AUO and SunPower?s Fab 3 kick-starts solar cell production with 22.2% efficiencies

Thursday, 10.14.2010 - 15:58 (PV-Tech)

In its bid to expand capacity and become cost competitive with their rivals, AUO and SunPower’s Fab 3 facility in Malaysia has fabricated its first 100 solar cells, yielding a minimum conversion efficiency of 22.2%. Due to the successful initial run, the partners expect commercial production to ramp up later this year. Construction and manufacturing ramp at Fab 3 was reiterated is still expected to continue through 2013. Read more

German solar module manufacturer gains UK certification

Thursday, 10.14.2010 - 12:37 (Solarpowerportal)

Centrosolar has gained certification for its entire line of crystalline modules, including S-Class Deluxe, Excellent, Ultra and Professional modules under the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS). Read more

First Solar to build thin-film plant in Vietnam: plans to double capacity by 2012

Thursday, 10.14.2010 - 16:14 (PV-Tech)

As part of new plans to double its manufacturing capacity to over 2.7GW by 2012, CdTe thin-film leader, First Solar is to build new facilities in Vietnam and the U.S. Two new four-line manufacturing plants are expected to add 500MW of capacity and be completed in 2012. Currently, First Solar is capacity constraint but is building further new lines in Malaysia and France in particular. The Vietnam plant is their first in that country and follows semiconductor leader Intel Corp in locating production in the country. Read more

Cornish council close to approving first 5MW solar power plant

Thursday, 10.14.2010 - 15:40 (Solarpowerportal)

A 5MW solar power plant, adjacent to Newquay Cornwall Airport that would owned by the council, could get the go ahead at a full-council meeting to be held next week. Read more

Solar Power Reliability and Balance-of-System Designs

Thursday, 10.14.2010 - 6:00 (Renewable Energy World)

In order to compete more effectively with other energy sources, the solar industry is focused on decreasing the levelized cost of energy (LCOE), a term that refers to the price at which solar energy is valued taking into account all the lifetime costs of the solar power system. This includes the cost of the initial investment, the cost of capital, the cost of system operations and maintenance and repair costs. While there is much visibility on bringing down the purchase cost of solar cell technologies, the cost of maintenance and repairs represents the major variable cost over the lifetime of a photovoltaic (PV) system. In fact, although PV balance-of-system (BOS) components Read more

Advanced Energy Highlights Market-Leading PV Inverters and Service Offerings at Solar Power International 2010

Thursday, 10.14.2010 - 6:00 (Renewable Energy World)

Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. (NasdaqGM: AEIS) will be featuring its complete line of market-leading PV inverter solutions and PV system operations and maintenance (O&M) capabilities at Solar Power International 2010. The show, one of North America's largest events for the solar industry, is scheduled for October 12-14 in Los Angeles, CA. Read more

Three Cool Solar Power Competitions

Thursday, 10.14.2010 - 6:00 (Renewable Energy World)

Read more

Melitron To Build Solar Inverters for Sustainable Energy Technologies

Thursday, 10.14.2010 - 6:00 (Renewable Energy World)

Sustainable Energy Technologies partners with Melitron Corporation for solar inverter production Read more

SPI Video: PHOTON Consulting Addresses Near-term Financial and Political Barriers for the Solar Industry

Thursday, 10.14.2010 - 6:00 (Renewable Energy World)

Read more

Solar Power International Video Coverage, Part 1

Thursday, 10.14.2010 - 6:00 (Renewable Energy World)

This week in Los Angeles 27,000 solar industry professionals gathered to show off their companies, hear from the experts, discuss issues plaguing the industry and conduct business. RenewableEnergyWorld.com conducted interviews with industry executives from all facets of solar: discussing topics such as commercialization of new technologies, manufacturing, policy, global markets, training, education and jobs. Read more

DuPont and Fujipream claim to build the thinnest crystalline silicon solar panel in the industry

Thursday, 10.14.2010 - 2:15 (PV-Tech)

DuPont Kabushiki Kaisha and Fujipream announced their newest development – a thin crystalline silicon glass-glass PV module. The companies assert, with the exception of the frame, that this new module is 25% lighter in weight than traditional c-Si modules using standard solar grade front glass. Read more

Project Focus: Iberdrola signs PPAs in Arizona and Colorado

Thursday, 10.14.2010 - 2:00 (PV-Tech)

In what Iberdrola Renewables calls one of its first solar project in the U.S., the company has signed a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Salt River Project (SRP) for 20MW of solar PV from the Pinal County facility. This third contract between the two companies will see SRP purchase all solar energy produced at the Copper Crossing Solar Ranch, which is anticipated to begin production in June 2011. Read more

Project Focus: Iberdrola signs PPA?s in Arizona and Colorado

Thursday, 10.14.2010 - 1:15 (PV-Tech)

