As a consequence of Evergreen Solar’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, Nasdaq has notified the company that it will be suspended at the opening of business on August 24. Based on Nasdaq rules, Evergreen Solar’s common stock will be delisted but the company may trade on the OTC Bulletin Board or the Pink OTC Markets. However, this will require at least one market maker to quote Evergreen Solar’s common stock, though this is not given, it normally happens.
Sungevity and Citigroup have created a renewable energy tax equity fund that will support over $50 million of new residential solar lease projects. The installer/integrator company said it has raised funds to support over $120 million in residential solar projects in the US since 2010.
Only hours after PV-Tech reported that Evergreen Solar had said it was in detailed and time-consuming negotiations with holders of its convertible senior secured notes, which had caused the company to delay quarterly SEC filings, the company said it has filed for voluntarily bankruptcy under US Chapter 11. At the same time, Evergreen stated that it has made agreements with certain noteholders with more than 70% the outstanding debt to sell its ‘String Ribbon’ wafer technology business assets. A ‘stalking-horse’ bidding process has been agreed.
The long and winding road for polysilicon start-up, Hoku Materials looks to straightening after the company said it expected to start operations at its poly plant in Pocatello, Idaho. Hoku said it had received continued financial support from Tianwei New Energy Holdings, to complete construction of its first phase (2,500MT) plant and begin production.
Having previously revised downwards its 2011 revenue guidance, Centrosolar remains positive that it will achieve full-year revenue target of €330 to €380 million with a positive operating result. As international sales as a percentage of sales increased from 49% to 63% in the first-half of the year, the company noted a pick-up in demand for rooftop installations in Italy, UK, Belgium and the USA.
Payom Solar has taken over the remaining 47.4% of US project developer Amsolar Holdings. The German company acquired a majority share of the San Diego-based company in March.
Saint-Gobain disclosed its plans to acquire the Solar Gard Specialty Films unit from Bekaert, which will be housed under Saint-Gobain’s Performance Plastics division. The agreement, which did not expose the price of the purchase, includes production facilities in San Diego, California, Zulte, Belgium and Suzhou, China, as well as operations under development in China and all global sales and service centers.
GE Energy is to consolidate its business partnership with eSolar by investing US$40 million in the concentrated solar thermal power technology developer. As part of the agreement, Paul Browning, GE Energy’s president and CEO of Thermal Products, will join eSolar’s board of directors.
The US Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is putting out a call to all energy developers and financiers to submit their input on renewable financing terms, which will help the NREL in its effort to collect and share quantitative data in order to evaluate obstacles in the development of renewable energy projects.
Company name changes can often be as part of a rebranding exercise, sometimes due to poor performance or turmoil. This is certainly not the case with GT Solar, which is outperforming much of its competitor base in the PV equipment market sector. Having secured approximately US$1 billion in order backlog for its new foray into the LED sapphire wafer manufacturing market and hints by executives of further acquisitions, a new name, GT Advanced Technologies was seen as better reflection of what the company is now doing and where it intends to play in the future.
