LDK Solar has signed a module supply agreement with a leading Italian system integrator. Under the terms of the contract, LDK will provide 45MW of modules to the unnamed client, with monthly shipping likely to begin in June.
Lanco Infratech and juwi Holding have won a contract to build India’s largest solar system in the city of Dhule. The 75MW solar plant will cost INR8.84 billion (US$195 million) and be completed by February 2012. Equipment suppliers for the record-breaking project are still to be confirmed.
M+W Group has taken its PV portfolio past the 10GW mark by signing a contract to build a new 1GW solar cell plant in Asia. By reaching this milestone, M+W is further consolidating its position as a market leading provider of engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services for silicon and thin-film cell and module production facilities.
The Japanese Government is contemplating making it compulsory for all new buildings to be fitted with solar panels by 2030, according to financial newspaper Nikkei. The proposed legislation illustrates Japan’s desire to promote the use of renewable energy and is expected to be unveiled at the upcoming G8 summit in Deauville, France.
Bulgaria’s solar industry is facing the threat of stagnation, after the Government unveiled a new renewable energy bill that could cut industry subsidies by as much as 30%. The feed-in tariff (FiT) reductions were part of a wider set of cuts to the renewable sector, which have been introduced to help the country meet its EU 2020 targets.
The world’s largest producer of solar panels, Suntech Power, has increased the annual capacity of its new manufacturing facility in Goodyear, Arizona to 50MW. This is the second expansion of the site since it was opened in October 2010 and its new 24/7 operating hours will help raise monthly output to 15,000 panels.
SolarWorld has posted impressive Q1 financial figures, with shipments, revenue and earnings before interest all rising. These numbers are in stark contrast to those of many of SolarWorld’s peers and have been attributed to its strong performance in North America.
eIQ Energy’s has agreed to supply its Parallel Solar technology for a new 1.2MW solar installation at Granite Construction’s aggregate and hot mix facility in Coalinga, California. Building work on the project began earlier this month and grid connection is expected to be achieved later on this summer.
Constellation Energy will build, own and maintain a 5.38MW rooftop solar installation at Toys R Us’s distribution centre in Flanders, New Jersey. The system, said to be the largest of its kind in the US, will be connected to the grid this summer and all the electricity generated will be purchased by the toy store under a 20-year power purchase agreement.
Trina Solar has revised its Q1 guidance figure ahead of the release of its Q1 financial results. The most significant of the changes was a downward adjustment in module shipments from around 351MW to between 320 and 322MW, which came in response to the fall in module demand caused by the uncertainty surrounding Italy’s feed-in tariff.
