Manufacturing

Spain-based photovoltaics (PV) module maker, Eurener has told pv magazine it is working with the Chilean government and University of Atacama to develop a PV installation in the Atacama desert. Although still in the planning stages, the company’s aim is to provide off grid solutions to people who are still living without electricity in the periphery of the Atacama, based in Chile, South America.

Thin film solar module producer, Trony Solar Holdings Company Limited has signed separate agreements with the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) to co-develop solar battery technology. The news comes as the company inaugurated its Hong Kong office in the Hong Kong Science & Technology Parks.

Mitsubishi Electric Corporation has supplied 1.2 megawatts (MW) worth of photovoltaics (PV) modules to Japan Airport Terminal Co., Ltd, in Tokyo, Japan, which manages Tokyo International Airport.

Astronergy has announced it will increase its production capacity by 45 megawatts (MW) from 30 megawatts (MW) today to 75 MW by the end of the year. The news comes as the company signs a follow-up purchase agreement with Oerlikon Solar for its thin film equipment.

A spokesperson at Solar Frontier has told pv magazine that its parent company, Showa Shell Sekiyu K.K, has established a joint venture with Kitakyushu City in Japan, with the aim of establishing the country’s first recycling facility for solar panels.

France needs to revise targets for solar energy and further cut subsidies to curb costs to consumers that may balloon to €54 billion euros (USD$70 billion) by 2020, according to Bloomberg, which was quoting a government report.

Germany-based Masdar PV has signed a contract with IG Solar PVT Ltd to supply 1.5 megawatts peak (MWp) of silicon-based thin film photovoltaics (PV) modules. Under the contract, the company has said its modules will be used on rooftops by Indian construction project developer MAG, which constructs villages in India “under the aspect of sustainability”.

Comtec Solar Systems Group Limited has said orders for its monocrystalline solar wafers have already exceeded 600 megawatts (MW) for next year. The news came as the company announced it has signed around 200 MW worth of supply framework agreements. It added that it will be focusing on its 400 MW expansion, with the aim of reaching one gigawatt (GW) of capacity by next year.

U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu has announced that the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Sandia National Laboratories is investing USD$8.5 million for four projects, which have reached Stage III of the Solar Energy Grid Integration Systems (SEGIS) program. DOE reported that these investments will be matched more than one-to-one by the SEGIS contractors to support more than USD$20 million in total projects.

JA Solar Holdings Co. Ltd. has signed multiple supply agreements with several customers to provide over 500 megawatts (MW) of mono-crystalline and multi-crystalline solar cells for delivery next year. The financial sum has not been disclosed.