r&d

SolarEdge is seeking damages, an injunction and a recall of products it claims have been built using its intellectual property.

India-based solar manufacturer and EPC player Vikram Solar has signed a collaboration agreement with the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), while at the founding ceremony of the International Solar Alliance (ISA).

As part of an initiative by the Australian government, the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) awarded a total of AU$29.2 million for 20 research projects to propel the development of PV technology.

Solar microinverter supplier Enphase Energy has opened its first R&D centre in Bangalore, India, in order to support its expansion into India’s rapidly growing PV market.

Outsourcing in the various stages running up to module assembly versus having one’s entire supply chain in house was a major theme at PV ModuleTech 2017. PV Tech caught up with Nick Strevel, director, global technical sales, at vertically-integrated thin-film PV manufacturer First Solar, to discuss the benefits of having all in house production and the drivers for high expenditure in R&D.

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) has launched a new investment company based in Silicon Valley, California, which will have R&D and innovation in sustainability and renewable energy among its energy technology focuses.

The Clean Energy Innovation Fund, supported by Australia's Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC), and Right Click Capital have invested US$7 million into Australian start-up Redback Technologies, whose system uses machine learning to predict solar generation and customer usage.

Between the Section 201 case and a search for new owners, SolarWorld Americas is currently going through major changes that look set to see the company root itself more firmly in the US.

Goldman Sachs-backed clean energy firm ReNew Power Ventures has launched a new renewable energy R&D centre at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi, India.

The big names are out in force at SPI but don't overlook some of the smaller names with big ideas. John Parnell talks to one such company on the showfloor at SPI 2017.