Market Watch

Earlier this year, ex-UK Prime Minister Liz Truss labelled solar projects “paraphernalia”, while her successor, Rishi Sunak, promised to not let the country “lose swathes of our best farmland to solar farms”. Molly Lempriere investigates how much land the UK needs for utility-scale PV plants as it transitions to net zero, and whether the sector’s growth poses any threat to food security.

Singapore is battling the need to decarbonise without the land availability to establish sufficient large-scale renewables plants. With the government looking to import electricity from overseas, Jules Scully looks at prospective power import projects and the consortiums behind them.

Home to some of the world’s highest solar irradiation levels and urgently in need of homegrown energy resources, Chile has established itself as a key PV market in Latin America. Jonathan Touriño Jacobo looks at that rise and asks what we can expect to see next for Chile.

The US solar market was widely expected to thrive this year, but various policy headwinds have destabilised the module procurement market and created uncertainty to such an extent installations stalled. Liam Stoker reflects on events of the last 12 months.

Community solar in the US is projected to grow substantially over the next decade and represents a means of expanding access to underserved communities who are being left out of the energy transition. Sean Rai-Roche explores the drivers of community solar and what obstacles need to be overcome to support its rollout.

Having witnessed its utility-scale solar boom peak in 2015, the UK is primed for a return to large-scale solar buildout. Liam Stoker explores the pipeline, the drivers and the role of the country’s new energy security strategy in driving new solar deployment.

Italy’s solar sector is a market in flux, with moves by the government to ease development clashing with a clawback of solar profits hampering international investor confidence. Molly Lempriere takes a look at what the new market potential for Italy is and where it goes from here?

Germany‘s new rainbow coalition has hit the accelerator on solar deployment in the country, setting the ambitious aim of reaching 215GW of installed capacity by 2030. Jules Scully speaks to policy makers and developers alike to discover just how the market can reach that goal.

Alice Grundy explores the success of South Africa’s renewables auctions and the challenges that still remain for the development of PV in the country.

After years of not living up to its solar potential, Brazil is on the cusp of a solar boom. A confluence of factors has led to rapid investment and deployment in the country, but a few hurdles still need to be overcome, writes Sean Rai-Roche.