Europe

Payom Solar has formed a new subsidiary in Turbigo, Milan to help manage the company’s rapidly-expanding Italian client base. The subsidiary, which has been named Solar Energy Italia SAS, has already secured its first major order – a 4MW roof system for a Danish investment group valued at €13 million.

M+W Group has established a new subsidiary in Dresden: M+W Integrated Solutions, which will cater to the high-tech service business in Europe. The new subsidiary will support its customers with services such as plant reconstruction and extension, installation, commissioning and service for high-tech equipment and certification and acceptance testing.

Solar-Konzept has started building work on its 28MW solar park in Giebelstadt, Germany. The project, located on the site of a former NATO airport, will be equipped with 120,000 REC modules, making it one of the largest in the whole of Bavaria.

Etrion and Phoenix Solar are joining forces to build a 2.6MW PV system in Nettuno, Italy. The plant is scheduled to be completed by the end of August and consequently will not be affected by the changes introduced under the recently-passed Conto Energia IV bill.

iGen Energy has finished the first phase of its 96kW rooftop solar installation on a production facility in Buxton, UK. The project will be the first in the country to feature Q-Cells’ Q.SMART thin-film modules and is being built for cleaning chemicals manufacturer Selden Research.

Belgian rail network operator Infrabel has opened its new Paris to Amsterdam high-speed rail link tunnel, which features 16,000 solar panels on its 3.4km rooftop. The plant will produce electricity for the railway infrastructure on the Antwerp North-South junction, including signaling, lighting and heating railway stations, as well as powering the trains.

In an attempt to close the gap between design and manufacturing new PV inverter technology, SMA Solar Technology is acquiring dtw Sp.z o.o., one of Poland's largest electromagnetic components manufacturers. SMA said that dtw had been a supplier to the inverter firm for 10 years. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed, though dtw was said to have annual revenue of €74 million. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval and scheduled to be completed in July 2011.

The Tata Steel and Dyesol development partnership has produced the world’s largest dye-sensitized photovoltaic module. Manufactured at Tata Steel’s Shotton site in North Wales, the module is over three metres in length and approximately one square metre in area. This unique achievement represents an important step towards the development of large-scale microgeneration capability within building infrastructure.

A group of solar companies disappointed by the UK’s Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC) decision to cut the feed-in tariff for solar PV installations over 50kW has been granted permission to proceed with its legal case. A High Court judge has ruled that the group of solar developers seeking a judicial review against Government can now advance with its case against Energy and Climate Change Secretary Chris Huhne.

Bosch Solar Energy has begun construction of what will be one of the largest solar projects in the UK. Located in Trefullock, southern England, the 5MW park is expected to be connected to the grid this July.