Manufacturing

The first federal energy auction to feature solar in Brazil has prompted applications for 2.7 GW of projects. Some 1.75 GW of the applications are for projects in Bahia state.

The Thompson Cole Consortium will reportedly develop eight farms in rural locations across Zimbabwe. The chairman of local developer Twalumba Holdings says he is eager to work with the relevant departments of Robert Mugabe’s incoming government.

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.

Joint US study by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) suggests Chinese PV advantage could be replicated globally with further innovation.

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.

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.

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.

U.S. and Chinese manufacturers claim that India’s government is acting beyond the scope of its powers in a dumping probe they describe as “flawed.”

SolarWorld Americas has begun work on constructing solar carports totaling more than 500 kW of power across four public parks in California, US.