Manufacturing

The international pressure being placed on Spain’s government seems to be working. Spain’s Prime Minister José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has vetoed the legislative proposal of the Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism, Miguel Sebastián, and ruled out subsequent cuts in the Spanish system of compensation for solar energy.

Fidelis Energy Inc. has entered into a long-term agreement with Lagofrio Energy Solutions (LES), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tinsol Energy (pty) Ltd. (TSEL), which will see the company supplying 93 megawatts (MW) of photovolatic solar modules to TSEL for use in the development and build-out of several solar parks in Africa.

Clean Energy and Power, Inc. (CEP) has announced it has entered into exclusive negotiations to acquire a controlling stake in a three megawatt (MW) solar project in Bulgaria.

Evergreen Solar Energy China Co., Ltd. has said it is looking to expand its Chinese operations following the signing of a multi-year agreement with Praxair China.

Companies seeking to install solar photovoltaic (PV) panels under the Government’s Renewable Energy Target (RET) will be subject to tougher safety and compliance requirements, the Australian Government has announced.

Clean tech company Petra Solar has said it is looking to expand into “new global markets”, following an agreement with electronics manufacturer Flextronics.

Following a meeting with solar industry representatives, it has been revealed that Spain will be reducing feed-in tariffs by 40 percent for all photovoltaic installations, including existing ones.

Thin film solar module developer Ascent Solar Technologies has been selected by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to work on its Low-Cost Lightweight Portable Photovoltaics (PoP) program.

LG Electronics (LG) has announced plans to significantly expand its solar business by investing USD$820 million (KRW one trillion) over the next five years toward its solar cell manufacturing facility in Gumi, southeast of Seoul.

Following the construction of its P3 polysilicon plant, which has a production capacity of 10,000 metric tons (MT) and is due to be completed at the end of this year, OCI has said it is looking to further expand production by another 5,000 metric tons at its facility in Gunsan, Jeollabukdo, South Korea.