South Korea

The transaction, expected to be finalized next month, will be made through the purchase by the Advanced Materials business of the holdings of Q Cells’ three main stakeholders. The company told pv magazine the operation is intended to enhance the group’s solar growth strategy.

A research team from South Korea’s Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology has demonstrated a new process for the creation of organic solar cells. Using this method, the team has created cells with a conversion efficiency up to 12.01%.

At US$518.4 million, the quarterly turnover of the South Korean-German manufacturer was down 10.3% year-on-year, while its net result swung from a profit of $18.7 million in the second quarter of 2017, to a loss of $41.3 million in the latest quarter. Despite this, the outlook for full fiscal 2018 remains unchanged.

While the duties make importing solar from China even more impractical, they are unlikely to have a significant impact on trade flows or on the U.S. market, with Chinese manufacturers outsourcing operations overseas.

With Hanwha Solar Holdings already owning 94% of the company, the module manufacturer could soon be a private company again. The Korean solar company says the transaction would cost the holding company around $45 million.

The German thin film solar PV manufacturer has said it will restart production at its CIGS facility in South Korea. Annual production, scheduled for H1 2019, will be 100 MW.

The South Korean government has revealed plans to introduce new environmental guidelines and rules on where PV projects can be built, following a public outcry after a landslide smashed into an operational solar array south of the city of Daegu.

Finnish-based energy-solution provider, Wärtsilä has signed an agreement with automobile producer, Hyundai Motor Group to establish a commercial partnership for the use of second-life electric vehicle (EV) batteries in storage solutions.

A team of scientists from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) has proposed a gold-based halide perovskite as a material for high efficiency solar cells, which it says could be both more stable and more environmentally friendly to produce than many existing perovskites which scientists are investigating to boost solar efficiency.

LG’s 56 MW PV park is the group’s largest in Japan and will join the string of energy schemes feeding big data into the conglomerate’s Energy Optimization Center, when it opens this year.