Tesla has secured approval from the Berlin-Brandenburg administrative court to start clearing 91 hectares of forest for its first European “gigafactory,” which is scheduled to start operations in summer 2021.

The German network operator reported approximately 339 MW of new solar in December. New installations for 2019 exceeded new capacity additions in 2018 by more than 1 GW.

Tesla, California’s pioneering EV builder, will acquire a 700-acre site near Berlin for its first large-scale EV factory. The purchase price has not been finalized. Some local folk are protesting the approval process.

Insolvency proceedings have been underway for Solibro GmbH since late summer, and business operations have long been suspended. This week another Hanergy subsidiary, Solibro Hi-Tech, has also declared insolvency.

Inverter manufacturer Solaredge has filed three additional patent infringement lawsuits against its competitor, Huawei, in China. This comes after three similar legal actions against Huawei that had been undertaken by Solaredge in Germany last summer. While Huawei has decided not to comment on the matter, the Chinese manufacturer revealed that it had filed three patent litigation claims against Solaredge at a Chinese court this May.

An investment firm owned by the family behind Lego has bought a majority stake in solar asset owner Enerparc’s U.S. business. Enerparc’s management team will maintain a minority interest.

The Korean/German solar manufacturer has filed patent infringement lawsuits against the three companies in the United States, and is seeking to bar them from importing solar products for the U.S. market. Hanwha Q Cells claims its three rivals have used its patented solar cell passivation technology to increase the performance of their products.

After announcing its entry into residential storage a week ago, the Munich-based multinational has now unveiled a plan to acquire inverter manufacturer Kaco. Siemens has not provided details about the value of the transaction.

In May, oil giant Shell invested in battery maker sonnen. Now the 112-year-old company wants to fully acquire the business.

The EV and battery maker wants to start production of its Model 3 for the Chinese market by the end of the year. Next year, according to high-profile CEO Elon Musk, mass production of electric cars will start there, and this is expected to include their batteries as well.