PI Berlin analysis has suggested the quality of modules is particularly high in Asian factories with a large throughput. However, just 2% of the 67 GW of production capacity audited for the study originated in Europe. The audits for the white paper were mostly carried out by Solarbuyer between 2012 and 2018.

In May, oil giant Shell invested in German manufacturer Sonnen. Now the 112-year-old company wants to fully acquire the business, subject to Germany’s monopoly authorities. Sonnen said it hopes the deal will accelerate its growth by expanding its market reach and capacity.

The companies have entered a 15-year agreement for the plant, probably the first PPA for a project that size in Germany. Last week, EnBW said it was considering constructing a subsidy-free solar park in Brandenburg.

The €150 million project is entering the approval phase. Using the new facility, expected by 2023, the two companies will test how electricity from renewable energy can be converted into green hydrogen and green methane via electrolysis.

The manufacturer’s insolvency administrator has declared the investor search over. By March at the latest, all production equipment at the German module factory in Freiberg, as well as the buildings themselves, should come under the hammer.

Precision Surfacing Solutions is paying $50 million to take over most of the production facilities as well as 100 employees working in wafer technology in Thun and in service locations worldwide. Meyer Burger wants to focus on PV cell coating and interconnection technologies.

Extraordinary PV tenders by the federal government will provide for more growth. Market research company EuPD Research expects newly installed capacity of 4 GW in 2021. After that, however, the market could see a sharp reduction, after the 52 GW cap for solar subsidies is reached.

PV demand grew 68% year-on-year from the level seen in 2017 as Germany’s cumulative installed solar generation capacity reached 45.92 GW.

Worldwide, “Suntrol” has around 27,500 registered users. The Germany-based start up will further develop the insolvent PV manufacturer’s portal from March onwards.

The German inverter maker struggled after China’s announcement at the end of May drove down prices and markets around the world and left a clear mark on its figures. Both the commercial PV segment and the storage business fell short of expectations due to delivery bottlenecks.