All News

Lanco Solar has completed and connected 56 megawatts (MW) worth of photovoltaic projects to the grid in the Indian state of Gujarat.

Thin film photovoltaic giant, First Solar, has today announced it is significantly reducing its operations in Germany, due to the “deteriorating” market conditions in Europe. It is also scaling back its operations in Malaysia. Around 2,000 jobs will be lost.

More details have emerged as to First Solar’s decision to halt its module production operations in Germany before the end of 2012. Analysts say the decision should not come as a surprise.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), through its sophisticated think tank, the Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E), is funding a $30 million research competition that will engage America’s brightest scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs in improving the capability of energy storage devices, including batteries.

The 6th China New Energy International Forum (CNEIF) ended on Saturday, April 14, in Beijing with the key conclusion that the Chinese photovoltaic market is full of promise, despite the subsidy cuts in Europe this year and the running investigation of Chinese cell and panel manufacturers in the U.S.

SunPower has said it will consolidate its photovoltaic cell manufacturing at its Fab 1 in the Philippines, thus reducing capacity by 125 megawatts (MW). The company adds that it is on track to reduce manufacturing costs further.

Photovoltaic equipment revenues have hit a 10 quarter (Q) low, according to the latest figures from NPD Solarbuzz. Despite this, the company is optimistic the market will pick up again in 2013, after bottoming-out in Q2 2012. Meyer Burger is expected to be the leading supplier in the first half of the year, and GTAT the overall leader in 2012.

In a no-nonsense interview, Frank Asbeck accuses the energy companies of trying to destroy the solar industry in Germany. He further reiterates his criticisms of Chinese photovoltaic manufacturers.

While the results are still to be confirmed by the German electrical grid regulator, the Bundesnetzagentur, the Financial Times Deutschland (FTD) has reported that almost two gigawatts (GW) of photovoltaic capacity was added to Germany’s grid in the first quarter (Q1) of this year. The “mini boom” has been widely predicted ahead of the cuts to German remuneration, which came into effect on April 1.

The first modules have been installed on what will be Australia’s largest utility-scale power plant. The 10 megawatt (MW) plant will provide power to a desalination plant in the area.