Markets

Changes in incentive schemes and new regulations could see the total capacity of photovoltaics (PV) installations “fall considerably” in 2011, meaning new markets would have to pick up the shortfall. The news comes as IMS Research says that 14.6 gigawatts (GW) of new PV capacity will be added worldwide this year.

Germany’s Bundesrat upper house of parliament has agreed to a compromise proposal to slightly reduce the cuts for solar power incentives. The reductions will be implemented over a three month period.

Germany’s lower house of parliament has agreed to a compromise proposal for a slight reduction in cuts to solar power incentives over a three-month transition period, reports Reuters.

The Ontario Power Authority (OPA) has proposed a new pricing category of 58.8 Canadian cents per kilowatt-hour (¢/kWh) for ground-mounted solar photovoltaics (PV) projects of ten kilowatts or less, instead of the original 80.2 ¢/kWh. The new price category, says the OPA, will better reflect the lower costs of installation for these types of projects versus rooftop projects.

The Photovoltaics Quality Briefing 2010: Key considerations to safeguard your capital investment, scheduled to be held in London this October, has announced it will be investigating the subject of photovoltaics (PV) investment and how to safeguard businesses against common pitfalls and problem areas.

The Spanish government must put more reasonable photovoltaics (PV) feed-in tariff (FIT) laws in place and allow all parties adequate access to the power grid if it is to remain competitive, an industry expert has told pv magazine.

China’s Shandong province has set an electricity purchase price of 1.7 yuan (25 cents) a kilowatt-hour for photovoltaic (PV) power plants for this year. It has also been said that next year and in 2012 Shandong will lower the tariffs for ground-mounted PV plants to 1.4 yuan and 1.2 yuan a kilowatt-hour, respectively.

Following the proposed compromise to cut photovoltaics (PV) feed-in tariff (FIT) incentives by three percent this month, put forward by the German parliamentary mediation committee between the German Bundestag and the Bundesrat for solar promotion yesterday, Phoenix Solar AG has said it expects to see “a substantial increase in consolidated revenue”.

Manz Automation AG has said it is currently seeing “a significant revitalization in the thin film segment”. The news comes as the company announces its acquisition of €8 million worth of new thin film orders in Germany and the U.S.

German photovoltaic feed-in tariff cuts should be slightly reduced and implemented in two stages – including retroactively – according to a recommendation issued by the parliamentary mediation committee between the German Bundestag and the Bundesrat for solar promotion.