K. Subramanya has resigned as CEO of India’s third largest panel manufacturer, Tata BP Solar, effective May 1. No explanation was given for the resignation and Subramanya has stated he has no plans for the immediate future.
According to a report by Bloomberg, Angola has revealed its plans to invest in around 130 solar projects. The solar installations will help power schools and health centres as reported by Agencia Angola Press. Energy Minister Joao Baptista Borges noted that solar power equipment suppliers may benefit from tax incentives.
OPEL Technologies released its financial statements for both Q4 2011 and the full 2011 fiscal year. The company confirmed that its revenue for Q4 was US$1.05 million while its annual revenue amounted to US$5.9 million. Both its quarterly and yearly revenues surpassed the amounts posted the year before by US$4.2 million in annual revenue and US$678,806 in quarterly revenue.
SolarCity advised that it is planning to organise a registered initial public offering of its common stock. The company anticipates beginning the offering after the SEC completes the review process initiated by SolarCity’s confidential submission on April 26 of its draft registration statement.
Since 2010, Haiti has been struggling to recover from the devastating 7.0 magnitude earthquake that struck on January 12. A part of the country’s rehabilitation is the construction of the Mirebalais Hospital, a soon to be finished 320-bed hospital, which is stated to offer a new level of care not previously available at a public facility. The hospital’s roof is being outfitted with 1,800 solar panels.
NPD Solarbuzz has announced the promotion of Finlay Colville, Ph.D. to vice president and the appointment of Wolfgang Schlichting as research director, Downstream Markets.
Following reports on First Solar shutting down production in Germany, it has contracted German PV services provider Adler Solar to take over responsibility for European warranties.
Northland Power and the Aecon Group have announced a collaboration to construct PV plants generating 60MW of energy. Miwel Construction, a subsidiary of Aecon, is currently building the six PV plants across Ontario, Canada. The projects are located in Smith Falls, Belleville as well as Burke’s Falls and, once completed, each will generate 10MW of energy. The plants are each equipped with more than 40,000 PV modules, on sites of nearly 85 acres.
Delayed fourth quarter and full-year results at LDK Solar show the full extent of the challenges facing the integrated PV manufacturer. Having already revised downwards its fourth quarter figures, the company missed revenue guidance and guided first quarter revenue to levels not seen since the second quarter of 2009. Loss from operations for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2011 was US$531.4 million on the back of heavy write downs across the company, leading to a net loss of US$588.7 million. Revenue reached US$2.15 billion in 2011, compared to US$2.5 billion in 2010.
Meyer Burger Technology advised that it had raised US$121.3 (CHF110 million) in long-term capital through a Swiss Franc dominated straight bond issuance. The bond holds a coupon of 5% payable annually and maturity date of May 24, 2017. Zürcher Kantonalbank, Credit Suisse and UBS Investment Bank collectively offered the bond issue to institutional and private investors.
