PV module prices had enjoyed a short period of stability in June due to high demand in Germany and Italy, but begun to decline again in July. Over June, average prices fell by more than 2% and 44% down annually, according to the latest monthly module price report from IMS Research.
MPrime, a subsidiary of Martifer Solar, has announced its investment in an innovation programme for its photovoltaic module production line at the company’s factory in Oliveira de Frades, Portugal. The factory, which had already received ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and OSHAS 18001 quality certification, now has an EL Tester to ensure greater quality control of the final product.
Management at Applied Materials spent little time discussing the performance of its Energy and Environmental Solutions (EES) division results, which houses the majority of its solar sector equipment and services to the PV industry. The company reported EES sales in its financial third quarter that were almost flat with the previous quarter at US$77 million. However, new orders decreased significantly to only US$35 million, compared to US$62 million in the prior quarter.
Independent, bank-approved engineering firm BEW recently gave Tigo Energy a positive bankability report, which casts Tigo Energy’s PV optimizer as suitable for deployment in commercial and utility-scale bank-owned solar systems.
A report by Bloomberg has brought Solyndra back into the spotlight. The now defunct company reached a US$3.5 million settlement with former workers who filed suit against Solyndra, alleging that they had not received adequate layoff notices. The settlement resolves the issue that the company did not give employees 60 days’ notice under the Workers Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act when it fired most of its workforce on August 31, 2011.
JinkoSolar Holding’s will debut its new JinkoSolar Priority Solar Club, for which qualified partners can register for here, free of charge, sometime this month. The Solar Club plans to be an exclusive partner program for its strategic customers and offer various benefits to its members.
AU Optronics advised that it has officially launched its EU project, which aims to be the first “made-in Europe” solar integrated service alliance in the PV industry. The company’s Czech Republic solar module factory will act as its manufacturing centre and allow it to provide made-in-Europe solar modules. AUO noted that it is in talks with strategic partners and expects to start the project by the end of this year.
Aviva Investors recently completed its acquisition of nearly 7,000 solar PV systems from London-based free solar supplier HomeSun. The deal totals around 23MW and, according to the Financial Times, is said to be worth nearly £100 million.
EDA, the utility responsible for the production, distribution and commercialization of electricity in the nine Azorean islands, and Younicos have teamed up to develop what has been labelled as the world’s first MW-scale renewable energy system based on up to 100% solar and wind power. The system will be installed on Graciosa, an Azorean island.
Singulus Technologies reported sales of €43.6 million for the first six months of the year, down from €64.6 million in the same period of 2011. Solar segment equipment sales were 27.5% of revenue in the first half of 2012, or approximately €12 million, down from 33.1% of sales in the prior-year period.
