Markets & Finance

The Hungarian government has imposed an import tax on solar panels claiming the move is necessary on environmental grounds to cover disposal costs.

China-based monocrystalline wafer producer, Solargiga Energy has reported increased shipments and revenue in 2014.

Specialist PV equipment supplier RENA, which is in the middle of restructuring efforts, has said its new order intake in the fourth quarter of 2014 totalled €30 million.

Independent energy company Neoen and juwi AG have signed a deal that will see Neoen acquire 100% of juwi EnR — the French subsidiary of juwi AG.

The largest US-based PV installer, SolarCity has secured US$200 million in new financing from Credit Suisse to continue the rapid roll-out of the company’s ‘MyPower’ financing vehicle. This takes SolarCity’s financing in 2015 to around US$995 million.

Reports by Moody's and Navigant offer diverging views on the near-term prospects of solar plus storage systems.

Chinese government initiatives for distributed generation will have “a far greater impact on installations in China this year", according to the chairman and chief executive officer of Hanwha SolarOne.

US PV giant SunEdison has confirmed an agreement with the state government of Karnataka in India to build 5GW of subsidy-free wind and solar.

Japan is thought to have installed over 8GW of new photovoltaic (PV) generation capacity during 2014, according to analysis and research firm RTS PV.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has praised India’s push for solar energy calling it “an historic opportunity”.