Citing changing market conditions and an extended period of consolidation within the solar sector, PV inverter market leader, SMA Solar Technology plans to reduce its headcount further by around 700 full-time positions in Germany by the end of 2014.
The split between the two bodies that had jointly been working to realise the ambitious Desertec renewable energy vision was the culmination of a long-running dispute over the project’s strategy and governance, it has emerged.
PV Crystalox Solar has sold its polysilicon production operations in Bitterfeld, Germany to the former management team, contributing €12.3 million to the renamed Silicon Products Research Engineering Production in the process.
The capacity of solar and wind energy storage systems (ESS) could reach 21.8GW by 2023 as increased renewable energy generation makes the grid increasingly unstable, according to a Navigant Research report.
US-based ultra-thin silicon wafer start-up Crystal Solar is planning to complete pilot production of its ‘Epi Thin-Silicon’ technology this year with volume production targeted sometime in 2014.
