Europe

New PV installations were down 36% in 2014, the 10th annual Market Workshop of the European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA) heard Thursday.

Beleaguered German inverter manufacturer, SMA Solar, has ended the fiscal year with sales slightly higher than expected but still down 13.6% on 2013 and with an operating loss almost twice as large as last year’s.

Polysilicon producer, Silicor Materials, has signed German conglomerate, SMS Siemag, to equip and fit out a planned new low-cost plant in Iceland.

Primrose Solar and EDF Energy have entered into a 15-year power purchase agreement (PPA) for their solar farms, which total 104MWp of capacity.

Solarwatt, a German-based module manufacturer, has officially acquired the French subsidiary of German Centrosolar.

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).

Developer Wirsol Energy has connected a 29MW solar farm in the UK.

PV manufacturing equipment specialist Smit Ovens has filed for bankruptcy in the Netherlands to restructure its operations.

Kyocera is targeting the German market for self-consumed solar electricity, with the Japanese company preparing to launch a home energy storage system in May.