Investment group plans £200 million UK solar investment
The Foresight Solar Fund would finance eight U.K. ground mount plants with the profits from a planned London IPO. A partner for the fund says solar offers a more attractive investment in the UK than wind.
Poland: Energy policy U-turn
End of spring, an informal working group started meeting regularly at the Polish Prime Minister’s Office to analyse the energy market situation and the promotion of renewable energy sources. The outcome: FITs in Poland and a support system that will probably be easier to handle.
India: Propects looking bleak for cell manufacturers
Indian crystalline silicon PV cell manufacturers saw their manufacturing capacity fall to a five-year low this year. Majority of the production tools are now idle.
Wirsol and Greenpower Capital acquire 22 MW Japan plant
Gremany’s Wirsol Solar and Greenpower Capital, through their Japanese JV, have announced today the acquisition of a 22 MW utility scale PV installation in Japan. The project was initially developed by Japan’s Chikyu Factory Service.
Solar Frontier trumpets module performance in MENA installation
Japanese thin film producers and PV developer Solar Frontier is trumpeting the performance of its modules in hot climates, having released production data from its 10.5 MW Al-Midra Tower solar car park installation.
Diehl Controls cuts 50 jobs
Photovoltaic manufacturer Diehl Controls plans to let go of 50 employees in its production facility in Wangen, Germany. The works council and trade union have already agreed upon a severance package for the employees.
SunEdison projects in California get funding boost
Solar project developer SunEdison will get a US$67.3 million investment boost to fund its utility-scale photovoltaic projects in California. The investors are a consortium made up of New Energy Capital Partners, North Sky Capital, and EverStream Energy Capital Management.
Juwi starts development in Romania
Photovoltaic project developer juwi has started work on two solar parks totalling 12 MWp in Romania. The company has an EPC contract with Chinese investor HiSun PV and their partner Abacus Renewables for these projects. Both parks are expected to go online in November this year.
Rapid expansion of renewables can pay off
A recent study by green electricity provider Greenpeace Energy has found that rapid expansion of renewable energy can lead to strong cost savings by 2030 in the billions range. The authors argue that consequential costs of coal and nuclear power are consistently hidden in politics.
PV inverter shipments fall in 2Q13
The latest report from IHS shows worldwide market shipments for solar PV inverters declining 5% year-on-year in the second quarter. The demand fall in key European markets has contributed to the decrease, a first since the third quarter of 2011.
