Manufacturing

Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd. has said it will be supplying Azure Power, an Indian, independent solar power producer, with several megawatts of solar panels under a new partnership, in order to develop utility-scale solar projects across various states in India.

Astronergy (also known as Chint Solar) has announced that its parent company, the Chint Group, has officially signed a strategic cooperative framework agreement with the Gansu Development and Reform Commission, where it will invest in one gigawatt (GW) of solar energy projects and in 200 megawatts (MW) of manufacturing capabilities. This agreement marks the official launch of the province’s push to develop its solar industry.

Hanwha Chemical Corporation, based in Korea, has bought around USD$78 million worth of shares in China-based Solarfun Power Holdings Co., Ltd. under a new strategic agreement between the two companies. In addition, it has entered into separate agreements to acquire shares from Good Energies II LP and Yonghua Solar Power Investment Holding Ltd. As a result, it now owns 49.99 percent of Solarfun’s outstanding shares and holds a 49.99 percent voting interest in the company.

Spain’s Asociación Empresarial Fotovoltaica (AEF) announced at a press conference held last week that negotiations on future solar subsidiaries have been postponed for the next two months, while the country’s government awaits the results of an investigation to find out which PV plants were illegally connected to the power grid in September 2008.

The U.K. photovoltaics (PV) market could be artificially restrained by its government, after attaching certain conditions to its payment of remuneration, says market research institute, EuPD Research.

Enel Green Power, Sharp and STMicroelectronics have signed a binding letter of commitment for a project financing agreement for €150 million for the development of what will be Italy’s biggest photovoltaics (PV) panel factory.

Recurrent Energy has secured around USD$18 million for its five-megawatt (MW) solar power system, located at the Sunset Reservoir in San Francisco, the U.S. When completed, the company says the project will be one of the country’s largest municipal solar power systems and will more than triple San Francisco’s total municipal solar energy output.

Following yesterday’s news that Panasonic is looking set to buy out Sanyo Electric Company, Sanyo Eneos Solar has announced it has postponed its planned photovoltaics thin film production project, originally scheduled to start this year, and is instead concentrating on efficiency enhancement and marketing activities. The reason cited was a “dramatically” changing business environment, due to the decreasing price of crystalline silicon.

Würth Solar has acquired Germany-based SolarMarkt AG, along with its subsidiary Creotecc GmbH, and all foreign subsidiaries and project companies. The company also stated that it is looking to increase sales its to over €500 million by 2014 in a bid to “grow faster than the market”.

DuPont says it is collaborating with utility company Hongkong Electric Co., Ltd. (HK Electric) to support the building and operation of the largest thin film photovoltaics (PV) rooftop project in Hong Kong.