Turkey: small-scale solar rules released
By doubling the size of projects for which FITs are available, the Turkish government has finally fired the starting gun on solar. ‘We have been waiting five years for this.’ says Enerparc’s Ertug Babatas.
First Solar loses $60m on sale of Mesa facility
The Mesa plant, intended to produce PV modules, never went into production and is being sold off at a loss. The facility includes what First Solar claimed would be Arizona’s largest solar rooftop.
Light at the end of the tunnel
Stefan Rinck, President and CEO of Singulus Technologies, talks about the market for photovoltaic machine manufacturers and a new product which can increase the efficiency of cells.
SolarCity to acquire mounting system company
Californian installer SolarCity is set to acquire Zep Solar in exchange for shares worth $158 million. Zep Solar’s Zep Compatible technology has been used by solar giants including Canadian Solar and Trina Solar.
Suntech bid is confirmed
A consortium of cell and module manufacturer Jiangsu Shunfeng and the Wuxi local government’s investment arm has been confirmed as the bidder for Suntech’s insolvent Wuxi manufacturing unit. The consortium is proposing to restructure Suntech’s main Chinese unit.
Trina vows to fight lawsuit
Module giant Trina joins Yingli in dismissing the lawsuit lodged by the rump of failed U.S. thin film manufacturer Energy Conversion Devices. Allegations of collusion to bankrupt U.S. manufacturers are described as ‘baseless.’
Brazil: 695 MW of PV applications
National electricity agency ANEEL has revealed the details of 30 requests for authorization it has received to develop PV parks. More than 500 MW are planned for Bahia state.
Legal victory for Greek PV developers
The Metaxas law firm has forced the Greek government to reimburse investors with a PV plant development subsidy it had promised and then reduced. The legal firm is also fighting the ‘solidarity’ PV plant tax, domestically and with the EU.
Japan installs 1.82 GW of PV capacity in Q2
Commercial installations accounted for 1.4 GW, outshining residential PV for the first time in more than 12 months.
Polysilicon manufacturers named in U.S. lawsuit
The trust bringing a lawsuit against Trina, Yingli and Suntech says polysilicon suppliers ‘such as’ GCL-Poly and Daqo New Energy conspired with module makers to fix prices. Legal papers also name three Chinese banks as co-conspirators.
