Manufacturing

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.

The Kyocera Corporation is set to begin full-scale production at its new Yasu solar cell manufacturing facility in Yasu City, Shiga Prefecture, Japan.

Solar company Cenergy Power and Primex Farms, grower and processor of pistachios and trader of dried fruits and nuts have begun construction on a 1.1 megawatt (MW) solar photovoltaics system at Primex’s Wasco pistachio facility, located in California, the U.S.

SunPower Corporation has completed a 505-kilowatt solar power installation for Horizon Power, a government-owned utility providing power to remote and regional communities and resource operations in Western Australia.

Centrosolar Group AG has said it expects to see revenue in excess of €370 million this year, despite a “substantial” fall in demand in the German market, predicted to take place in the third quarter of this year. The company adds that the high increase in solar module production capacity in April, from 110 MWp to currently around 155 MWp, has not been enough to meet fully the high level of demand from both Germany and other European core markets, particularly France and Italy.

SunEdison, a division of MEMC Electronic Materials, Inc. has announced it is to develop and build industrial and retail rooftop photovoltaics (PV) projects worth 1.5 megawatts for CanFirst Capital Management in Canada.