germany

India’s energy and mines minister Piyush Goyal has challenged Germany and the city of Munich to a race with the ancient holy city of Varanasi to become the first large city in the world to be 100% powered by clean energy.

PV and electronics equipment manufacturing and automation specialist Manz AG has received a further €64.3 million pre-payment on CIGS thin-film equipment from Chinese JV partners Shanghai Electric Group and Shenhua Group.

Consultancy firm Bridge to India explains how southern India represents a test case for grid integration of variable renewable energy, accounting for 45% of the country’s total wind and solar power capacity.

News in Brief: CleanMax and Hitachi partner for rooftop solar in India for Japanese companies, Tyler Technologies installs a solar-plus-storage system at its Texas headquarters, Germany's Redavia expands into West Africa with solar for the country's Maritime University, more community solar is completed in Massachusetts and Surana wins a bid for 5MW of rooftop solar in Andhra Pradesh.

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.