Markets & Policy

Both the management board and the supervisory board of Germany-based Sunways AG have deemed the offered price of €1.90 per share by LDK Solar as “adequate”.

Amongst the doom and gloom surrounding the accelerated and sudden cuts to the German photovoltaic feed-in tariffs (FIT), a glimmer of hope has emerged from an unexpected place. On Wednesday, the U.K. achieved one gigawatt (GW) of installed capacity, illustrating just how much faster than expected the British public and businesses have embraced solar.

Frost & Sullivan’s energy group has forecast that overall electricity generation in Germany will decrease from 625 terrawatt-hours (TWh) in 2010 to 590 TWh in 2020. This change is attributed to energy efficiency measures and increased imports that will replace the supply lost from nuclear power sources.

Pike Research has announced that investments in community and residential energy storage (CRES) systems will increase to more than US$4 billion in the next decade.

In a move not seen from solar companies for a while, Canadian Solar has upped its fourth quarter (Q4) 2011 shipping guidance. The photovoltaic module manufacturer did not provide preliminary financial figures, however.

Having preannounced its fourth quarter (Q4) 2011 financial results, Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited has said it expects photovoltaic module shipments to sequentially decline by 30 percent. Meanwhile, its gross margin has taken a tumble.

According to initial media reports, Germany’s politicians want to implement sharp cuts, earlier than scheduled, to its photovoltaic subsidies. Furthermore, the guaranteed tariff should be limited at 90 percent. The ministers will, however, officially present their plans tomorrow.

Germany-based Sunways AG has announced its preliminary fourth quarter (Q4) and full year (FY) 2011 financial results, which are said to be “in line with expectations”. These expectations include annual sales of €115.4 million and “record” photovoltaic module sales.

Analysts at Jefferies have painted a poor picture for photovoltaic demand during the first quarter (Q1) of 2012, and “very real … demand concerns” for the whole year. Overall, they expect European and global demand to fall by 42 percent and 10 percent, respectively. However, it is believed that 2013 will see a market revival.

In figures that appear to confirm post-Fukushima Japan’s dramatic shift away from nuclear power and towards photovoltaics, the domestic module market is shown to have expanded by over 30 percent, from the previous year. The Japanese Photovoltaic Energy Association (JPEA) released the figures that also show that over one gigawatt (GW) of modules were sold domestically, in the first three quarters of 2011 alone.