The Renewable Energy Corporation has terminated a long-term wafer sales contract with an unnamed customer. The Norweigan PV giant will receive USD$40 million in compensation, which will be paid out in Q3.
Several days of angry demonstrations by local residents after a fluoride leak from a JinkoSolar-owned cell manufacturing plant have led to the plant closing. According to reports, the plant had been warned of environmental noncompliance earlier this year, but after residents broke through gates, overturning cars and ransacking offices, local government officials have ordered the closure of the plant in Hongxiao, China.
Berlin-based White Owl Capital had acquired 5 PV power plants built by Gehrlicher Solar Italia, a subsidiary of Gehrlicher Solar for an undisclosed sum. Using First Solar CdTe thin film modules and SMA inverters, all the plants were grid connected before feed-in tariffs were reduced at the end of August, 2011. The projects, with a total power of 10.4MWp, are situated in the regions of Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna in northern Italy.
The first to tout new order bookings directly from the EU PVSEC event, held last week in Hamburg, Germany goes to Singulus Technologies. The company noted that it received an unspecified number of orders for its ‘VITRUM’ wet-chemical processing system for thin film solar modules.
First Solar has completed two PV power plants in Ontario, Canada for Enbridge. The smaller, 5MW Tilbury Solar Project uses 82,500 CdTe modules, while the Amherstburg II Project, split over two sites of 10MW and 5MW, employs 244,000 of the same First Solar modules. Combined costs of the projects were said to been approximately CAD$90 million.
California-based EPC and project developer, Premier Power expects 2011 revenue of between US$100.0 million and US$120.0 million, up from US$87 million in 2010. Growth was attributed to growth in the EU and US. Premier Power noted that it had a project pipeline of over 100MWp in Bulgaria and a deal with Teichert to build large scale utility solar power plants in the US put at 300MW.
Solar financier Main Street Power revealed that it had selected AlsoEnergy’s software platform for a nearly 3MW distributed generation solar project in California. AlsoEnergy’s technology will support the energy monitoring and user interface requirements for the multi-site project.
Manz has terminated the contract of its chief operating officer Volker Renz by mutual agreement. The decision stems from a difference of opinion between Renz and the management board over the future direction of the company and is effective from September 30.
Solar module encapsulant materials specialist, Solutia has guided lower revenue for the third quarter on the back of weaker than expected demand across its served markets including PV module manufacturing. Despite fallen module prices, PV installations have not rebounded to the degree envisioned and overcapacity remains an issue, reducing material demand.
Canadian Solar has furthered its foothold in the US market with the opening of its second warehouse facility located in Port Elizabeth, New Jersey. The facility adds PV module storage capacity for the company for the support of its growing customer demands and uses solar energy from its own PV rooftop system. Located within two miles from the port, the facilities location is expected to diminish drayage costs from port to warehouse. The first shipment of modules is anticipated to arrive mid-month.
