Markets

Swiss solar manufacturer Meyer Burger faces a significant setback as its largest U.S. customer, D.E. Shaw Renewable Investments, has terminated a long-term agreement to purchase solar panels from its Arizona facility.

Utilites in California and nationwide are fighting rooftop solar, the major threat to their effective monopoly on the electricity market, said the California Solar and Storage Association (CALSSA).

Tongwei has initiated due diligence on its CNY 5 billion ($691.8 million) bid to acquire Chinese solar maker Runergy, aiming to secure at least 51% of its equity. The deal, which would be the largest in the PV sector this year, remains subject to changes or potential termination.

CHN Energy has connected the first phase of its 1 GW offshore solar project in China to the grid, marking progress on what it calls the world’s largest open-sea solar array, capable of powering 2.67 million urban residents upon completion.

French developer Voltalia and Egyptian energy distribution company Taqa Arabia have signed a memorandum of understanding to turn an existing 545 MW wind farm into a 3 GW hybrid wind-solar site.

This week, Women in Solar Europe (WiSEu) gives voice to renewable energy expert Ercilia Estrada Garzona. She says it’s crucial to recognize the pervasive negative assumptions about mothers regarding their ambition and commitment to their careers. “To combat these biases, organizations must take decisive action. This can be achieved by normalizing parental leave for all parents, ensuring transparency in career advancement and promotion prospects post-leave, and developing robust support systems to help employees transition back to work smoothly,” she states.

In a new weekly update for pv magazine, Solcast, a DNV company, reports that the upcoming Australian summer is likely to see cloudier than usual conditions, potentially reducing solar generation across key regions, especially along the East Coast.

An international research team based across Canada, China and the US have said developers must stop focusing not only resource availability, and also consider resource variability and resource extremeness, to avoid renewables “drought” at solar and wind sites.

A report from the Council of Energy, Environment and Water has analyzed nine of the ten countries with the largest rooftop solar markets to offer recommendations to other economies looking to accelerate rooftop solar deployment.

Premier Energies, a solar cell and module manufacturer in India, will set up an aluminum frame factory with an annual capacity of 36,000 metric tons for captive consumption.