Power Plants

New PV installations were down 36% in 2014, the 10th annual Market Workshop of the European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA) heard Thursday.

Off-grid renewables specialist Sunlabob Renewable Energy has secured a US$2.1 million investment from UK-based Truestone Global Impact Fund to fund its international expansion.

PV and polysilicon equipment specialist centrotherm Group reported a return to profitability in 2014 on the back of recovering sales of €189.2 million, driven by an upturn in revenue from PV equipment sales and progress on building a polysilicon plant in Qatar.

US residential PV installer and leasing company Sunrun has formed a nationwide partnership to market its solar services to the clients of Associa, a company which provides property services to communities.

Beleaguered German inverter manufacturer, SMA Solar, has ended the fiscal year with sales slightly higher than expected but still down 13.6% on 2013 and with an operating loss almost twice as large as last year’s.

SunPower has made a deal to allow its commercial and industrial users the benefit of access to energy intelligence software made by EnerNOC, a US developer of cloud-based energy management and demand reduction solutions.

In 2015, PV demand in China could top 18GW, according to an updated forecast from Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF).

Polysilicon producer, Silicor Materials, has signed German conglomerate, SMS Siemag, to equip and fit out a planned new low-cost plant in Iceland.

Australia’s anti-dumping commission is nearing its decision on whether or not to impose punitive tariffs on Chinese solar panels.

Major tier-one PV module manufacturer Yingli Green Energy reported relatively flat shipments and revenue for 2014 on losses of US$209.5 million.