Bankrupt US solar module start-up Beamreach Solar’s pilot production line in Milpitas, California is being offered for sale by Silicon Valley Disposition (SVD).
After several months of lacklustre sales from many key PV manufacturers in Taiwan, indicating an expected boom in China’s downstream PV market had yet to gain momentum, March sales data indicates improving market demand, yet not at the levels seen in the prior year quarter.
Dedicated PV quality assurance services firm STS-Certified said it had performed quality inspection services on solar modules totalling over 1.5GW in 2016, with the expectation of almost 3.0GW of inspections in 2017.
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.
Updated: US-based high-efficiency module manufacturer Suniva, majority owned by Chinese diversified renewables firm Shunfeng International Clean Energy (SFCE) is to carry out a number of unspecified job cuts across its operations, according to a company statement.
Major flat panel display manufacturer AU Optronics Corp reported a significant reduction in its solar business unit’s losses in 2016, after receiving a US$170.1 million cash payout from SunPower to exit its joint venture (JV) manufacturing operations in Malaysia, last September.
Dedicated monocrystalline integrated PV module manufacturer SolarWorld believes 2017 is a transitional year for the company after announcing a switch to monocrystalline production at the expense of multicrystalline and a full-migration to PERC (Passivated Emitter Rear Cell) technology as ASP declines in the second-half of 2016 forced a major manufacturing rethink.
REC Group has introduced an all-black variant of its ‘TwinPeak 2’ Series PV module for US and European residential markets. The REC TwinPeak 2 BLK2 Series has a nominal power rating of up to 285Wp, using its half-cut cell and PERC (Passivated Emitter Rear Cell) technology and uniformly black-colored multicrystalline cells.
