Australia: new AC-module plant opens
Only one month after the country’s only photovoltaic module manufacturer suspended production, a new 60 megawatt (MW) module assembly plant has opened in the city of Adelaide, South Australia. The fab will produce around 300,000 240V modules per year.
First Solar investing in political favor
Thin-film manufacturer First Solar has been investing heavily in politically lobbying, both in Washington and in the state of California, a report from Bloomberg has observed today. USD2.2 million has been spent since 2007.
Solar Millennium: investigation into fraud
A German investment protection body is investigating whether Solar Millennium has broken financial laws. Financial authorities and attorneys are conducting investigations into Hannes Kuhn, the companys chairman of the Supervisory Board and founder, who has recently stepped down.
Total and SunPower bring solar business under one roof
In a move that has been anticipated for some months, Californian photovoltaic manufacturer SunPower has announced that it will purchase French solar company Tenesol SA from Total SA.
New entrant to push manufacturers
While the economic environment of falling prices and oversupply is pushing many photovoltaic manufacturers to the brink, a new major entrant to the market could present a whole new set of challenges to incumbent manufacturers.
Google invests further $94 million in PV
Rounding off a year in which the search engine giant Google invested $880 million U.S. dollars in renewable energy, the company has announced a final investment for 2011 of $94 million. The money will go to four photovoltaic projects in California.
Australia: PV posing fire risks
For the second time, an Australian state government safety review has found that non-compliant photovoltaic installations are posing a fire risk to some homes. The countrys Sustainable Energy Association has heavily criticized the review, which was carried out in the state of Western Australia (WA).
Singulus supplies Avancis fab
German manufacturing equipment supplier Singulus Technologies announced today that it supplied equipment for the new Avancis thin-film fab, which opened earlier this month.
PV in 2012: The year of truth
The photovoltaics industry is going through some major changes. A still deteriorating global economic situation, government belt-tightening and a number of corporate incidents have left the industry in an unfamiliar, unhealthy state at the end of 2011. With the end of the year fast approaching, it is time for a change.
UK High Court ruling not necessarily good news
Despite yesterdays High Court ruling that the British Governments slashing of the renewable feed-in tariff (FIT) was illegal, some parts of the renewable sector have said that it could be bad for the industry.
