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German developer Wirsol has bolstered its business activities by expanding into the Australian market and opening a new office in Sydney.

PV module manufacturer Astronergy said it was undertaking a transition away from 4BB (busbar) technology to 5BB to boost overall conversion efficiencies at its production plant in Frankfurt (Oder), Germany.

PV and electronics equipment manufacturing and automation specialist Manz AG has received €50 million from Chinese JV partners Shanghai Electric Group and Shenhua Group for turnkey CIGS thin-film production lines with a further €79 million also expected in May to start work on its largest ever equipment order.

E.ON has formed a partnership with online giant Google to help it conquer the European solar market.

Ecoligo is a Berlin-based crowdfunding start-up for solar projects in Africa’s commercial and industrial (C&I) market. Even though it is a company still very much in its infancy, it is already making waves by providing competitive alternatives to traditional bank loan products and connecting German private investors to tailored off-takers.

The theme of this week's Movers & Shakers is international expansion. PAYG off-grid solar provider Azuri Technologies is strengthening its leadership team to target West Africa, while Vancouver, Canada-based Solar Alliance Energy targets US assets and expands its sales team to accommodate for this. ABB appoints new regional heads to ensure direct market contact with Europe and the AMEA region.

Berlin, Germany-based renewable energy firm skytron energy will be focusing on international expansion this year.

Global clean energy investment in the first quarter of 2017 was down 17% compared to Q1 2016, as market leaders China and the US scaled back support for wind and solar farms.

This week's Movers & Shakers features new CEOs and the inauguration of new international offices. Sunworks and the Australian CEFC both welcome new CEOs and Enel Green Power North America opens its new office in Massachusetts, with Array Technologies expanding Down Under.

Belectric has developed PV plants on every continent of the globe except Antarctica and also delivers energy storage system projects and offers a wide range of energy storage solutions including in-house battery systems, turn-key large-scale battery storage as well as scalable container solutions. Managing director of Belectric Solar and Battery, Frank Amend, spoke to Energy-Storage.News about the company's recent acquisition by RWE subsidiary innogy and where the company sees energy storage (and solar) going.