Europe

SolarWorld’s chairman and chief executive, Frank Asbeck, has sold five tranches of shares in the company in the last week, taking his shareholding to 19.72%, according to financial filings.

Power generated by photovoltaics systems covered 4.5% of Germany’s total electricity production last year, according to estimates released by the German Association of Energy and Water Industries (BDEW).

French battery company Saft will lead a consortium building a photovoltaic (PV) power plant combined with a lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery energy storage system on the island of La Réunion, Indian Ocean.

The number of solar installations in the UK registered for the government’s feed-in tariff has topped half a million for the first time, according to official statistics.

Solar investment vehicle ForVEI has purchased a 6.9MW PV plant in southern Italy.

SolarWorld has received court approval for its ongoing restructuring process, the final administrative hurdle to its reorganisation.

Former US president Bill Clinton is to head a panel of top speakers at an international clean-tech investment conference in Frankfurt, Germany, next week.

Time is running out for the struggling solar module manufacturer aleo solar, with Bosch only providing financial support for its subsidiary through to the end of March 2014.

Panasonic has launched the ‘HIT-N245’ and ‘HIT-N240’ PV modules into the European market as part of its drive to re-establish both a key position amongst leading manufacturers and regain share in the European market.

The current rate of cut backs to support for solar energy could put the German energy transition at risk, the country’s solar trade body has warned.