News

Local Chinese news outlets have reported that Albemarle has entered into an agreement with the management authority of the Pengshan Economic Development Zone to set up a production base for materials used in the manufacturing of lithium batteries. Based in the US, Albemarle is a major supplier for various types of lithium materials and chemicals. The Pengshan Economic Development Zone is a part of the city of Meishan in China’s Sichuan Province. The agreement was reportedly sealed on October 20, and Albemarle released a press release on October 22 to announce the event. ...  more

On October 30, the largest solar stadium was inaugurated at Taoyuan Senior High School, Taiwan. With a capacity of 2MW, the stadium can produce electricity for more than 590 families for a year. The PV system construction and subsequent maintenance—funded by Zhao Yang Energy, a subsidiary of URE-affiliated Hemvan—total a cost of NT$120 million ($4.3 million). ...  more

TECO recently debuted its autonomously developed, designed, and manufactured EV power system T Power+, which is applicable to electric trucks, electric heavy duty trucks, port AGVs, and ferries. ...  more

Leading US rental car provider Hertz Corporation recently ordered 100,000 cars from Tesla for a grand total of US$4.2 billion. The more noteworthy news, however, is that both companies’ stock prices shot through the roof in lockstep. ...  more

Major Japanese petroleum refiner Idemitsu announced on October 12 that its PV product manufacturing subsidiary Solar Frontier will begin winding down the operation of its production base in Miyazaki Prefecture. ...  more

Uzbekistan’s first utility-scale PV power plant was formally connected to the grid this early September, according to reports from various energy news websites. ...  more

It has been less than three days since Hertz announced its purchase of 100K Tesla models, and we now know that half of the purchase will go to Uber. ...  more

Local Chinese news outlets reported on October 20 that Shanxi Huachu Photoelectric and Suzhou Horad New Energy Equipment have entered into an agreement to jointly develop a 5GW smart turnkey PV module manufacturing project. The agreement was signed by Huachu chairman Yan Chunming and Xie Leilei, director of Horad’s global marketing center. Yan is also the director of the new energy business unit at Huayang New Material Technology and the CEO of Shanxi Xinyang Clean Energy. ...  more

Indian industrial conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL) announced on October 10 that it will be acquiring REC Group from China National Bluestar for US$771 million. The acquisition will proceed through Reliance New Energy Solar (RNES), a subsidiary of the conglomerate. The deal represents a significant step forward in RIL’s plan to become a major player in the PV industry and make India an exporter of PV products. ...  more