Japan

Panasonic reported a net profit attributable to shareholders of ¥48.8 billion ($445.1 million) in the first quarter of the current fiscal year — up sharply from ¥29.2 billion a year earlier — despite a decline in sales of its solar panels. 

Toshiba has reported a group net loss of JPY 965.7 billion ($8.8 billion) for fiscal 2016, as its energy systems and solutions business — which which builds solar, wind, geothermal and hydropower projects, in addition to battery-based energy storage systems and smart meters — posted an operating loss of JPY 41.7 billion in the 12 months to the end of March 2017, marking a significant improvement from the preceding fiscal year.

The Japanese CIS module maker said it is now focusing on the domestic market, as its overseas business is facing tough competition.

Smart Solar has started installing 34 MW of solar on the Japanese island of Hokkaido. The project will include 14.4 MWh of lithium-ion storage capacity.

Japan Renewable Energy (JRE) has completed a 22.09 MW solar array in Japan’s Tohoku region.

A unit of Goldman Sachs and funds under Tennenbaum Capital Partners have jointly acquired Conergy Asia & ME and its subsidiaries from Kawa Solar Holdings.

The Japanese equipment provider also reported a profit of JPY 446 million ($4.0 million) for the first three quarters of the current fiscal year.

Etrion has connected 4.2 MW (DC) of solar capacity to the grid at two sites in Japan’s Aomori prefecture. The two arrays are part of a 9.5 MW project spanning four locations.

Sparx Green Energy and Technology — a unit of Tokyo-based asset manager Sparx — has switched on a 12.8 MW solar project in eastern Japan. It claims that the installation — which stretches roughly 10 kilometres between Shiroi and Inzai, Chiba prefecture — is the “longest” PV project in Japan.

The solar PV giant announced the commercial operation of four solar PV power plants in Japan in the first half of 2017