Europe

A further dramatic drop in the costs of PV will make it competitive with wholesale power prices by 2030 in the EU, a study has claimed.

UK government proposals to cut its feed-in-tariff (FiT) rates for solar PV installations by as much as 87% have shocked the solar industry, which is already reeling from a recent wave of potentially damaging policy proposals, according the UK's Solar Trade Association (STA).

The UK Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) is proposing to cut the feed-in tariff (FiT) rates for solar PV installations by as much as 87%.

Germany-based PV developer IBC Solar is planning to complete 80MW of solar projects in its home country this year.

ZN Shine has been formally removed from the minimum import price (MIP) undertaking agreed between China and the EU.

Inverter manufacturer Ingeteam has been granted a €55 million (US$61 million) loan by the European Investment Bank (EIB) for its research and development of renewable energy.

The EU has increased anti-dumping duties on Chinese solar glass to a maximum of 75.4%. The highest original anti-dumping tariff was 36.1%.

Swiss energy infrastructure firm BKW has merged with solar monitoring company Solare Datensysteme.

MVV Energie has increased its stake in renewable energy developer juwi with a fresh €70 million (US$77.3 million) investment.

Major PV manufacturing equipment supplier Meyer Burger has secured a CHF29 million (US$29.5 million) order from Swiss/Hungarian silicon thin-film equipment and technology firm EcoSolifer for a 90-100MW heterojunction (HJ) solar cell line.