Global Solar Energy, a manufacturer of flexible CIGS thin-film solar panels, has received a TÜV certificate qualifying them for Italy’s Conto Energia IV FiT. In order to benefit, companies have to produce components that are of at least 60% European origin.
UK based Foresight Group has signed a joint venture agreement with Quercus Renewable Energy Fund, a division of the Luxembourg-based Quercus Asset Selection, for the expansion of its investments in the Italian solar PV market. Quercus bought a 50% stake in Foresight’s Luxembourg holding Foresight Lux Co 2, which controls 40% of ForVEI, a company that was established by investors with help from Foresight, who were looking to buy interests in Italian PV plants.
SunEdison and KGAL recently finalized an agreement that sees KGAL buying 33MW of solar PV systems from SunEdison, which are located in Italy and Spain. Financial and specific project details were not released, but the recent acquisition comes after KGAL completed a 20MW purchase from SunEdison in Q2 2011.
Three months ahead of schedule, Wacker Chemie has started ramping its new polysilicon plant in Nünchritz, Germany. The €900 million investment which includes debottlenecking strategies to boost output to 15,000MT per annum has created 500 new jobs at the plant. Full nominal capacity is expected to be operational in the second quarter of 2012.
Despite global oversupply and plummeting demand for PV modules and components, the UK solar market is still experiencing large install figures and has had an explosive year with 900% growth. Over 300MW has already been installed and forecasts suggest that 550MW could be deployed by the end of the current FiT period.
Martifer Solar has signed a contract to install a 22MW PV project in Portugal. The system, which will be the largest in Portugal when completed next year, is being commissioned by an unnamed client of BNP Paribas Clean Energy Partners.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has dealt a blow to Germany’s flagging downstream sector by questioning its credibility as a commercially viable energy source and calling for a further cut to its feed-in tariff.
The Meyer Burger takeover of Roth & Rau is on its way to becoming more of a reality as the management board team has undergone a reshuffle, and former Roth & Rau chairman Dr. Dietmar Roth has left his former role for a seat on the Meyer Burger board of directors.
sinoPARTNER Technologie has finished installing a 280kWp PV system on the roof of a juvenile prison complex in Schifferstadt, Germany. The system, which was first connected to the grid earlier this summer, will be powered by ET Solar modules.
The 78MW portion of a 148MW PV plant in Berlin was officially opened by the Prime Minister of Brandenburg. Developed by EPC contractor Saferay, the Senftenberg plants are located on a former open-pit mining area in Eastern Germany. The plant, which is part of what is being called the largest PV power plant complex in the world, was completed in three months and uses 330,000 crystalline solar modules and 62 central inverter stations.
