Top News

Germany-based aleo solar AG has reported a revenue of €277.0 million in the first six months of this year, leading to a 134.5 percent increase compared to the first six months of last year. The main driver of this increase, it said, is due to the amendment of the German Renewable Energy Act. York zu Putlitz, CEO and CFO of aleo solar AG additionally told pv magazine that the company is looking to increase its production capacity by this September.

Every house under India’s first Zero Energy Satellite Township (ZEST), to be developed in Rajarhat in eastern India, will include rooftop solar photovoltaics (PV) modules and building-integrated PV (BIPV), according to the West Bengal Green Energy Development Corporation Ltd.

Astronergy is to increase its production capacity from 30 megawatts (MW) to 75 MW this year. The announcement comes as the company signs a follow-up purchase agreement for Oerlikon Solar’s thin film equipment. The company says the order will help it to reach its goal of producing 400 MW of thin film solar photovoltaics (PV) modules “within the near future”.

UK power company HomeSun has announced its plans to install £1 billion worth of free solar panels on 100,000 British homes over the next three years. The news comes as recent reports reveal that the U.K is the fastest growing country for photovoltaics (PV) installations this year.

The University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Australia has announced that construction has started on its new AUD$125 million Tyree Energy Technologies Building (TETB) following planning approval from the New South Wales government. The new facility – scheduled to be completed by 2012 – will house all the energy-related research and teaching groups within the university, including photovoltaics.

Jabil Circuit Inc., one of the world’s largest providers of electronic manufacturing services, and whose customers include companies from every industry, including consumer products, automotive, telecommunications and solar, has come under fire following a report published in July by the U.S.’s National Labor Committee (NLC) regarding working conditions in its Chinese factory, based in Guangzhou, Guangdong.

Nikini Automation Systems has told pv magazine it has made Sri Lankan history by becoming the country’s first company to enter into a net metering agreement for its photovoltaics (PV) system. The company also called on Sri Lanka’s businesses to make PV a part their corporate activities.

TÜV Rheinland AG has opened its seventh laboratory worldwide in the Indian city of Bangalore for testing solar modules and systems. The company has invested €2 million in the new solar test centre, which will, in particular, offer services to India’s growing solar industry. The test centre has 2,000 square meters of space, including an outside test field of 500 square meters, with equipment such as five climate chambers and two sun simulators. This, says the company, makes it the most up to date and largest laboratory in the entire South Asian economic area.

Cumulative photovoltaics (PV) installations will top 120 gigawatts (GW) by the end of 2014, according to IMS Research’s recently launched “Global PV Demand Database”. The report also revealed that annual PV installations will grow steadily at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of more than 20 percent between 2011 and 2014. In these four years, says IMS, some 80 GW of new PV capacity will be added globally. Growth rates are predicted to slow over the next four years, however, compared to the huge 95 percent growth rate forecast for this year.

Dr. Farooq Abdullah, the Hon’ble Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy urged the Indian solar photovoltaics (PV) industry to focus on developing research initiatives, during the Solarcon India 2010, held in Hyderabad, India last week.