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Dunasolar
shuts down Hungarian thin-film production
Blaming a lack of support from Eastern European countries, thin-film
module manufacturer Dunasolar Photovoltaics Inc. stopped production at
its factory in Hungary on June 13, and sold its 5 MW production line
to a Thai PV start-up.
UK PV
program announces fourth-round grants for 581 kW
On June 10, the UK Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) announced
fourth-round grants of £2 million ($3.3 million) for 21 projects
representing 581 kW as part of its Major Demonstration Programme (MDP).
While London-based integrator Solar Century received the largest
number of grants, equaling 137 kW, the five grants to BP Solar led the
pack with a total capacity of 182 kW.
WindWelt AG
to sell systems at its solar park
On May 10, WindWelt AG, which belongs to the SolarWorld AG group,
dedicated its first solar park in Oberötzdorf-Untergriesbach near
Passau, Germany. The PV plant's total power is almost 1.68 MW, based
on 11,178 SolarWorld modules at 150 W each.
Leaving
the »German way«
While on-grid inverters in Germany, Europe's largest PV market,
nearly all come equipped with one anti-islanding method – the
so-called ENS – this technology has not found acceptance in all
European countries for several reasons. With an upgraded device, Klaus
Köln, the inventor of the ENS method, hopes to open the door to new
markets. He presented his new ENS to the PV industry at the
Staffelstein conference.
Ecovest AG
acquires Antec Solar
After months of failed »final« dates for the sale of insolvent CdTe
module manufacturer Antec Solar GmbH, based in the Thuringian city of
Arnstadt (see PI 2/2003, p. 10), an investor has actually emerged.
STI finalizes dye
solar deal with Greatcell in Switzerland
A controlling interest in the Swiss R&D
dye-sensitized cell start up Greatcell was purchased on March 24 by
Tulloch Management Pty Ltd., owner of Australia's Sustainable
Technologies International (STI), the world's first commercial
manufacturer of Graetzel dye-sensitized modules (see PI 4/2003, p.
44).
PV
system prices in Germany drop heavily
A survey of turnkey PV on-grid systems in Germany in the April issue
of the German edition of PHOTON reveals an average 14 percent price
decrease when compared with 2002. On average, a completely installed 2
kW system – including modules, inverter, mounting and wiring - costs
€13,000 ($14,040) after a 16 percent value-added tax.
Belgium
solar group to call for PV feed-in tariff
A Belgium scheme offering a 15 to 40 percent tax
write-off on renewable energy equipment, begun on Jan. 1, will be
ineffectual in stimulating a PV market, says Stefan Dewallef, sales
manager at the Belgium PV integrator Soltech. Limited to about €500
($538) per year per resident, the plan does little to help PV sales.
With
friends like these, who needs enemies?
Italy's on-again, off-again 10,000 roofs program, victimized by
chronic bureaucracy and regional irregularities, is again facing a
doubtful future. With the Ministry of Environment distancing itself
from the program, other forces are being mobilized to push for a
feed-in tariff by mid-2004.
World's
largest PV system in Bavaria
Two big centralized PV projects were scheduled to go online in Germany
in December. Both are based in the southern state of Bavaria and being
installed by the Hamburg-based integrator franchise chain SunTechnics
GmbH.
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