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Editor's Blog

The blog is written by Photovoltaics International’s Senior News Editor, Mark Osborne. He has been covering the semiconductor and related industries for over ten years. Mark has been blogging tech since 2005.

German feed-in tariff cut will be 15-17% - updated

19 January 2010

Federal Environment Minister Norbert Röttgen After a fair amount of digging and the much needed help of our German correspondent we can now confirm that the reports of a 16-17% cut in feed-in tariff rate for Germany were true, and the cuts are to go ahead from April 1, 2010.

Several German news sources have reported that this figure is in fact authentic, not least of which the German Financial Times, Sueddeutsche. The Wall Street Journal reported that the maximum 17% cut is indeed on the cards, quoting today Economics Minister Rainer Bruederle as saying, "the German government could realistically cut between 16% and 17% of the subsidies it gives to solar-power providers."

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Media disconnect over rumoured FiT changes in Germany

15 January 2010

Reuters has kicked up a storm over a story claiming that cuts to the German FiT could be as high as 17% and brought in as quickly as April. We have been inundated with messages either by sending us that story or asking for confirmation of its authenticity as well as simply asking for our thoughts. I thought it best to address everyone via this blog rather than get back to everyone individually.

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Guest blog: 2009 PV module market– Installations and shipments up, revenues down

14 January 2010

Ash Sharma, Renewable Energy Research DirectorIn a guest blog provided by Ash Sharma, renewable energy research director, and Sam Wilkinson, renewable energy research analyst at IMS Research, the authors say that contrary to many announcements by analysts so far, IMS Research estimates that in 2009, the PV market – in terms of both new installations and shipments of PV modules and inverters -- grew substantially.

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Environment Ministry meets in Berlin to discuss German FiT future

14 January 2010

Angela MerkelThe German government met at the Environment Ministry in Berlin on January 13 to discuss cuts to the state-mandated solar incentives, including the feed-in tariff rate. These cuts have been anticipated for this year due to a steeper overall slide in costs. The FiT has been falling by about 8% per year before dropping 10% in 2010.

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Australia shapes up FiT policies: national gross system on the horizon? (Updated)

16 December 2009

Premier Mike Rann

As we progress further into what will soon be 2010 - 'the year solar PV will take off', more changes are being made in the world of photovoltaics in Australia. This country has seen many changes to its renewable situation during 2009, with new feed-in tariffs announced, improved and tweaked as the continent moves towards its goal of a nationwide gross feed-in tariff scheme.

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Chip Shots

The Chip Shots blog channels the observations of Fabtech's and PV-Tech/Photovoltaic International's Senior Contributing Editor--USA, Tom Cheyney, a 20-year veteran of semiconductor, advanced micro/nanoelectronics, and solar manufacturing trade journalism. For 15 years, Tom was editor in chief of MICRO (the original home of Chip Shots) until it ceased publication in July 2006. Tom calls Los Angeles home.

Goooooooal! Yingli Green Energy scores FIFA World Cup 2010 official sponsorship

04 February 2010

world_cup_logoOne solar firm will soon have a shot at the kind of brand recognition that most photovoltaics players can only dream of. Yingli Green Energy will accompany the likes of Budweiser, McDonald’s, Castrol, and Satyam as one of the official sponsors of the upcoming FIFA World Cup 2010, the global championship of football (what we Yanks call “soccer”) starting June 11 in South Africa. As historic as it is, Yingli’s successful wooing of Sepp Blatter and his FIFA minions does not lack for irony.

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Intel outside: Chipmaker moves to install more PV power systems, equipped with First Solar modules

29 January 2010

intel_folsom_pvIntel likes to talk the green talk and walk it too with ever-smaller carbon footprints, buying copious amounts of renewable energy credits, investing millions of dollars in cleantech startups through its development fund, spinning off solar cell start-up Spectrawatt, and researching organic photovoltaics in its labs. The microprocessor mavens will soon increase their own direct use of solar energy, having recently announced plans for eight PV systems, collectively capable of generating about 2.5MW of electricity, to be built on several sites in the western United States. Some additional digging reveals a few new details about Intel’s latest PV projects, including the brand of modules to be deployed—First Solar.

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Solar short takes: Tennessee takes charge, GCL-Poly perks up, and Avancis advances CIS efficiency

26 January 2010

avancis_cisAfter a week away from the blog, I noticed a few items apart from the German feed-in tariff controversy that merited discussion. The first Solar Short Takes edition of the new year recognizes an emerging solar materials powerhouse region, ponders a Hong Kong company that seems to be in it for the long haul, and examines a recent CIS/CIGS conversion efficiency report.

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Tangled up in Bloo (Solar): Start-up believes 3-D PV has a commercial not-too-distant future

15 January 2010

bloo_solar1smallIn case you’ve been asleep and not checking on the progress made in the research community, here’s a news flash: nanotechnology will be one of the key enablers of the next (AKA third, fourth) generation(s) of photovoltaic cells and modules. Whether done in solution/print processing in atmospheric conditions, a more standard vacuum process, or some sort of sci-fi scenario to be deciphered later, the scaling down of materials could quite possibly lead to the scaling up of efficiencies, at costs competitive with or better than what the first- and second-gen PV crowd can muster.

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For the record: Manufacturing investment tax credit typo pushes REC Solar to the top of the list

13 January 2010

pv_warning_sign_smallWhose information should you trust more, an agency of the Federal government or a major solar company? In the case of the recently announced U.S. Advanced Energy Manufacturing Investment Tax Credits, the advantage goes to the private sector. Because of an error in the Department of Energy’s spreadsheet of credit recipients, a $153.3 million discrepancy has propelled REC Silicon from well down the list of tax credit recipients to the top of the charts.

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