Asia & Oceania

India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has invited proposals for the implementation of its Solar Cities programme, involving turning 100 small townships, industrial towns and institutions into ‘green campuses’ involving renewable energy generation.

‘Silicon Module Super League’ (SMSL) member Canadian Solar has revised upwards shipments and revenue guidance for the full-year 2015.

‘Silicon Module Super League’ (SMSL) member JA Solar has placed an order with module assembly equipment specialist Suzhou Horad New Energy Equipment Co for a 300MW turnkey module assembly line destined for an as-yet unannounced facility in Brazil.

Indebted PV module manufacturer Yingli Green Energy has been rumoured to be securing over US$500 million in new debt financing from a Chinese state bank and a provincial government where it operates manufacturing facilities.

The willingness of politicians to support solar looks set to become a key issue in the forthcoming federal elections in Australia, a poll suggests.

Solar projects commissioned under government of India and state policies are likely to reach 3,790MW within the year 2015/16, according to the latest figures from the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE).

European solar manufacturers have joined a protest in Brussels calling for the European Union not to grant market economy status (MES) to China.

India’s ambitious solar energy target could spark the creation of one million jobs, but producing a skilled workforce may be challenging, according to new report.

Leading CIS (copper, indium, selenium) thin-film producer Solar Frontier reported that its main manufacturing plant ran at almost full capacity in 2015.

Energy storage is to be included in India’s state-run solar energy tenders for the first time under plans to help smoother integration of renewables into the grid.