In what Iberdrola Renewables calls one of its first solar project in the U.S., the company has signed a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Salt River Project (SRP) for 20MW of solar PV from the Pinal County facility. This third contract between the two companies will see SRP purchase all solar energy produced at the Copper Crossing Solar Ranch, which is anticipated to begin production in June 2011. Read more

SEIA and GTM confirm steady solar PV growth in US; highlight possibility of 10GW installed by 2015

Thursday, 10.14.2010 - 1:15 (PV-Tech)

Teaming up to deliver the new industry report entitled U.S. Solar Market Insight, the Solar Energy Industries Association and GTM Research have backed up previous reports that all deliver one unanimous answer: the U.S. solar industry has shown important growth during 2010, despite the economical hardships faced in the country. According to the report, the U.S. solar electric market, which includes PV and CSP installations, has the potential to exceed 1GW of installed capacity in one year for the first time in 2010. Read more

Project Focus: Sempra Generation signs power purchase agreement with PG&E

Thursday, 10.14.2010 - 1:15 (PV-Tech)

Sempra Generation agreed to a 20-year power purchase agreement with PG&E during which it will sell 150MW of solar power produced at its Mesquite Solar I project. The Mesquite project is the first phase of Sempra’s solar complex in Arlington, Arizona and is expected to begin construction in 2011 with completion in 2013. The PPA awaits final approval by the California Public Utilities Commission. Read more

SPI: Project Focus: Silverado Power announces 400MW of utility-scale projects

Thursday, 10.14.2010 - 1:15 (PV-Tech)

Formally inaugurating itself into the solar power market with its announcement at Solar Power International, Silverado Power released that it has almost 400MW of utility-scale projects currently under construction. Silverado Power, created as a JV between several solar industry veterans and Martifer Solar, has over 75 U.S. solar farms in different development stages – 40 of which are filed for interconnection to Southern California. Read more

Ethanol Blend Wall Increased in the U.S.

Thursday, 10.14.2010 - 6:00 (Renewable Energy World)

Companies in the ethanol sector got a boost yesterday. In a long-awaited ruling, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) increased ethanol blending requirements from 10 percent to 15 percent of gasoline. Read more

Biomass Conversions: Not So Cut and Dried

Thursday, 10.14.2010 - 6:00 (Renewable Energy World)

With the heightened renewable energy focus, many pulverized coal steam generator owners are asking how to convert their existing asset to biomass firing. While a simple question in premise, the answer is multi-faceted with a number of important factors dictating the equipment required and boiler performance implications. Fuel quantity and characteristics, environmental emissions and the existing equipment all influence the retooling. Read more

EPA approves first ethanol content increase in 32 years

Thursday, 10.14.2010 - 6:00 (Renewable Energy World)

Read more

EPA Greenlights Ethanol Increase in Fuel Blend

Thursday, 10.14.2010 - 6:00 (Renewable Energy World)

Growth Energy today embraced as an "important first step" the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) decision to raise the blend wall from E10 to E15 for 2007 and newer vehicles, in response to Growth Energy's Green Jobs petition. However, the coalition of U.S. ethanol supporters said much more must be done to reduce America's dependence on foreign oil, create jobs here in the United States and improve our environment. Read more

Michael Best at Southeast Biomass Conference

Thursday, 10.14.2010 - 6:00 (Renewable Energy World)

Read more

Light Detectors Boost Wind Harvests

Thursday, 10.14.2010 - 6:00 (Renewable Energy World)

An accurate knowledge of wind characteristics is essential to the development of the wind energy industry. Speed and direction data are used in fundamental wind energy applications such as wind resource assessment and power performance studies, as well as in wind turbine control. Read more

La Niña to Hike US Wind Production

Thursday, 10.14.2010 - 6:00 (Renewable Energy World)

Based on analysis of 40 years of data, 3Tier predicts that US wind farms will have a "very good" first quarter. The firm described the outlook as "a nice change from the first quarter of 2010, when many US wind projects experienced below average wind speeds due to a strong El Niño effect". Read more

La Niña Likely to Boost Wind Power Production Across U.S.

Thursday, 10.14.2010 - 6:00 (Renewable Energy World)

Read more

Turbines Turn To High-Quality Lubrication

Thursday, 10.14.2010 - 6:00 (Renewable Energy World)

As wind turbine technology has evolved and more experience has been gained in the field, both wind turbine manufacturers and O&M professionals have become acutely aware of the importance of high-quality lubrication. Read more

Analysis Helps Wind Turbine Designers Find Their Bearings

Thursday, 10.14.2010 - 6:00 (Renewable Energy World)

Bearings are a critical component in wind turbine rotor driveshafts, so it pays to optimise their functionality and maximise their lifetimes by comparing the different system configurations and applying proper analysis to reduce wear and tear. Read more