Russian banks set to seize Crimean solar power plants
Update: Saddled with massive debts estimated at $870 million following Russia’s annexation of Crimea and a dramatic cut in feed-in tariffs, solar plants in the region have been unable to pay back outstanding loans and now face foreclosure.
Compromise on large-scale renewables in Australia increasingly likely
An end to the political deadlock that has brought the large-scale renewable sector to a virtual standstill in Australia looks likely to be coming to an end. The Labor opposition has announced a willingness to support a reduction to the Renewable Energy Target (RET) to 33,500 GWh.
ET Solar builds 50 MW plant in Israel
The project is the largest PV plant ET Solar has so far built in the Middle East. The Chinese company, which will also handle O&M services for the installation, has become the biggest EPC contractor in Israel for utility-scale projects.
Solarcentury goes with Trina modules for Panama PV plant
The U.K. developer and EPC provider has ordered some 33,000 Trina modules for a 9.9 MW PV farm in the Central American country, marking the first collaboration between the companies as Solarcentury expands into a new market.
Solar-Fabrik warns of junction box failure
The German solar tech group has said it will publish a product warning in the coming days regarding junction boxes on some of its modules, which may be defect and possibly lead to fire.
Risen Energy raises $403 million for PV projects
The Chinese solar company plans to invest in 279 MW of PV projects in China and Mexico as well as 100 MW of domestic distributed generation installations.
Abdul Latif Jameel completes FRV acquisition
Dubai and Saudi Arabia-based Abdul Latif Jameel Energy has acquired Fotowatio Renewable Ventures (FRV), including its global 3.8 GW pipeline of PV projects. The two companies had previously collaborated on a JV to develop solar projects in the MENAT region.
P2P solar startup Yeloha raises $3.5 million
Boston-based P2P solar startup Yeloha has launched, simultaneously announcing the closure of Series A financing of $3.5 million. Yeloha hopes to take P2P solar into the residential PV space.
President Obama unveils 75,000 solar job initiative
Over the Easter break U.S. President Barack Obama unveiled a plan to train 75,000 solar workers by 2020. The Solar Ready Vets program was launched at 10 military bases on Friday.
Multicrystalline PERC to deliver 25% efficiencies
Leading solar researcher Professor Martin Green says that the solar industry has entered a new phase of manufacturing, in which the focus is firmly on efficiency gains. The University of New South Wales (UNSW) researcher believes that PERC technology is leading the way in terms of wide scale adoption, and that conversion efficiencies of 25% can be expected with multicrystalline PERC cells.
