The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has modified the Approved List of Models and Manufacturers (ALMM) guidelines and provided exceptions to broaden the qualification criteria for modules produced under agreements between an Original Equipment Manufacturer and a brand owner. Under the revised guidelines, if an applicant has multiple manufacturing sites or sources the finished products from other manufacturers and sells them under their brand name, all manufacturing sites, including the applicant’s own, must be inspected unless an exception applies.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Energy report has isolated underwhelming progress on rooftop solar and wind energy projects as the primary reason for India falling short of achieving its renewable energy capacity target of 175 GW by 2022. India had set an ambitious target of installing 175 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2022, which included 100 GW from solar, 60 GW from wind, 10 GW from bio-power, and 5 GW from small hydropower. However, as of December 31, 2022, only 69% of the goal, or 120.9 GW of renewable energy capacity, had been installed in the country.

Renewable capacity grew by 9.6% in 2022, adding a record 295 GW worldwide. This accounts for 83% of all power capacity added last year and brings the global renewable generation capacity to 3,372 GW by the end of last year, a report by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) said. The IRENA’s Renewable Capacity Statistics 2023 confirmed that renewable energy is growing at record levels, defying global uncertainties and affirming the decline of fossil-fuelled power generation.

Mercom India successfully concluded the C&I Clean Energy Meet 2023 in Bengaluru, where stakeholders in the solar sector and commercial and industrial entities converged to enthusiastically discuss the benefits of renewable energy and practical solutions to reduce power costs. The meet featured a session titled “Clean Power Purchase – Options & Technologies Maximizing ROI” The panelists were B V Palanetra, General Manager DSM at Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Limited; Ramesh Shivanna, Chairman Energy Committee at Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry; I R Venkatraman, Sr. VP- Business Development & Regulatory at Ayana Renewable Power; Yogish HN, General Manager Business Development at Enerparc; and Shantanu Sirsath, Technical Head India at Growatt.

The Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission recently directed Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) and the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company (MSEDCL) to recompute the delayed payment charge from April 2012 to September 2017 according to the notified SBI benchmark interest rate and adjust the surplus amount accordingly. HPCL had filed a petition against MSEDCL for non-compliance with the Commission’s earlier order in which MSEDCL was asked to pay ₹9.89 million (~$120,240) as the outstanding delayed payment charge for the 3.75 MW project at Dhule.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission has approved the registration of CSI Solar, the engineering, procurement, and construction arm of solar module maker Canadian Solar, to issue an initial public offering (IPO). The company’s CEO, Shawn Qu, said CSI expects the completion of the IPO by the second quarter of the current financial year. Canadian Solar plans to use the proceeds from the IPO to further accelerate vertical integration and capacity expansion, particularly in the U.S. market.

Saudi Arabia-based energy company ACWA Power has signed power purchase and investment agreements with the National Electric Grid of Uzbekistan and the Ministry of Investment, Industry, and Trade to develop new solar and battery storage projects in Uzbekistan. The partnership will work towards developing three solar projects in Tashkent and Samarkand and three battery energy storage systems in Tashkent, Bukhara, and Samarkand.

Researchers at Northumbria University are studying ways of producing wireless electricity from space to Earth by harvesting the Sun’s energy. U.S.-based aerospace, defense, and information security organization Lockheed Martin Corporation recently announced an investment of £150,000 (~$183,802) in the university’s project that aims to accelerate the delivery of space-based solar power. The research is expected to bring a new source of zero-carbon power to connect homes and businesses without the need for large-scale land-based infrastructure.

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory has devised a new way to produce perovskite solar cells that could speed its commercialization. Different layers are typically added sequentially to a conductive glass substrate to create perovskite solar cells, requiring multiple coatings. However, the new method developed eliminates or merges some of these steps, simplifying the manufacturing process and potentially reducing costs. After 1,200 hours of continuous operation, the team created a high-efficiency solar cell that maintained over 90% of its initial efficiency.