Following the news at the close of last week that Spain was edging ever-closer to the threat of feed-in tariff cuts, the country's industry ministry has now announced that it plans to cut the subsidized electricity prices paid to new photovoltaic solar power plants by up to 45%.
The planned 500MW thin-film plant, to be developed by Enel Green Power, Sharp and STMicroelectronics, has been given a boost with €49 million funding from the CIPE (the Italian Joint Ministerial Committee for Economic planning). The JV has also been given a name: 3Sun. Sharp and Enel have also established a separate company called ESSE which will develop solar farms using the output in the plants in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, with a particular focus on the Mediterranean area. The partners reiterated that 3Sun would have an initial capacity of 160MW per year, using Sharp’s triple-junction thin-film technology.
SolarMarkt, a wholesaler and project planner for photovoltaic systems, has been acquired by Würth Solar. Alongside the declaration of this acquisition, Würth also presented its extended company strategy at a press conference in the Schwäbisch Hall, Germany. The company said that it plans to anchor its dynamic growth on five pillars and is planning to increase its sales to over €500 million by 2014.
Despite module and inverter shortages and a lack of well-trained installers as well as significantly higher prices than seen in Germany, the UK solar market is claimed to be the fastest growing in the world right now. According to market research firm iSuppli, solar system installations will reach 96MW in 2010, up 1500% from barely a year ago and before the feed-in tariff (FiT) was introduced in April. In 2009, only 6MW had been installed.
The official letter of agreement was signed today between Trina Solar and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), which ties Trina Solar with the University’s Industrial Liaison Program (ILP). The ILP is a program that looks to encourage university-industry collaboration and technology transfer.
Having invested US$700 million in 2009 to build silicon wafer production facilities with a total nameplate capacity of 2GW, GCL-Poly Energy will invest a further US$300 million to boost wafer production capacity by a further 1GW. The company has production facilities in Wuxi, Xuzhou, Changzhou, and Suzhou, China. The company noted that wafer capacity has ramped up to 1.2GW as of June.
With its worldwide manufacturing plants said to be working under full load, SolarWorld has reported module shipments of 237MW in the second quarter, with revenue reaching €382.8 million. Shipments were up 90% compared to the same period a year ago and revenue by 68.6%, SolarWorld reported.
Thin-film module manufacturing costs took a significant fall in the second quarter as First Solar continued to lead the PV industry in the lowest cost-per-watt race.
SolarEdge has formed a partnership with Greek-based Enolia Solar Systems in a bid to expand its operations in the country. This follows the news in June that the Israel-based solar power harvesting solution provider will begin distributing in Australia, highlighting the company's increasing global network.
Updated: Sharp has revealed that it is set to increase annual production capacity at its UK-based manufacturing base (SUKM) in Wrexham, Wales, by 100%, doubling up from the current 250MW of crystalline solar cell modules per year to 500MW. The increase will begin in December 2010, with the aim of completion by February 2011. SUKM, which is Sharp's second international production base (the first located in the U.S.), began producing solar cell modules in the spring of 2004. The Japanese manufacturer must now expand its production capacity to meet the ever-growing global demand for solar cells.
