The cost of solar in Japan declined as much as 15% in one year, but a lack of clear policy direction from the government has left a number of businesses with a “pessimistic” outlook of the industry’s future, according to a survey by the Japan Renewable Energy Foundation (JREF).
PV wet chemical equipment and materials supplier, RENA GmbH has changed its name to RENA technologies GmbH and appointed a new CEO as the company prepares to exit insolvency proceedings that will result in Jürgen Gutekunst, founder and former CEO of RENA GmbH leaving the company.
Sweden-based nano-material development firm, Sol Voltaics has claimed a 1-sun record conversion efficiency of 15.3% for a solar cell coated with its gallium-arsenide (GaAs) nanowire array (NWA).
SolarWorld is planning to add a total of 500MW of monocrystalline ingot production at the former Bosch solar manufacturing facilities in Arnstadt, Germany, and upgrade all 700MW of solar cell production at the site to next-generation PERC (passivated emitter rear cell) technology.
UK-based thin-film start-up, Oxford Photovoltaics, has secured at least a further £8 million (US$12.1 million) in venture capital funding to further plans to commercialise its blend of perovskite materials under a licensing model.
PV mounting systems provider GameChange Racking has announced that it has contracted 10.9 million kgs (24 million pounds) of steel in order to reach the first half of 2015’s 500MW of consumer demand for GameChange’s ground and rooftop PV racking systems.
US-based polysilicon producer REC Silicon is planning to attempt to shift its current FBR-based (fluidised bed reactor) polysilicon production sales away from China over tariff duty uncertainties and the eventual ramp of its JV FBR-base plant in China in 2017.
