A 2006 long-term wafer supply deal between Suntech and MEMC has been ‘mutually terminated' at a cost to Suntech of approximately US$212 million. Suntech said that the decision to cancel the wafer supply deal was due to ‘rapid changes in the market for silicon wafers.’ Suntech also announced that it was stopping investment in CSG Solar's research and development operations, which focused on crystalline silicon thin-film technology. MEMC remains a wafer supplier to Suntech under other supply agreements.
Australia’s Sunshine Coast Regional Council has granted planning permission to Energy Parks Australia (EPA) for its new solar plant in Valdora, Queensland. With a capacity of 10MW, the development dwarfs Australia’s current largest system – Liddell’s 3MW concentrating solar power (CSP) facility – and will cost AU$40 million (US$43 million) to build.
Just one small euro million below the half-billion euro mark was reported by Fronius for revenue in 2010. The Austrian inverter manufacturer grew sales by 52%, compared with the previous year. Although sales in the PV inverter segment were not given separately, 2010 was characterised as a record year for inverter sales by market research firms.
Building upon its success with its 20MW Starwood SSM1, completed in October 2010, and the 30MW Starwood SSM2, expected to be completed during 2011’s third quarter, Starwood Energy Group Global has finalized the financing for the final 10MW of its Starwood SSM3 solar project. The combined 60MW project in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario is contracted under the Renewable Energy Standard Offer Program with its development overseen by the Ontario Power Authority. The project will be connected to the local PUC Distribution grid and is said to be the second largest solar project in North America.
The Avignonet-Lauragais solar park in the Midi-Pyrenees region of France was officially commissioned by Boralex with town and company officials on hand to celebrate. The 4.5MW solar park is the first solar farm that Boralex has completed and sits beside a 12.5MW wind farm making the Avignonet-Lauragais site one of the first mixed renewable energy spots in France.
A new research report by GTM Research, Solar PV Balance of System (BOS): Technologies and Markets, is reporting that in 2012 balance of system costs will surpass PV module costs on a cost per watt scale. The report, written by Manhal Aboudi, identified BOS costs in 2010 at US$1.43 per watt, or 44.8% of a standard, utility-scale crystalline silicon (cSi) solar project. As solar PV module prices continue to drop, GTM suspects that in 2012 the BOS cost for the same project will increase to 50.6%.
Semprius has secured US$20 million in its first tranche of Series C venture fundraising for a pilot high-concentration photovoltaic (HCPV) module production plant. Siemens Venture Capital led the investment round and was joined by Arch Venture Partners, Applied Ventures, Illinois Ventures, Intersouth Partners, In-Q-Tel and GVC Investment.
Spanish regulators have suspended subsidies for 360 solar plants after they failed to prove their eligibility for the feed-in tariff. The sanctioning brings the number of projects punished by the regulators to 1,919 and concludes the investigation into fraudulent subsidy claims within the country’s solar industry.
Serbia will soon become the latest member of Europe’s burgeoning PV industry after state utility EPS began construction of the country’s first solar power plant. The 5MW system, located in the western Zlatibor region, is the first of 50 renewable ventures planned by EPS as it attempts to revamp the Balkan country’s energy network.
A change of image and specialty has led Manz Automation AG to drop its ‘middle name’ to become simply Manz AG. The company’s focus has been across a wider range of products and services than automation alone for most of its near 25-year operation period, and this name change aims to reflect that. Manz is now a supplier of integrated production systems and processing equipment for the PV industry.
