The SolarWorld-backed organization will announce on Wednesday further measures ahead of the expiration of the European Union’s minimum import price and volume policy for Chinese solar PV manufacturers. EU ProSun President Milan Nitzschke calls EPIA’s stance “embarrassing.”

Speaking at an event hosted by the German Engineering Association, Rainer Baake , state secretary at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, confirmed for the first time the prices for the new pilot tenders for ground-mounted systems. Describing the transition to a tender system as a success, Baake said the time era of the feed-in tariff was over.

Interview: PV power plant project developers in Europe are in big trouble. The first round of calls for ground-mounted systems has begun, but it’s not clear how this model will develop. The global market for solar-diesel hybrid systems, however, is large and full of opportunities, says Thomas Hillig, founder of the online platform THEnergy, in an interview with pv magazine.

Swiss PV association Swissolar has reported that a company from a German-speaking country is planning an asset deal for the core businesses of insolvent Sputnik Engineering AG, also known a Solarmax. Swiss insolvency authorities have declined to confirm the report until a contract is finalized.

An importer in the Netherlands is suspected of shipping re-labled solar modules from China to Europe via Malaysia and Taiwan. According to Dutch press reports, modules from 22 different manufacturers are being held in several European ports as part of a wider investigation.

Turkish administrators have finally approved the construction of two photovoltaic power plants. The licenses have now been issued and work on the solar plants is set to begin. Contracts for a further 580 MW of photovoltaic capacity are still in limbo.

The company plans to bundle production and development of inverters and storage systems at its headquarters in Baden-Württemberg after closing facilities in Hamburg and Hessen.

Following its acquisition by Taiwanese group Sunrise Global Energy, production at the former Bosch-owned Aleo Solar in Prenzlau, Germany, has begun again. The PV manufacturer is now producing its high-efficiency 300 W modules at the 120 MW capacity fab, where 190 employees have retained their jobs.

Interview: Goetz Fischbeck, CEO of Smart Solar Consulting, sees the recently announced acquisition of insolvent SAG Solarstrom AG by Shunfeng Photovoltaics as a win-win for both parties. Shunfeng in particular benefits from the German PV company’s expertise in project planning and implementation, while SAG Solarstrom’s creditors can expect a high insolvency dividend and the staff can look forward to retaining their jobs.

Operators of wind turbines and biomass facilities will have to register their systems with the Federal Network Agency, which already keeps track of PV plants in order to determine solar subsidy degression rates based on the number of installations.