Lego owner moves into U.S. solar
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.
pvMD 3/28/19: Community solar proposed for Duck Island, NJ, 6 MW of battery systems in Arkansas… and more!
Hello, and welcome to your Thursday pvMB. The weekend is almost here. Today we’ll be looking at BlueCross BlueShield installing 10,000 solar panels at its Chattanooga HQ, Hawaii’s solar trash cans, futuristic Dutch solar houseboats and everything else that matters today.
Rise of bifacial lifts profits for the world’s tracker companies
Things are hotting up in the tracker world as the desire to squeeze down the price per Watt of solar power intensifies. And the rise of the trackers is attracting some well-known businesses to buy their way into the field.
PG&E and the future of U.S. utilities
California utility Pacific Gas & Electric’s bankruptcy points to a crisis not only at the company, but in the business model for utilities in the United States. And it is far from clear what will come next.
LONGi, JinkoSolar, REC Group respond to Hanwha Q-Cells IP suit
All three companies say the patent infringement claim is without merit, and LONGi has provided technical details as to why its PERC isn’t based on Hanwha Q-Cells’ patent.
Hanwha Q-Cells sues to keep Jinko, Longi and REC Group out of the U.S. market
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.
Siemens wants to take over Kaco
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.
Schneider Electric pulls out of the utility-scale PV business
The French inverter maker is pulling out of the utility-scale segment to strengthen its profile in the residential and C&I space.
Shell moves to acquire Sonnen
In May, oil giant Shell invested in battery maker sonnen. Now the 112-year-old company wants to fully acquire the business.
Cypress Creek to sell 580 MW of projects to British infrastructure company
The five solar projects that are being sold are located in North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas. All five are expected online by the end of 2020.
