Search sponsor
Search sponsor
An undisclosed Chinese investment company that is said to own a portfolio of PV power plants in Italy is planning to recoup the investment in a frame agreement signed with 3Power Energy Group.
UK-based semiconductor wafer supplier IQE has raised £10.5 million through issuing nearly 44 million new shares at 24p each. IQE will use this to invest in solar cell manufacturer, Solar Junction.
The Italian subsidiary of Solon, SpA, has announced it has suspended module production at its plant in Carmignano del Brenta, in the northern Italian region of Veneto.
Private equity firm Element Partners has announced that it is to acquire both Bekaert Advanced Coatings (BAC) and Soleras Ltd, with the two companies merging to form Soleras Advanced Coatings.
SunPower has become entangled in a lawsuit directed at the US Departments of the Interior, Treasury and Navy. Judicial Watch, an organization that investigates government corruption and Human Events, a weekly American conservative magazine, filed a Freedom of Information (FOIA) act to sue the Obama administration on February 1, 2012.
Struggling to complete and start polysilicon production at its first facility in Pocatello, Idaho, Hoku has received another financial life-line with major investor, Tianwei New Energy agreeing to extend loan payment terms of US$50 million to potentially to the first quarter of 2014. Two loans, totalling US$50 million were due to be repaid to Tianwei this quarter as polysilicon production would have already been started but delays, often financial-based have dogged the project from the start.
Major PV equipment supplier, Meyer Burger posted preliminary results inline with guidance. The company posted revenue of CHF 1.3 billion, up approximately 45% for the prior year. Though the consolidation of Roth & Rau had only a small impact at the EBITDA level the losses at Roth & Rau in 2011 could negatively impact at the EBIT level, by as much as 10%.
Europe’s second-largest oil company, British Petroleum (BP), has failed to meet a financing deadline despite today’s announcement that the company has raised dividends to shareholders by 14%. The Australian government has reopened a solar funding competition to AGL Energy, TRUenergy and Suntech Power, to construct the Moree solar farm in New South Wales.
PV module encapsulant material supplier, STR Holdings warned late last week that sales would not meet previously guided levels. The company had previously guided sales to be in the range of US$44-US$48 million. However STR has revised guidance to approximately US$36.5 million, well below that level.
A significant decline in sales and new orders, coupled to higher annual losses in 2011, compared to 2010 have forced Roth & Rau to implement further company-wide restructuring and reduce its global headcount. Preliminary sales for 2011 reached €208 million, down from €285 million in 2010.
