Europe

Leading thin-film specialist First Solar will transfer its existing business development resources in Turkey to Turkish industrial conglomerate Zorlu Solar and will close its Istanbul office.

China-headquartered solar cell and module manufacturer China Sunergy (CSUN) said in a joint statement with the California Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) that it was establishing a solar module assembly facility at the McClellan Business Park near Sacramento, California.

The European Commission has approved French plans to develop 2.6GW of small and large-scale solar and 60MW of hydropower.

Specialist PV manufacturing equipment supplier Amtech Systems highlighted the confidence it had in a series of major new orders for high-efficiency n-type PERC and n-type bi-facial cell equipment including the first of a multi-phase 1GW turnkey project order during the reporting of its first 2017 fiscal quarter.

Integrated PV manufacturer SolarWorld is to shift its production focus to monocrystalline PERC (Passivated Emitter Rear Contact) cells and modules and away from multicrystalline to build economies of scale with high-efficiency only products. With the realignment of production to mono PERC products, including bifacial modules, around 400 jobs would be lost by the end of 2019.

This week's Movers & Shakers segment features a company rebrand, a global expansion for India's Adani and good news for US solar, which has experienced 25% jobs growth year-on-year.

The Minimum Import Price (MIP) agreement between the EU and Chinese solar manufacturers requires urgent reform as the 3 March extension deadline draws near.

The government of Argentina’s Jujuy Province announced Monday that it is planning to carry out a new 100MW phase of the Cauchari solar project.

PV manufacturing equipment specialist M10 Industries said its new ‘Kubus MTS 5000’ stringer tool has been installed and commissioned at Emmvee's Bangalore module assembly plant, providing a 340MW increase in capacity at its existing facility.

According to polysilicon market specialist, Bernreuter Research recent polysilicon import levels into China surged between October and November 2016, while ASP’s also recovered, a trend seen the year before and ahead of China installing a record 22GW of solar in the first half of 2016.