Manufacturing

The U.K. photovoltaics (PV) market could be artificially restrained by its government, after attaching certain conditions to its payment of remuneration, says market research institute, EuPD Research.

Enel Green Power, Sharp and STMicroelectronics have signed a binding letter of commitment for a project financing agreement for €150 million for the development of what will be Italy’s biggest photovoltaics (PV) panel factory.

Recurrent Energy has secured around USD$18 million for its five-megawatt (MW) solar power system, located at the Sunset Reservoir in San Francisco, the U.S. When completed, the company says the project will be one of the country’s largest municipal solar power systems and will more than triple San Francisco’s total municipal solar energy output.

Following yesterday’s news that Panasonic is looking set to buy out Sanyo Electric Company, Sanyo Eneos Solar has announced it has postponed its planned photovoltaics thin film production project, originally scheduled to start this year, and is instead concentrating on efficiency enhancement and marketing activities. The reason cited was a “dramatically” changing business environment, due to the decreasing price of crystalline silicon.

Würth Solar has acquired Germany-based SolarMarkt AG, along with its subsidiary Creotecc GmbH, and all foreign subsidiaries and project companies. The company also stated that it is looking to increase sales its to over €500 million by 2014 in a bid to “grow faster than the market”.

DuPont says it is collaborating with utility company Hongkong Electric Co., Ltd. (HK Electric) to support the building and operation of the largest thin film photovoltaics (PV) rooftop project in Hong Kong.

Spain’s Ministry of Industry has presented a decree to the country’s Council of Ministers against the so-called “Fraude Fotovoltaico” or “photovoltaic fraud.”

Speaking to pv magazine, Manz Automation AG CFO, Martin Hipp underlined four strategic aims the company intends to achieve in the next few years under its new partnership with Würth Solar GmbH & Co. KG and the Zentrum für Sonnenenergie- und Wasserstoff-Forschung Baden-Württemberg (ZSW – Center for solar energy and hydrogen research).

SolarEdge Technologies has announced its partnership with Greece-based photovoltaics (PV) project developer Enolia Solar Systems SA, under which SolarEdge will provide Enolia with 1.5 megawatts of solar power harvesting equipment to be installed in Greece.

The Sharp Corporation has said it will double its annual production capacity for crystalline solar cell modules to 500 megawatts (MW) at its U.K. production base, the Sharp Manufacturing Company of U.K. (SUKM), this December.