Finance

Austria started its subsidy round for PV power plants on Friday. A total budget of €36 million has been set aside. With this budget more than 24,000 power plants with a total capacity of 115 MW are expected to be developed.

In a bid to persuade lenders to cough up more cash, ReneSola has launched a Bankability Book which, it says, provides a “comprehensive guide” to its business, and will help European and U.S. businesses, in particular, secure financing faster.

Germany reportedly added 290 MW of new photovoltaic capacity in March, according to the Federal Environment Minister. While the Federal Network Agency’s figures are still to be released, if the information proves true, the solar subsidy degression planned for May could decelerate.

Renewable energy promotion in Poland has suffered a number of setbacks. Discussions over the draft law, originally scheduled to come into play this January 1, are, once again, underway. According to reports, the Economy Ministry is seeking to lower subsidies for photovoltaics, wind and biomass.

CIGS manufacturer Avancis will turn one of its manufacturing facilities in Germany’s Torgau into a technology center. As such, 67 temporary employment contracts will not be renewed, and employees at the company’s Munich-based research department are to be relocated to Torgau.

2013 is expected to be a pivotal year for the Turkish solar industry, as the country’s Energy Market Regulatory Authority gears up to distribute PV production licenses for projects larger than 1 MW. Meanwhile, cumulative capacity is expected to surpass 4 GW by 2017.

U.S. thin film manufacturer and project developer First Solar has taken what appears to be a major leap forward, as its share price soared on the back of 2013 financial guidance, an acquisition announcement and a major efficiency improvement.

Following the signing of a contract by both parties, German photovoltaic inverter company Refusol is now a part of U.S.-based Advanced Energy Industries.

JinkoSolar recorded a number of hefty losses, both sequentially and annually. CEO, Kangping Chen blames continued photovoltaic module oversupply and lingering global economic certainties. He is, however, confident of the company’s strategy going ahead.

According to a new report issued by the International Energy Agency (IEA), already installed photovoltaic systems will produce “at least” 110 TWh, or 110 billion kWh in 2013, thus representing 0.5% of global electricity demand. This corresponds to the annual energy consumption of the Netherlands, it says.