Continuing to restructure the company in hope of surviving the solar shakeout, major PV equipment specialist centrotherm photovoltaics has made sweeping changes to its senior management with the notable fall of its enigmatic CTO, Dr. Peter Fath. Current CEO, Robert M. Hartung will also step down from his position, while Peter Augustin will become responsible for core solar cell and module business, amongst other management changes.
Weaker than expected demand in key markets of Germany, Italy and UK in the third quarter have led to aleo solar further lowering its revenue expectations for 2012. The module manufacturer had said at the beginning of August that it expected a "surge in sales" especially from the German market in the second-half of the year with stability restored after the feed-in tariff changes.
Overcapacity in the c-Si ingot/wafer supply chain has forced materials specialist, Cookson to close one of its two ingot crucible production plants in China, with immediate effect. The company had closed a similar plant in the Czech Republic in July 2012, which has supplied crucibles, primarily to the European market. Major European-based ingot/wafer producers such as PV Crystalox are down below 30% capacity utilization on the back of weak demand.
Australian renewable energy firm Epuron has acquired the 1MW Uterne PV plant — which is said to be Australia’s largest tracking solar power plant — from US PV manufacturer SunPower Corporation. The acquisition was financed by Australian financial services company Commonwealth Bank, making it the country’s first major bank to support a solar project of this size.
Technology company active in the production of enclosures and industrial components, Phoenix Mecano, has announced an impairment of tangible and intangible assets in its ELCOM/EMS division effective December 2012. With the cancellation of a long-term framework supply contract for PV components with a major customer, Phoenix Mecano anticipates an impairment loss of approximately €6-8 million.
3M and Ceradyne revealed that they have entered a definitive agreement, which will see 3M buy Ceradyne for US$35 per share. The transaction holds an aggregate value of nearly US$860 million, or US$670 million net of cash, cash equivalents, short-term investments and debt acquired. Ceradyne, a major producer of crucibles used in the production of polysilicon chunks for multicrystalline ingots and then wafers, will join the 3M Energy Advanced Materials Division.
The Export-Import Bank of the US has agreed to provide a 10-year guarantee for a PNC Bank loan worth US$6.4 million. The loan will be used to finance the export of PV modules from SolarWorld Americas, based on the west coast if the US, to Barbados-based Williams Industries-Williams evergreen Ltd.
The US Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration has released a report on annual PV module shipments in the US. Solar Photovoltaic Cell/Module Shipments Report 2011, states that US shipments reached a record high of 3.77GW, an increase of 43% since 2010. The report lists declining PV cell and module prices, along with an installation rush at the end of the year due to the conclusion of grant programmes amongst its reasons for the increase.
Financially constrained PV manufacturers are advised to look at alternative ways other than relinquishing hard-to-find cash to end wafer supply deals with suppliers after a long-standing dispute between Conergy and MEMC was partially resolved via old-fashioned bartering.
United Insurance Brokers (UIB), an international insurance and reinsurance broker with headquarters in London, UK, has announced that it has won a contract to provide reinsurance for a 100MW power plant in southern Ukraine.
