Manufacturing

UK power company HomeSun has announced its plans to install £1 billion worth of free solar panels on 100,000 British homes over the next three years. The news comes as recent reports reveal that the U.K is the fastest growing country for photovoltaics (PV) installations this year.

An inauguration ceremony is being held today to mark the completion of Q-Cells SE’s 5.3-megawatt (MW) solar power station, located close to Spremberg in the federal state of Brandenburg, Germany. The project, which covers a 19-hectare brownfield site, cost around €16 million. Construction began in mid-June.

SilexSolar Pty Ltd has announced it is to expand its photovoltaics (PV) panel capacity at its Sydney Olympic Park (SOP) manufacturing facility in Australia, from 13 megawatts (MW) to 35 MW by the middle of next year. The company cites strong demand for its Australian-made panels from the domestic rooftop solar panel market as the primary reason.

Jabil Circuit Inc., one of the world’s largest providers of electronic manufacturing services, and whose customers include companies from every industry, including consumer products, automotive, telecommunications and solar, has come under fire following a report published in July by the U.S.’s National Labor Committee (NLC) regarding working conditions in its Chinese factory, based in Guangzhou, Guangdong.

The date by which Italian photovoltaics (PV) installations should enter into operation to continue to enjoy the incentive rates contained in the second energy bill – the one currently in force and which is due to expire at the end of the year – has been postponed, according to Qualenergia.it.

Nikini Automation Systems has told pv magazine it has made Sri Lankan history by becoming the country’s first company to enter into a net metering agreement for its photovoltaics (PV) system. The company also called on Sri Lanka’s businesses to make PV a part their corporate activities.

Germany-based Conergy Group has begun construction on its second solar park in the Czech Republic. The 1.48-megawatt project is situated on the site of an old pig farm near Velky? Ty?nec, about 80 km northeast of the country’s second-largest city, Brno.

Solon SE has told pv magazine it is to stop manufacturing dual-axis tracking systems due to the “drastic” decrease in silicon prices. The company also announced that 50 people from its Austrian subsidiary Solon Hilber Technologie GmbH (SHT) will be made redundant as a result of a management buyout.

Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd. has been selected to supply 34.5 megawatts (MW) of solar panels for the first phase of the largest solar power plant in Thailand and Southeast Asia. Owned and operated by Bangchak Petroleum Public Co., Ltd., and integrated by Solartron Public Co., Ltd., the planned 44 MW (38 MW AC output capacity) solar power plant will be located just outside of Bangkok.

Power Integrations has today announced it has powered up a USD$3.6-million solar photovoltaics (PV) array at its San Jose headquarters in the Edenvale Technology Park, in California, the U.S. At 600 kilowatts, the system is among the 10 largest solar facilities in Silicon Valley, says the company. The installation took six months to complete.