Financial & Legal

Norway-headquartered integrated PV module manufacturer REC Group has made a significant shift in its regional sales strategy, which was previously dominated by shipments to the US.

Industrial gases firms Linde and Praxair have announced plans to merge that would create a US$29 billion global business dominating many regional industrial sectors around the world. The major merger is not expected to be completed in the second half of 2018, subject to anti-trust agencies in Germany and the US.

The vast number of announcements related to P-type mono PERC (Passivated Emitter Rear Cell) production in the last 18 months have primarily related to integrated cell and module producers shifting in-house production to the high-efficiency cells, as conventional multicrystalline Al-BSF (Aluminium-Back Surface Field) solar cells reach efficiency limitations.

The US-based solar module assembly operations of China-based Seraphim Solar is ramping capacity to meet demand. Seraphim Solar USA has also been approved by residential financing firms, including Sungage Financial and Sunnova as an approved vendor.

Leading PV manufacturing equipment supplier Meyer Burger said that it had received follow-on orders from two customers based in Asia for its PERC (Passivated Emitter Rear Cell) upgrade technology totalling around CHF 80 million (US$82.4 million).

PV and electronics equipment manufacturing and automation specialist Manz AG has received a further €64.3 million pre-payment on CIGS thin-film equipment from Chinese JV partners Shanghai Electric Group and Shenhua Group.

Solar modules in India will be taxed at a rate of 5% as opposed to the 18% that was announced two weeks ago under the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

On Wednesday, the Nevada Assembly passed a bill that ramps up the state’s renewable portfolio standard (RPS).

‘Silicon Module Super League’ (SMSL) member Hanwha Q CELLS said its key strategic focus was to diversify its regional and market segment sales in 2017, while reiterating full-year PV module shipment guidance to be in the range of 5.5GW to 5.7GW in 2017.

At least 13.7GW of planned coal-fired power plants have been cancelled in India this month, while solar prices have tumbled to new lows, showing that India’s energy transformation is in full swing, according to the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA).