China

Solibro will probably file for insolvency this month, according to German media reports. However, the company has yet to publicly confirm the matter.

The opening pages of the first-half update published on the Hong Kong exchange made all the right noises with the company set to be acquired by a Chinese state-owned entity. But the balance sheet makes for shocking reading.

Two reports have described how the world’s largest renewable energy market is moving towards maturity. According to the Brookings Institution, the Chinese clean energy market could become more open to Western investors and tech. A report by Fitch claims projects are moving back to inland provinces from coastal regions.

The state-owned State Power Investment Corp Ltd has received a bid of 25 cents per watt for monocrystalline panels in a tender to procure 3.04 GW of PV module capacity.

The latest figures show the solar policy vacuum, and related dearth of demand in China earlier this year accelerated price reductions for cell makers. Although prices are expected to rebound in line with renewed thirst for solar in China, cell makers such as Tongwei are feeling the pain.

The heavily-indebted Chinese BIPV manufacturer has warned the petition issued by the German lender to recover a disputed $6.27 million debt could threaten the survival of the business as it would halt a planned bail-out by Beijing.

China’s transition away from solar subsidies will redraw the industry’s expansion lines towards the country’s interior, experts have predicted.

Two subscribers who signed up to a 20% discounted shares subscription in mid June ended up yesterday paying almost the same percentage as a premium on the trading price of the stock.

The Chinese manufacturer is forging ahead with a new gigafactory despite a regulatory decision last year which halted its plans to raise a significant chunk of the costs by issuing convertible bonds. Risen expects to be back on the upswing when it confirms its first-half figures.

South Korea’s largest PV project is scheduled for commissioning by next year. The project developer – Korean floating PV specialist Scotra – is also planning a 2.5 MW offshore solar project with the support of the government.

Troubled thin film manufacturer Thin Film will see a 51% controlling stake in a hugely profitable hydropower project auctioned off after a move by creditors. Hanergy Thin Film owner Li Hejun’s Hanergy Mobile Energy business in China says it will be among the bidders.

Trade tensions have flared anew between some of the world’s top solar markets, with the US attempting to quash a complaint from India even as China opened a new dispute.

The collapse in business for the solar EPC provider after last year’s 5/31 policy announcement by Beijing has left the company’s future depending on the progress of a Chinese state bail-out. Provided that is, the business does not end up being wound up by Deutsche Bank first.

The manufacturer has been unable to get its new mono ingot and wafer making facilities up to full speed and says the delay in confirming Beijing’s new solar policy this year also affected its bottom line.

The manufacturer says its Kwafoo product improves efficiency and, if used in the optimal p-type PERC type of panel, could boast a module output of 610 W.