Finance

As of today, March 5, all Chinese photovoltaic modules and their main components coming into the EU must register with national customs authorities. This means should anti-dumping tariffs be imposed at the end of the year, they could be retroactively applied.

AES Solar is expected to complete construction of the first phase of one of the world’s largest photovoltaic developments, located in Antelope Valley, California, in early 2014.

A new bill has been brought to the Greek parliament, aimed at speeding up so-called “fast track” strategic investments, including for photovoltaic projects. The goal is to reduce red tape and increase flexibility. Financing concerns still remain, however.

2012 saw Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited record net losses totaling over US$0.5 billion – a slight decrease on 2011. Despite this, the company saw photovoltaic module shipments significantly increase. For 2013, it predicts shipments of between 3.2 to 3.3 GW.

Solar Frontier expects to see a significant increase in its 2013 domestic sales on the back of the anticipated solar boom in Japan. Despite high utilization, however, the photovoltaic thin film module manufacturer is not planning to increase its 900 MW production capacity in the short term.

Following the signing of a share purchase agreement at the start of the year, Fulai Investments Limited has acquired 5 million LDK Solar shares for an aggregate purchase price of US$9.15 million. The remaining shares are scheduled to be handed over by March 28.

Germany installed 274 MW worth of photovoltaics in January, according to the latest figures from the Federal Network Agency. Overall, the country has a cumulative photovoltaic capacity of 32.6 GW.

Japan is currently the world’s most attractive photovoltaic market. This is the conclusion at the end of the three day 6th PV Expo Tokyo. Meanwhile, optimistic forecasts predict 5 GW of new capacity in 2013. However, warnings have been issued regarding an overheating of the market.

Confidence in solar stocks faltered late this month, as evidenced by positions at the opening bell on February 27, with First Solar free-falling more than 14% during one night of after-hours trading; and Trina Solar tumbling by about the same cumulative amount in the two days following its fourth-quarter earnings report.

Ernst & Young has highlighted a number of renewable energy trends expected to be seen throughout 2013. Among them are a preference for capacity auctions, utility divestment, and corporate investment. Meanwhile, although China topped the firm’s renewable energy indices, the U.S. took top spot in the solar segment.