JinkoSolar has signed a deal to secure a RMB10 billion (US$1.56 billion) line of credit from the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC). The credit facility will be used by Jinko to develop PV power plant projects.

Australian organic PV and perovskite solar cell (PSC) developer Dyesol claims to have made a significant breakthrough in perovskite stability for solar applications. The company claims to have produced 1cm squared perovskite cells, at around 10% conversion efficiency, which can with stand accelerated degradation testing for over 1000 hours.

U.S. microinverter supplier Enphase has selected Australia to launch its new AC Battery product. The Australian PV market has presumably been selected because of its high levels of residential PV penetration, falling feed in rates for solar electricity, feed in limitations in some states, and an expected wave of consumers looking for more value from their PV array as highly subsidized historic FITs expire.

Californian-based deposition equipment supplier Intevac is to supply its Intevac Matrix thin-film deposition equipment to an unnamed Tier-1 crystalline silicon cell manufacturer. The Matrix system employs physical vapor deposition (PVD) technology for the application of integrated metal film stacks for c-Si cell manufacturing.

The French PV market is showing signs of strong growth, with 2015 likely to see more than 1 GW of solar added to the country’s grids. Last month it increased the size of its most recent tender for ground mounted installations from 400 to 800 MW as solar’s increasing cost competitiveness is recognized by government.

Germany’s E.ON has announced that it is continuing to expand its U.S. and German PV power plant business. E.ON will develop a 20 MW project in Kern Country, California, after having completed a 2.1 MW plant near Neubrandenburg, in Germany’s northeast, earlier this year.

The commercial rooftop PV market in Australia has recorded its strongest month of installations in July, with the result bolstering solar installations for month. Almost 17 MW of commercial PV was installed for the month, bringing the annual total to close to 77 MW.

JA Solar has reported growing shipments in Q2 2015 on the back of strong demand from China and growing market share in emerging markets of India and the Americas. The vertically integrated Chinese PV manufacturer shipped 790.8 MW of PV products, including wafers, cells and modules, in the quarter, an increases of 16% Y/Y and 16% Q/Q.

American thin film producer Stion will double its production capacity from 60 MW to 120 MW, after placing a tool order with Korean supplier Avaco. The equipment supply deal is worth US$5.8 million and will see Avaco supply Stion with six thermal processing furnaces and two TCO deposition tools.

A utility in northeastern Australia is rolling out a pilot solar+storage pilot project to create a ‘virtual power plant’ in areas where grid capacity is constrained. The 12-month project will allow for remote control of the residential solar+storage systems to provide grid support.