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This Week in Solar

By Toby Shute – Updated Apr 6, 2017 at 2:09PM

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The race to grid parity, one week at a time.

The week started with an agreement between MEMC Electronic Materials (NYSE:WFR) and Conergy that frees Conergy from an onerous contract that predated the 2008 crash. Conergy gave the wafer maker a pretty backhanded compliment, noting how it had "truly transformed itself into a customer-focused company." This story highlights how flimsy supply contracts can be when one party becomes financially distressed, and reminds us why we don't value stocks based on things like bookings or backlog.

We also caught word that Chinese battery/automaker BYD was planning a massive solar cell investment, which is just another example of a manufacturing powerhouse sniffing opportunity in this sector. In mid-week, a BYD representative confirmed the plan, but clarified that the company has not finalized its total investment, which had been reported at $3.3 billion -- a touch more than the market capitalization of Trina Solar (NYSE:TSL) and Yingli Green Energy (NYSE:YGE) combined.

JA Solar (NASDAQ:JASO) picked up a new CEO this week. Peng Fang joins the company from Best Solar, LDK Solar's (NYSE:LDK) thin-film cousin, and also has a management background at companies including NEC and Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE:AMD). He seems to have some serious credibility.

Later in the week, Suntech Power (NYSE:STP) settled on Arizona for its 30-megawatt U.S. manufacturing plant. That puts the company in First Solar's backyard -- its home base is Tempe -- which is only fair, given that First Solar is making inroads in the Chinese market.

Trina Solar and LDK Solar both announced some decent supply deals this week, but I didn't spot anything too noteworthy on that front. I'm sure I missed something, so please pipe up in the comment box below.

First Solar and Suntech Power Holdings are Motley Fool Rule Breakers selections. Try any of our Foolish newsletters today, free for 30 days.

Fool contributor Toby Shute doesn't have a position in any company mentioned. Check out his CAPS profile or follow his articles using Twitter or RSS. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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