The Australian government has agreed to provide AU$2.57 million (US$1.9 million) to support a two-year pilot project that will use blockchain technology to pair utility-scale and commercial rooftop PV with a battery, electric vehicle charging stations and water treatment systems in Western Australia.

JA Solar has signed an agreement to cancel its listing on the NASDAQ stock exchange and go private in an all-cash transaction.

Solar Frontier has halted operations at its 150 MW Tohoku plant in northeastern Japan and has revealed plans to shut down production at its 50 MW plant in Miyazaki prefecture in late December, in line with plans to consolidate production at its flagship 900 MW Kunitomi facility, which is also located in the southern prefecture.

Mudajaya, a Malaysian engineering and construction group, aims to raise up to 245 million ringgit ($58.7 million) by issuing sukuk Islamic bonds. It will use the proceeds to finance the construction of 49 MW of solar capacity in northern Peninsular Malaysia.

JA Solar has recorded a net profit of CNY 41.9 million ($6.3 million) in the third quarter of 2017, down nearly 5% year on year, as revenue slid 27.1% from the preceding quarter to CNY 4.3 billion.

Kong Sun has agreed to acquire 59 MW of operational solar capacity in China for roughly $80.9 million.

Daqo New Energy recorded a net profit of $24.1 million in the third quarter of 2017, as the polysilicon and solar wafer producer’s revenue rose nearly 18% from the preceding three-month period to $89.4 million.

A unit of China’s GCL group has moved forward with a $30 million strategic investment in Millennial Lithium by finalizing the first of two payments for a 17% stake in the Canadian exploratory mining firm.

China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and National Energy Administration (NEA) have revealed plans to start operating a wholesale market for distributed-generation (DG) electricity on a pilot basis from early February.  

Toshiba has posted a group net loss of JPY 49.8 billion ($439.5 million) for the first half of the current Japanese fiscal year, but the bleak outlook for its solar operations is the least of its concerns, as it struggles to cover losses from its bankrupt U.S. nuclear business and avoid being delisted from the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE).