In this week's Movers & Shakers, PV Tech centres in on employment news in the US, as we examine career shifts in storage, manufacturing, non-profit and integrated energy companies.
PV inverter manufacturer SMA Solar Technology said it would close production facilities in Denver, US, and Cape Town, South Africa on continued competition issues and consolidate global inverter production in Germany and China.
PV inverter firm SolarEdge Technologies reported fiscal fourth quarter revenue of US$124.8 million, which was at the low end of guidance, due to a slowdown in the US residential market, its biggest market for the company.
Tesla will make its own inverters for use with SolarCity PV installs and its own energy storage products, according to its chairman and CEO, Elon Musk.
Leading microinverter firm Enphase Energy reported second quarter 2016 shipments up 30% and revenue 24% higher than the prior quarter as its strategy to offer more competitive pricing enabled by progressive product cost reductions, regained lost customers and market share across multiple regions.
Recent first half 2016 downstream PV installation figures for China have led industry advisory firm AECEA to project full-year figures could be in the 25GW to 30GW range, significantly ahead of planned installs of around 18GW.
GoodWe has extended the three-phase inverter with dual MPP tracker ‘Smart DT’ series range to accommodate a wider number of residential and small-scale commercial applications with three additional models: 8kW, 9kW and 10kW versions to be added to the 4-6kW original range.
Delta Americas has unveiled its M80U PV inverter, said to be the first wall mount 80kW string inverter on the market and designed for commercial and utility-scale applications.
In this week's Movers & Shakers segment, PV Tech examines new US solar employment initiatives, new up-and-coming technology and industry policy debates as well as career moves by influential individuals.
