Late last week, Vermont’s Governor Shumlin signed the 2012 Energy Bill into law, which among other benefits saw the state’s CLEAN Program expand from 50MW to 127.5MW. The bill outlines that the capacity of any distributed generation facility that provides “sufficient benefits to the operation and management of the electric grid” because of its location or other characteristics will not count towards the overall program cap of 127.5MW. Thus, this portion of the legislation mandates that no limit exists on the amount of clean local energy produced from facilities providing locational benefits.
First generation PV thin-film adopters are falling like flies as Berlin-based Inventux files for bankruptcy. Inventux was a customer of Oerlikon Solar and an early adopter of its micromorph silicon turnkey technology. A temporary insolvency administrator has been appointed by the local court in Berlin-Charlottenburg, which is understood to be looking for new investors and secure some of the 200 jobs at risk at the company.
While some analysts are calling for calm and urging cooperation, the US head of SolarWorld has voiced confidence in the US Department of Commerce’s announcement for anti-dumping duties on Chinese imports of solar material claiming it will restore competition within the industry.
Last week, the US Department of Commerce imposed tariffs of between 31 and 250% on solar imports from China. Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI) has issued a statement calling for all parties to work together on measures to eliminate trade and investment barriers to solar energy.
Despite full-capacity utilization and increased shipments of polysilicon and wafers, Daqo New Energy suffered falling revenue and continued losses in the first quarter of 2012. Based-on previously guided poly production cost reduction timelines and current spot market pricing - Daqo is fighting a loosing battle to sell polysilicon above cost levels through 2012 and 2013.
Earlier this month, Chinese vice premier Wang Qishan and state councillor Dai Bingguo met with US secretary of state Hillary Clinton and treasury secretary Timothy Geithner, in Beijing to discuss Sino-American strategic and economic relations. On May 17, the US Department of Commerce announced in a preliminary hearing that China had been exporting to the US at less than fair value.
Amid rumours that MEMC Electronic Materials’ chief executive officer, Ahmad Chatila, was to leave the company, MEMC has announced the appointment of Brian Wuebbels as its new CFO. He succeeds Mark Murphy, who resigned, effective May 16, 2012, in order to take up the role as president at Praxair Surface Technologies. Murphy will continue a temporary consulting role with MEMC to aid the transition process.
Former EDS chief global sales officer, Bobby Grisham, has been selected as the newest member of Premier Holding’s board of directors. He will be working, along with fellow members, executive management and subsidiary Wepower, to meet the company’s strategic global initiatives. Grisham also formerly served as the president of the EDS’ US southwest operations solutions, was president of the large financial institutions strategic business unit and managed all IT operations for six General Motors Electrical Component divisions.
Following Saudi Arabia’s revelation of a US$109 billion plan to create a solar industry in the country that will produce a third of its electricity within the next twenty years, Five Star Equities has released reports on the potential outlook for companies in the solar industry, including First Solar and SunPower.
A report published by Reuters has advised that the Constitutional Court has endorsed a Czech tax on solar power producers as part of the government’s push to cut budget deficits and subdue the solar boom in the country. The ruling means that solar plants which came online in 2009 and 2010 are affected.
