The Wacker Group released its Q3 2012 financial results, which saw the company’s polysilicon business take another hit. Overall, Wacker saw the third quarter generate an EBITA of €204.3 million, 36% less than Q3 2011 and 15% less than Q2 2012. Its polysilicon division posted sales of €269.1 million, down 29% from the same period last year. Wacker notes that its sale and earnings for its polysilicon unit dropped because of continued pressure on prices and high inventory levels in the solar industry.
Norway-based Renewable Energy Corporation ASA (REC) has revealed that its revenues from continuing operations for the third quarter of 2012 fell by 24% to NOK1.51 billion compared with the corresponding period one year earlier.
The Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) has approved loan facilities worth R9,668.50 billion (US$980 million) earmarked for 13 solar projects in South Africa. Combined, the projects have a total capacity of 762.6MW.
The sale of Oerlikon Group’s loss-making Oerlikon Solar to Tokyo Electron (TEL) has received regulatory approval from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM).
DayStar Technologies and Ontario, Canada’s, Grasshopper Energy entered into an LOI agreement in which DayStar will buy Grasshopper Energy in, an expected, 30 days. The purchase will be a 100% equity transaction. Grasshopper Energy is known for its turnkey solutions and is said to have one of the largest presences in Ontario. The company has over 100 microFiT contracts awarded to date worth CAN$50 million and additional microFiT and FiT applications exceeding 3,500 projects, which make a potential pipeline worth over CAN$100 million.
SMA Solar Technology issues a rather dire outlook for 2013, noting that because of the large subsidy cuts for PV, and the expected European downturn because of the cuts, the company’s managing board anticipates sales to drop to somewhere between €0.9 billion and €1.3 billion in 2013.
SunPower has announced plans to restructure its Fab 2 cell manufacturing plant in the Philippines. The company’s Fab 1 facility was shuttered in April this year with some equipment transferred from there to Fab 2, to reduce manufacturing constraints during the second quarter.
Major PV equipment supplier, centrotherm photovoltaics has submitted its reorganization plans to the insolvency court in Ulm, Germany. Although the company did not provide details on what those plans would be, the company said in a statement that it had now entered a critical phase in its insolvency proceedings that also need creditor approval. Both its subsidiaries, centrotherm thermal solutions and centrotherm SiTec have also filed plans with the court separately.
