China holds firm on strategy to build self-sufficient domestic polysilicon industry
The Chinese government will extend duties on U.S. and South Korean polysilicon for another five years from today despite committing to buy $200 billion more American goods and services in the trade deal signed on Wednesday. Poly manufacturer REC Silicon says it expects polysilicon to form part of that trade agreement.
A clean energy world would support millions of new jobs
A study from Finland’s Lappeenranta University of Technology has predicted solar and other renewables can provide a global energy jobs revolution – just as four European operations revealed recent struggles.
SolarPower Europe repeats call for solar strategy as part of European Commission’s €1tn Green Deal
Lobby group CEO Walburga Hemetsberger says the plans announced by commission president Ursula von der Leyen this week should place the European solar industry front and center.
European Commission announces €1tn Green Deal ambition
President Ursula von der Leyen has outlined plans to fund her Green Deal with a mix of EU, member state and private sector contributions. Now it is over to individual nations and the European Parliament.
Solar NGO Electriciens sans frontières awarded Zayed energy prize
The French non-governmental organization, which provides solar kits to refugee camps and disaster affected communities, won the energy category of the 12th Zayed Sustainability Prize. The award will bank Electriciens sans frontières $600,000.
Meyer Burger closes German factory
The Swiss technology group plans to concentrate German production in Hohenstein-Ernstthal, in Saxony from the middle of next year. Around 60 employees have been affected by the plant closure. Meyer Burger said it plans to continue offering wafer inspection products in future.
Hanergy: From thin-film solar savior to mass lay-offs at MiaSolé, Alta, Solibro and Global Solar
Unannounced lay-offs with no pay or benefits have left more than 600 American workers, 180 employees in Germany and thousands in China unemployed and in the dark. Some of those affected have told pv magazine their story.
Elon Musk calls for an ‘immediate’ and ‘significant increase’ in Tesla’s solar installs
Tesla was once the unquestioned leader in the U.S. residential rooftop market with a market share of around 33 percent, but today, the company is No. 3, and its market share during the first quarter was a little more than 6 percent.
Hanergy-owned Alta Devices reportedly lays off 250 employees without notice
The U.S. business built and sold record-setting gallium-arsenide solar cells but its parent has seemingly run out of patience. Having failed to give its workers notice of the move, Hanergy is either in contravention of U.S. employment law, ‘faltering’ or subject to ‘unforeseen business circumstances’.
Saudi Arabia’s 300 MW Sakaka solar plant comes online
The PV facility was completed a month and a half ahead of schedule by Saudi energy company ACWA Power. The project will sell power at $0.0236/kWh.
