Bankruptcy

Two high-profile bankruptcies this year could serve as a warning for the potential pitfalls of pay-as-you-go and small scale, off-grid solar. However, Marcus Wiemann and David Lecoque of the Alliance for Rural Electrification say such business models can lead to long-term success and have a key role to play in providing power to the 1 billion people throughout the world who still live without electricity.

The District Court of Dessau-Roßlau yesterday confirmed self-administered insolvency proceedings have been conducted at the German thin-film CIGS module manufacturer and a provisional administrator has been appointed.

Solibro GmbH is expected to make the move this month, according to a German media report. The company has yet to publicly confirm the move.

The German lender has issued a winding up petition over a $6.27 million debt and could scupper the manufacturer’s plans to restructure its defaulted payments and be taken over by a Chinese state-backed entity.

Real estate and logistics company owner Cheung Shun Lee is making a third attempt to relist a company whose shares have been suspended for five-and-a-half years, and whose corporate history during that time reads like a soap opera.

Insurance is seldom sexy but climate change campaigners will raise a glass to Munich Re if the industry emulates its policy to cap the financial risk related to battery warranties and helps lift global investment in energy storage as a result.

With the transition to an auction procurement mechanism under way, Japan is this year set to expand the range of projects subject to the tender system from 2 MW-plus to 500 kW and above. With certain FIT cuts for projects with more than 2 MW capacity set to take effect in the second half of the year, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry has now proposed reducing tariffs for 10-500 kW commercial PV systems.

A Teikoku Databank report says as many as 95 solar companies went bankrupt last year – seven more than in 2017. The company warns the negative trend that began in 2016 may escalate as FIT reductions for large-scale solar come into effect.

The Pacific Gas and Electric Company, founded 114 years ago, is filing for bankruptcy and may be broken up by regulators. None of which is good news for solar project owners holding contracts with the utility.

Australia-based perovskite solar cell specialist Greatcell Solar has failed to secure refinancing for its activities and has been forced to appoint administrators. The company lays the blame at the federal government’s door, pointing to the R&D rebate changes and policy settings that are unsupportive of renewable energy investment as the reasons behind its downfall.