Poland: Energy policy U-turn
End of spring, an informal working group started meeting regularly at the Polish Prime Minister’s Office to analyse the energy market situation and the promotion of renewable energy sources. The outcome: FITs in Poland and a support system that will probably be easier to handle.
Chinas PV dominance driven by production scale, not lower labor costs, study finds
Joint US study by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) suggests Chinese PV advantage could be replicated globally with further innovation.
Micro generation projects driving Portugal’s new solar PV installations
Portugal added 16.8 MW of solar PV in May and June, but latest figures show that micro generation is still the country’s dominant sector.
India: Propects looking bleak for cell manufacturers
Indian crystalline silicon PV cell manufacturers saw their manufacturing capacity fall to a five-year low this year. Majority of the production tools are now idle.
Wirsol and Greenpower Capital acquire 22 MW Japan plant
Gremany’s Wirsol Solar and Greenpower Capital, through their Japanese JV, have announced today the acquisition of a 22 MW utility scale PV installation in Japan. The project was initially developed by Japan’s Chikyu Factory Service.
Solar Frontier trumpets module performance in MENA installation
Japanese thin film producers and PV developer Solar Frontier is trumpeting the performance of its modules in hot climates, having released production data from its 10.5 MW Al-Midra Tower solar car park installation.
Diehl Controls cuts 50 jobs
Photovoltaic manufacturer Diehl Controls plans to let go of 50 employees in its production facility in Wangen, Germany. The works council and trade union have already agreed upon a severance package for the employees.
SolFocus no more
Greentech Media’s (GTM) Eric Wesoff has reported that CPV developer SolFocus has wound up operations. As Wesoff writes: “The company’s website, phone line, and twitter feed are dead.”
Greek PV warns against job losses
Yesterday the Hellenic Association of Photovoltaic Companies (HELAPCO) sent an open letter to the Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras warning him one third of the solar sector jobs have been lost in 2013 and asking him to take measures to “restart the Greek solar PV market.”
SunEdison projects in California get funding boost
Solar project developer SunEdison will get a US$67.3 million investment boost to fund its utility-scale photovoltaic projects in California. The investors are a consortium made up of New Energy Capital Partners, North Sky Capital, and EverStream Energy Capital Management.
