Europe

German customs officers executed two arrest warrants during the Smarter E show in Munich. The public prosecutor’s office in Nuremberg-Fürth also confirmed another arrest, connected to an existing investigation of a Chinese PV manufacturer. The arrested executives were allegedly involved in commercial smuggling of solar modules, the customs authorities and prosecutor told pv magazine. The authorities believe minimum import prices for crystalline solar modules from China, in effect until September, were circumvented and millions of euros in payments were evaded.

That goal could easily be achieved judging by the company’s first-quarter results, Qiao said during an interview with pv magazine at Intersolar Europe. He also pronounced himself happy with Growatt’s performance in TÜV testing and with progress in the hybrid inverter segment.

In a conversation with pv magazine, REC vice-president for sales in the EMEA region Ivano Zanni describes the new strategy of the Norwegian manufacturer following the launch of its high-efficiency, half-cut mono n-type heterojunction module. REC expects annual production capacity for the panels at its factory in Singapore to increase to 600 MW by the end of next year, and that the company’s total capacity will reach 2 GW.

With a capacity of 2,2 MW, the rooftop array is at the industrial plant of Belgian company Ontex, which will buy almost all the electricity generated from project developer Menapy under a 15-year power supply deal.

At Intersolar Europe, Gamesa Electric’s solar sales director, Enrique de la Cruz explained the key to ensuring high reliability and a low energy price with the company’s new central inverter offering.

The modules will be used by U.K. developer Solarcentury for its Cabrera and Talayuela Solar projects in southern Spain.

Climate change and environmental protection were a top priority for the elections held in April. With solid green backing from the electorate and an ambitious domestic agenda, Finland is due to assume the EU presidency from Romania. Across the EU green parties are gaining ground but the bloc has yet to draft a comprehensive climate protection bill. Finland’s ambition could change that.

The former director of Fraunhofer ISE will be officially elected at a general assembly planned for September. The ESCM wants a strong Europe to be part of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and also pay attention to sustainability.

With the Netherlands receiving more than €21 billion worth of orders after launching a ‘€4-6 billion’ exercise last month, Irish utility the ESB is hoping to ride the wave of investors subscribing to ethical schemes.

The latest government figures show utility scale solar had near-zero growth in 12 months. Although excluded from the Contracts for Difference procurement regime, large scale projects may experience a resurgence thanks to unsubsidized schemes linked to bilateral power supply deals, with the Solar Trade Association predicting 400 MW of such projects may be finalized this year.