Dealing with the acute lack of capital spending across the PV supply chain, major equipment supplier Meyer Burger is consolidating its production and technology operations after several years of leading an acquisition trail. The company said it would focus operations at four main production locations and two solar technology centres worldwide.
E.ON Climate & Renewables is heading to bigger pastures. The company advised that it is expanding its US solar operations and moving its global solar headquarters to San Francisco, California’s Financial District. EC&R expects for its relocation to be completed in October.
Boosting its presence in the South Korean markets for RF generation and monitoring systems for the solar photovoltaic, semiconductor, flat panel display and AMOLED industry sectors, MKS Instruments has acquired Plasmart, Inc, based in Daejeon, South Korea, in a cash transaction that wasn’t disclosed.
After several years of rapid price declines for conventional crystalline silicon solar modules, CIGS (copper indium gallium selenium) thin-film technology hasn’t been immune from the ‘solar shakout,’ despite its inherent capabilities to provide high conversion efficiency and low-cost production. Solyndra, Odersun, Soltecture, Global Solar Energy, Solibro and MiaSolé are companies that pioneered CIGS adoption but have either failed or now seek new partners to continue operations.
With the 27th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition (27th EU PVSEC) just around the corner on September 24-28, the European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA) has announced a string of high level speakers for its events at this year’s conference.
Updated: After much media speculation that South Korean conglomerate Hanwha Group had been in negotiations to acquire PV manufacturer Q-Cells, a deal has been struck according to a brief statement issued late Sunday evening. However, the deal still requires the approval of creditors, which the insolvency administrator Henning Schorisch said would be sought at a meeting on August 29.
On August 23, workers from Siliken’s centre in Rafelbunyol, Valencia, Spain, are today protesting after the solar company presented an ERE (Expediente de Regulación de Empleo) — a Spanish administrative redundancy procedure which employers must comply with — to 100 employees, the CCOO Industry Federation has revealed.
With a debt of ¥1.25 trillion (US$16 billion), Japanese electronics manufacturer Sharp Corporation has been feeling the weight on its shoulders and will submit an asset report to its banks next month in order to identify any flagging businesses it could sell to raise some finance, Reuters revealed.
Cambridge University spin-off Eight19 has revealed the launch of Azuri Technologies Limited, which will be used to develop the company’s Indigo ‘pay-as-you-go’ solar technology for off-grid markets.
Non-governmental organization (NGO), the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), is accusing US thin-film manufacturers of using a loop hole in the Indian government’s renewable energy scheme to “ruin the Indian domestic PV industry”. Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) initiative mandates a domestic content requirement, however, only for crystalline PV and not for thin-film.
