Soft costs now largest piece of solar installation total cost

Science Daily
Two detailed reports from the Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) find that solar financing and other non-hardware costs -- often referred to as "soft costs" -- now comprise up to 64% of the total price of residential solar energy systems, reflecting how soft costs are becoming an increasingly larger fraction of the cost of installing solar. (...)
For residential systems, the greatest soft costs were supply chain costs ($0.61/watt), installation labor ($0.55/W), customer acquisition ($0.48/W), and indirect corporate costs ($0.47/W), such as maintaining office management and accounting functions. [Report 1: http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy14osti/60412.pdf]
[On the other hand, they] found that third-party ownership added $0.78 per watt for residential systems and $0.67 per watt for commercial projects [Report 2: http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy14osti/60401.pdf]. They also noted three of the main benefits of third-party financing arrangements:

• Third-party financiers offer additional services, such as shopping for systems, maintaining systems, and applying for incentives.
• Third-party financing may effectively lower the levelized cost of energy over time through economics of scale.
• Businesses offering third-party ownership of installations have gained approximately 70% of residential market share in the United States, driving much of the PV demand

Inovação nas Células Solares - SIC Notícias

SIC Notícias
Um grupo de investigadores da Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa está a trabalhar num projecto que pode vir a revolucionar o preço e uso dos painéis solares. Através de uma forma nova de produzir células solares, estes cientistas desenvolveram uma tecnologia que permite não desperdiçar matéria-prima - o silício -, o que tornará os painéis mais baratos.

Soitec begins construction of 1.3 MW solar CPV project in Portugal

Solar server
Soitec SA (France) has completed financing and begun construction of a 1.3 MW concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) plant in Southern Portugal which uses its CPV technology.
Project funders include Enovos International SA (Luxembourg) and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (Lisbon). The plant is being installed by Electricidade Industrial Portuguesa SA (EIP, Lisbon), with Luz.On (Portugal) serving as project developer. (...) The plant is being built in Alcoutim, in the Algarve region, which Soitec notes offers some of the best natural solar conditions in Europe. The plant includes 82 Soitec Concentrix CPV systems, including its dual-axis tracking technology.
The project is one of 11 that Portugal has authorized to push the development of CPV in the nation, and will serve as a demonstration of the technology.

China's solar power use surges

Xinhua | English.news.cn
China's on-grid solar power capacity will amount to 10GW by the end of 2013, a 200-percent jump from that seen a year ago, the National Energy Administration (NEA) forecast on Wednesday. (...) The share of thermal power generation capacity is predicted to drop to 69.6 percent from the 71.5 percent at the end of 2012, while that of hydropower, on-grid wind power and nuclear power are expected to stand at 22.5 percent, 6.1 percent, 1.2 percent, respectively.

EU-China solar trade wars

EU, China Agree to End Solar Panel Trade Dispute
European Union countries approved an agreement with China to curb imports of Chinese solar panels, ending the EU’s biggest commercial dispute of its kind. EU governments endorsed an accord struck by their trade chief and China in July that sets a minimum price and a volume limit on European imports of Chinese solar panels until the end of 2015. Chinese manufacturers that take part will be spared EU tariffs meant to counter alleged below-cost sales, a practice known as dumping, and subsidies.

EU Hits Chinese Solar-Glass Exporters With Tariffs Up to 42.1%
The European Union imposed tariffs as high as 42.1 percent on solar glass from China to curb import competition for EU producers, heightening trade tensions over renewable energy. The duties punish Chinese exporters such as Zhejiang Jiafu Glass Co. and Xinyi PV Products (Anhui) Holdings Ltd. for allegedly selling solar glass in the EU below cost, a practice known as dumping. The glass is used for the production of solar panels, which are themselves the focus of two European trade probes affecting China.