Finance

EU team meets Chinese specialists to try and find an amicable solution to the solar stand-off. But EU confirms the imposition of anti-dumping duties on Chinese modules will not be on the annual trade meeting agenda on Friday.

Goetz Fischbeck, executive director of Equity Research at Bankhaus Lampe, discusses First Solar’s capital increase, the company’s strategy and potential growth possibilites, particularly in China.

Qatar Solar Technologies looks set to rescue SolarWorld with a €35 million investment, making it a 30% shareholder in the financially troubled German company.

Chinese electronics group STGCON has agreed to take over insolvent German PV module manufacturer Asola Solarpower GmbH.

In order to save costs for the public electric system, the Spanish government is set to again cut subsidies for operational PV plants. Feed-in-tariffs could shrink at a rate of 20%.

Hit by falling prices and increased competition, LDK Solar remained deep in red ink in the first three months of the year with a net loss of $187.1 million, $104.3 million in revenue and liabilities totaling $5.3 billion.

The Romanian government has approved legislation that will severely cut PV incentives for investors. Critics say the move could lead to a halt in foreign investment for the country’s solar market.

Chinese solar manufacturer Solargiga has signed a 370 MW module supply deal with Japanese giant Sharp and said the move into other markets had been prompted by the recent EU anti dumping duties decision. The deal makes Solargiga the largest Chinese solar supplier to Sharp.

Chinese manufacturer continues its downstream focus by signing the biggest EPC deal in its corporate history to deliver a 130 MW utility scale plant in Ontario which will feature 440,000 Canadian Solar modules.

Chinese polysilicon manufacturer Daqo New Energy is taking an optimistic approach to the solar trade stand-off and predicting a rise in shipments in the current quarter. Daqo is also forecasting a stabilization in the price of polysilicon.