Markets & Finance

Developing shared solar programmes could boost the US rooftop market and represent as much as 49% of distributed PV sector in 2020, according to a new report by the US Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).

Semiconductor equipment makers Applied Materials and Tokyo Electron have agreed to terminate plans for a merger after the US Department of Justice (DoJ) warned about loss of competition from the procedure.

European PV trade association EPIA has said it would support free trade and the end of current trade barriers on imported Chinese solar modules, the first time the trade association has set a strategy position on the ongoing trade conflict that has impacted the PV industry.

PV equipment maker Singulus Technologies will undergo a financial restructuring as it looks to reduce it debt.

Based on a new report from consultancy IHS, the top 10 PV module suppliers slightly increased their market share from last year, jumping from 48% in 2013 to 49% in 2014.

Yingli has netted RMB588.2 million (US$94.9 million) from the sale of land earmarked for the expansion of its in-house polysilicon operations.

Germany has received more than 170 submissions for its first competitive large-scale solar PV tender, leaving the round significantly oversubscribed.

Ghana has put the brakes on its utility-scale solar market with the West African country establishing a temporary cap of 150MW.

Folsom Labs, the California-based developer of PV sales and design software HelioScope, has raised US$1 million in a round of funding from other major software players.

Surprised by the official figures for solar PV installations in China in the first quarter of 2015, Deutsche Bank analyst, Vishal Shah cited renewed momentum in the Chinese market that could result in the 17.8GW government target for the year being surpassed.