German laser specialist LPKF has made a good start to 2017, with especially strong performance from its solar equipment segment, which saw a revenue increase by 71% compared with the same period for the previous year.

Dutch energy company Eneco Group announced its acquisition of a 34% stake in Next Kraftwerke, a German company operating one of Europe’s largest virtual power plant networks. The investment was announced at the Ecosummit cleantech event in Berlin today.

Quarterly financial results from Norwegian based polysilicon producer REC Silicon show a drop in revenue from $80.4 million the previous quarter. EBITDA for the quarter was $4.6 million, also down from $4.9 million in the previous quarter.

The latest efficiency milestone for Natcore’s Foil Cell is verified by the NanoPower Research Lab at Rochester Institute for Technology. The result was achieved on the Natcore Foil Cell, which utilizes a lasering process and novel metallization strategy, eliminating the need for costly silver.

Researchers from the Abu Dhabi based Masdar Institute and the renowned Massachusetts Institute of Technology have jointly published the development of a fabrication method, which they say could make high efficiency semiconductor materials such as gallium-arsenide, indium phosphide and others more competitive with crystalline silicon.

Information published by industry analysts Mercom Capital Group shows that a total of $3.2 billion was raised from 60 deals in the first quarter of 2016. This represents a major increase from the previous quarter, when $1.6 billion was raised in 45 deals.

A team of researchers from École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) and the Swiss center for Electronics and Microtechnology (CSEM) has developed a new process for fabricating cells with all electrical contacts at the rear. According to EPFL, the process has already achieved lab efficiencies in excess of 23%.

Scientists at Swiss research center École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne have published research showing how the presence of light can affect perovskite film formation. The study could result in higher efficiencies and better reproducibility in perovskite cell production.

Tempress systems, a subsidiary of U.S. based Amtech, has received a follow-on order for a multi-phase 1 GW project. The turnkey order is for an n-type bifacial manufacturing line, and includes high throughput PECVD and diffusion platforms.

German equipment supplier 4JET microtech has launched its new MPCT solution which it says will enable laser edge deletion, bus bar exposure and via drilling operations in CIGS glass substrates.