Trina Solar has posted results of its second-quarter performance, showing a healthy increase in both module shipments and year-on-year net revenue. Logging a gross profit of US$98.3 million for the quarter, which represents a decrease of 35.0% sequentially and 17.3% for the same period last year, the company cited policy changes in Italy and resulting high industry inventory as having had an effect on the company’s sales.
Nexamp and Cathartes Private Investments are joining forces to build the largest privately-owned solar project in Massachusetts. The 4.5MW system will be comprised of 14,000 panels and span 22 acres of industrial land bordering Route 3 near Westford. Construction is scheduled to begin this autumn.
Sunvalley Solar won a US$2 million contract for the deployment of a 405kW commercial solar project with All Fortune Group in Long Beach, California. The solar project will use solar panels supplied by Tianwei New Energy and solar inverters from PV Powered.
Bolton Wanderers have become the latest European football club to join the solar revolution by signing a one-year partnership with Hanwha Group. The agreement will grant Hanwha billboard and video advertising space during home games at Bolton’s Reebok Stadium.
Moving in the opposite direction to many of its competitors, Yingli Green Energy reported record revenue and shipments in the second quarter of 2011. Yingli posted record revenue of US$680.6 million, up 27.4% compared to the prior quarter. PV module shipment increased by 36.6% from the first quarter, reaching an historical high of approximately 410MW, helped by increased demand in the US and China and gaining 46 new customers, who contributed approximately 90MW of PV module shipments in the quarter.
In a single stroke, LDK Solar has wiped US$1 billion in expected revenue from its 2011 guidance on the back of significant price declines for bare wafers and solar modules. In the second quarter, LDK is planning US$55 to US$60 million of inventory write-downs, the largest so far of any PV manufacturer. Instead of expected 2011 revenue in the range of US$3.5-US$3.7 billion, the company expects full-year revenue to reach US$2.5-US$2.7 billion.
STR Holdings publicized the definitive purchase agreement it had signed with Underwriters Laboratories (UL), where UL will buy STR’s quality assurance (QA) business for US$275 million in cash, plus cash assumed. The acquisition is expected to be finalized no later than September 30 once all traditional closing conditions have been met.
The Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems, along with Bureau Veritas, have evaluated and certified that Sputnik Engineering’s SolarMax 330TS-SV solar inverter has met the requirements for a compliance certificate from the German Association of Energy and Water Industries (BDEW). The certificate requires that all newly commissioned grid-coupled inverters with a direct medium-voltage connection in Germany adhere to the “Generator plants on the medium-voltage network” directive by BDEW.
