U.K. investor the Foresight Solar Fund today announced the acquisition of a portfolio of operational PV projects, following a placement of new shares in June which raised around £48.1 million.

A timetable has been set for the merger of three of Taiwan’s largest solar cell manufacturers, according to reports from the state-owned Central News Agency. The companies held separate board meetings last week and confirmed the transaction is set to be completed on October 1.

The U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory has developed a process which it says can dramatically reduce the costs of producing ultra-high efficiency cells from gallium arsenide, and other III-V compounds, similar to the solar cells used by NASA in space exploration projects.

According to reports from Energy Trend, a 30% decline in PV demand from China this year will likely spell trouble for some of the country’s major module manufacturers, with job losses and factory closures expected, despite China’s determination to open new international markets for its PV industry.

A team of researchers from the Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin and University of Potsdam has been able to observe defects in a perovskite solar cell, and found that the largest efficiency losses occur at the interface between the perovskite and transport layer.

An international team of scientists working with polymer-fullerene solar cells has developed a process of fluorination, which demonstrated a significant boost in cell efficiency. According to Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, the discovery could assist the development of new thin film solar materials.

Japanese electronics company & cell/module manufacturer, Kyocera has reported improved overall financials for the first quarter of the Japanese financial year, with a 12.3% increase in revenues. For the company’s activities in solar, however, signs are less encouraging.

A team of researchers from the University of Exeter has demonstrated a technique which creates ‘charge funnels’ within certain semiconductor materials. The researchers state that the technique could eventually lead to the development of PV cells with better than 60% efficiency.

Belgian research institute, Imec has announced the achievement of 27.1% efficiency on a perovskite/silicon tandem cell, providing further evidence of the technology’s potential to provide a low cost efficiency boost to existing PV technology.

Norwegian project developer, Scatec Solar has posted increased revenues for the second consecutive quarter. The company states that this performance is primarily attributed to its increased development and construction activities, with more than 1 GW of projects under construction worldwide.