Western Europe

The financially troubled PV maker has secured a last-minute line of credit to repay Total and other lenders, as it burns through cash.

The battery integrator has already began to draw on the funds as it continues to expand its market presence in the United States and in Australia. Shell Ventures is now a major sonnen investor and and the companies have agreed to future cooperation.

Parent company Daimler will continue to offer batteries for residential applications to selected partners, but no longer under Mercedes Benz Energy. The company plans to align the stationary storage segment with its grid business.

The solar mounting systems maker’s U.S. division has filed for bankruptcy, one month after the German parent company filed for insolvency.

Shortly before the announcement of its acquisition by SunPower, SolarWorld’s former U.S. subsidiary commented on the request by its competitors to be exempt from the new U.S. solar PV import tariffs.

And inaugural global energy storage report by GTM Research finds that while the United States remains the world’s leading market with newly installed capacity of 431 MWh, China is poised to rise to second place globally in 2019.

The Swiss bank will utilize the proceeds to refinance construction and operation of U.S. solar projects, and this could be the first of several issuances.

EVs and solar: As the electric vehicle market begins to take off, many are hoping that this technology will be complementary to solar PV. And while the potential is there, a closer look shows that there are many unanswered questions, and there is still a lot of work to be done.

The list includes many of the big names in the industry as well as a request to exempt the entire EU panel industry.

The turnover of the Munich-based chemical company increased by 6%. The polysilicon business of Wacker Chemie also continued to increase last year; however, the production halt in the U.S. prevented even stronger growth.