar panel manufacturers, which have listed their shares in New York. Trina Solar Ltd. said it’s seeing more interest from fund managers, and Wuxi Suntech Power Co Ltd. said these managers accept returns as low as 1.7 percent.

Pension funds are “prepared to invest more in PV, as they have done with wind, because they see it as a sustainable and reliable income,” Benjamin Hill, president of Trina’s unit in Europe, said in an interview.

The comments are evidence that fund managers are getting comfortable with solar projects, tapping stable returns as central banks keep their benchmark lending rates near historic low levels.

The European Central Bank earlier this month cut the main refinancing rate to a record 0.15 percent and moved the deposit rate below zero for the first time, meaning banks will be charged to park cash with the central bank.

Bond Alternative

‘Mature Technology’

http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/...ive-investment