Manufacturing

Italian regulatory authority, GSE, has officially announced that it will not open a register for large-scale photovoltaic systems in the second half (2H) of 2012.

The discussion on the implementation of the FITs reductions on a staggered basis throughout the year carries on. BSW-Solar’s Carsten Körnig still sees predictability of returns on investment for rooftop PV installations, but it remains hard to predict what’s in store for large-scale PV development.

Lux Research’s latest Solar Supply Tracker analysis names the top ten cell manufacturers. It also reveals that demand in Europe is on the rise, but European manufacturers are having problems remaining cost competitive.

Jeffries organized another conference call with trade law expert Ed Lebow on January 18 and Lebow’s clear message to the PV industry in the U.S. was that “you just don’t want to be an importer of record” of Chinese crystalline silicon cells and panels.

GTM Research reports on the global polysilicon industry stating that a major shakeout over the next two years is likely to occur.

German company Phoenix Solar is broadening its expertise into Turkey. Phoenix Solar will be cooperating with iRES Enerji, founded by Ates Ugurel, also the founder of the Turkish Solar Energy Industry Association (GENSED).

At today’s meeting with the German Federal Environment Minister, the PV industry will probably submit its own proposal for the further development of solar energy.

Zayed Future Energy Prize, today, announced its 2012 awards winners from the World Future Energy Summit, distributing USD3.5 million to winners and runners-up across three categories.

The suggestion has been put forth to reduce photovoltaic feed-in tariffs on a monthly basis instead of a half-yearly one. Via this solution, the Federal Environment Minister Norbert Röttgen hopes to prevent anymore occurrences of final spurts of PV installations, like it happened in December 2011.

Conergy has announced that it will introduce the Conergy PM module that is manufactured in Europe and thus will not be subject to any potential tariffs or duties associated with the recent trade complaint against Chinese cell and module manufacturers.