Germany

When Eon receives all regulatory approvals, it will own an 86.2% stake in Innogy. The energy company also finalized its voluntary public takeover bid to the minority shareholders.

Starting from now, subsidies for up to 1,000 residential solar-plus-storage systems can be requested from the Investment Bank of Brandenburg.

The Chinese state-owned State Grid Corporation of China has been attempting to acquire a 20% stake in German transmission system operator, 50Hertz for some time now. After the intervention of Germany’s Federal Government, however, this share will now go to domestic development bank, KfW.

The renewable energy software company will keep the skytron brand and platform, as well as providing services for Draker’s customers.

Peijun Shen of Huawei discusses integrating bifacial modules into PV power plant projects from the Future PV discussion at this year’s Intersolar Europe. Bifacial technology is making leaps and bounds, and suppliers up and down the value chain have to deliver new technologies and solutions to pave the way for the next steps in PV systems.

At pv magazine’s 9th Quality Roundtable, held last month in Germany, a host of experts debated pressing quality issues, from LID in PERC modules, to hailstorm damage and faulty backsheets. In a video interview, Stephan Padlewski of DuPont goes into more detail about the quality debate, and how it has developed over the past years. He also discusses DuPont’s testing regime.

Andreas Liebheit, President of Heraeus Photovoltaics, has stepped down for personal reasons. He has been temporarily replaced by Raymund Chua, Head of HPT in Singapore and Head of Heraeus’ Asia-Pacific Regional Center.

The German PV home storage provider delivered around 1,500 solar batteries globally last month. At around 75%, most systems went to Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

At a creditors’ meeting, important decisions have been made regarding the future of the ailing German solar module manufacturer. The creditors have decided to discontinue the loss-making business at the end of September, providing no investor can be found by then.

In the wake of the U.S.-China trade dispute, the Chinese government has loosened its policy on ownership caps for factory sites for foreign car brands. Previously, car companies could only retain 50% of the ownership of a factory and had to set up a joint venture with a Chinese partner. By setting up shop in China, Tesla can avoid import duties on its cars, to cater to a broader customer base.