Southeast Asia & Oceania

Malaysia is to increase the degression rate of its PV feed-in tariff from 8 to 20% for installations larger than 24kW from April.

Electronics giant Panasonic has launched its 100 Thousand Solar Lantern Project which will see the company donate a total of 100,000 solar LED lanterns to people around the world with no access to electricity.

The Asia Pacific (APAC) region is forecast to grow to 13.5GW in 2013, representing a 50% year-on-year growth rate, according to the latest NPD Solarbuzz Q1’13 Asia Pacific Major PV Markets Quarterly report.

Electronics giant Panasonic Corporation has started to ship its heterojunction with intrinsic thin layer (HIT) modules from its newly established Malaysian production facility which became operational on 13 December 2012.

German PV project developer Conergy is further stamping its mark in the Thai solar market with an additional three solar projects in the pipeline.

Investment director Edward Douglas from Singapore-based Armstrong Asset Management is the latest leading solar energy expert to confirm he will be speaking at the inaugural Solar Business Expo Southeast Asia in Thailand this March.

Japanese engineering company Chiyoda Corporation has announced the construction of a 1.8MW plant in the city of Hokuto in Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan.

The boards of Taiwan-based PV manufacturers Neo Solar Power (NSP) and DelSolar have approved the second stage of the planned merger of the two companies.

Japan’s renewable energy capacity has reached a total of 1.443GW, according to figures released by the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI).