This blog contains the concluding part of my Tales from Taiwan feature, with the first blog - Tales from Taiwan Part 1: more capacity comes online, but not in Taiwan - appearing on PV-Tech earlier this week.
On the day I left Taiwan after a busy week meeting with PV suppliers up and down the supply chain in May, 2016 that was organised by the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) the country elected its first female president, Tsai Ing-wen.
The entire solar PV upstream value-chain, including equipment and materials suppliers, is set for drastic changes during 2017, ushered in by a perfect storm of events that has impacted on the industry within a space of 2-3 months, according to the latest release of the PV Manufacturing & Technology Quarterly report from the research team of PV-Tech’s parent owner Solar Media, Ltd.
Anti-minimum import price sentiment has continued to swell this week as more than 400 companies called on the European Commission to put an end to trade duties on solar modules and cells.
Global clean energy communications and consulting firm Mercom Capital Group released its report on funding and merger and acquisition (M&A) moves for the PV market in the third quarter of 2016.
PV and polysilicon manufacturing equipment specialist centrotherm photovoltaics has withdrawn its earnings forecast for fiscal year 2016, due to PV manufacturers postponing capital expenditure (capex) plans on overcapacity and rapid price declines.
PV Tech’s preliminary analysis of global PV manufacturing capacity expansion plans in the third quarter of 2016, highlight an absence of China based solar cell and module manufacturers making new announcements for either domestic or overseas production.
Integrated PV module manufacturer REC Group has said it has trimmed its global workforce by 3%, or around 65 jobs out of approximately 2,200 employees.
The US Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has highlighted continued PV system cost reductions in its latest quarterly report, ‘US Solar Photovoltaic System Cost Benchmark Q1 2016’.
Fully digitized solar power plants will be the next focus for improving efficiencies in the solar PV industry according, to Guoguang Chen, general manager of inverter manufacturer Huawei’s Smart PV Europe Business.
