Finance

Representatives of Spain’s renewable energy sector asked official Brussels to help end “harassment” of the photovoltaic sector in Spain after the sector lost 30% of its revenue as a result of changes to FIT rules that were applied retroactively.

Bloomberg New Energy Finance has released its annual league tables of the top movers and shakers in clean energy and photovoltaic projects figure prominently.

A contract for the construction of a new 2 MW photovoltaic plant in northern Chile has been signed and a new 1.2 MW photovoltaic plant in central Chile has come online, all in the space of just five days, highlighting a heightened tempo of photovoltaic development in the country.

While most photovoltaic manufacturers continue to record losses and some market outlooks remain bleak, new Deutsche Bank analysis has predicted that the solar market is set to grow by 22 percent to 33.4 GW in 2013.

With news of the global polysilicon market full of doom and gloom for the past couple of years, the turn of 2013 has seen stock market investors starting to take a shine to Chinese solar firms.

Market research consultant IHS iSuppli has offered a characteristically brutal prediction of the consolidation it expects in the global upstream solar market this year.

During 2012, many PV manufacturers endured a long, uphill battle, staggering under steep price cuts, excess inventory, shrinking margins and political headwinds; and all the while, jostling for position with other technologies. However, those that have demonstrated the stamina to survive, and that can hold their ground in 2013, have a chance at remaining in top demand for years to come.

GTM Research’s Andrew Krulewitz details the factors that contributed to price declines in each U.S. photovoltaic market segments in Q4 2012.

Only the lowest cost and most commercially viable PV technologies will end up surviving through the brutal PV shakeout phase of 2012, writes Finlay Colville, vice president of NPD Solarbuzz.

Indications are that renewable energy investments will fall in 2012 for the first time in 8 years. However, the news is not all bad, says Ernst & Young, with continuing capacity additions and “booming” emerging market activity. In particular, the South African and MENA regions are displaying strong growth.