First Solar

The Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (DEWA) has allegedly attracted the second lowest global solar bid for a 900MW tranche of the 5GW Mohammed Rashid Al-Maktoum (MBR) solar park in Dubai.

Although the Wiki-solar website ranking only gives a snapshot of PV project engineering, procurement and construction contracts outside China, it is nevertheless a useful indicator of the changing shape of the global solar market.

U.S. manufacturers First Solar and SunPower could be among the winners following the announcement that the Trump administration will impose a 25% tariff on bifacial panels, although analysts warned that the new tariffs could be an overall negative for the industry.

The US government has extended its solar import tariffs to bifacial modules, in a policy u-turn set to partially redraw the global trade flows of the fast maturing technology.

The U.S. Trade Representative has not responded to claims it will end the exemption from Section 201 duties. If true, the development could be a big hit for Asian PV manufacturers and an annoyance for the U.S. market – but a positive for First Solar.

The governmental body responsible for keeping mine pollution out of waterways has announced completion of the first phase of a plan to use solar to keep down its electricity bills.

Investors are afraid of solar energy right now, but the long-term prospects of the industry are improving.

Hanwha Q Cells officially opened its 300,000 square foot solar panel factory in Dalton, Georgia last week, claiming it is the largest such manufacturing facility in the western hemisphere.

Intersect Power has gone live with news the company has 1.7 GWdc ready for construction in Texas and California, including a project which holds a hedge and no power purchase agreement.

Microsoft has purchased 85MW of solar energy from Engie as part of a broader agreement covering 230MW of clean energy generated by the developer's Texas operations.

The Chinese module giant has committed to sourcing 70% of its energy from renewables by 2023 and all of it by 2025. If serious, that could represent confidence in the amount of new renewable energy generation capacity to come online in China given the company’s huge production capacity expansion plans.

Leading CdTe thin-film PV module manufacturer and ‘Solar Module Super League (SMSL), First Solar has secured a multi-year supply deal for its Series 6 CdTe thin film modules for five projects across Texas and California with developer Intersect Power.

Leading CdTe thin-film PV module manufacturer and ‘Solar Module Super League (SMSL), First Solar expects to start volume production at its second US manufacturing plant in early 2020, restoring its bragging rights as the largest PV module manufacturer in US and western hemisphere.

The tender produced lower bids than previous rounds but again allocated less generation capacity than planned. The Japanese government initially accepted bids for a combined 589.9 MW but ended up assigning only 195.8 MW of capacity. The final average price for procured solar power was $0.1222/kWh.

The US Solar Fund (USF) has closed on both the acquisition and financing of 100% of the cash equity interests in the 128MW Milford Solar Project, located in Beaver County, Utah.