The EU PVSEC in Frankfurt continued today, with trade remaining slow on the showroom floor. While the number of new products and equipment on display is reduced from previous years, some new business models are emerging.

Grid connection and stability issues can be overcome to encompass a more electricity-intensive energy mix in Europe, with photovoltaics supplying up to 25% of that demand by 2030. The findings have been released in a report by EPIA on the first day of the EU PVSEC tradeshow, which began today in Frankfurt.

The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Government has unveiled a plan this week that sets the goal that 90% of its energy needs will be provided by renewable energy, by 2020. The key pillars to the plan are solar, wind and energy efficiency. The plan sets out 90 MW of large scale solar to be installed by 2020, and around 72 MW of small and medium scale rooftop photovoltaics.

A new report, released today, has concluded that the cumulative installed capacity of renewable energy plants will reach 79 GW by 2025, only 2 GW less than the predicted installed capacity of traditional thermal plants.

Agricultural photovoltaic applications in Central and Eastern China are opening up, producing demand for modules in regions where land for ground mounted arrays are in short supply. The trend has been identified in the NPD Solarbuzz China Deal Tracker report, published today.

Californian CPV company, GreenVolts has suspended operations, following “a sudden, and unexpected, change in direction from a major strategic investor,” the company said in a statement issued earlier this week. The startup based in the San Francisco Bay Area appears to be pointing to a recent investment and distribution deal that had been struck with power infrastructure giant ABB.

Japanese thin film manufacturer Solar Frontier has announced that it will move into the downstream business in its domestic market, with an agreement to supply and provide “project development services” for two power plants worth 3.3 MW.

U.S. project developer SunEdison has added $40 million to its project finance revolving credit facility, for utility scale and distributed solar projects in the U.S. and Ontario. The new capital is available immediately.

Taiwanese semiconductor giant, TSMC announced today that modules with efficiencies reaching 14.2% are rolling off its lines. TSMC produces CIGS thin film modules, utilizing technology licensed from Californian startup, Stion.

Chinese government officials have used economic cooperation talks between Germany and China, to raise the topic that a bilateral solution could be reached between the 2 countries to avoid a potential photovoltaic trade war.