U.S. DOE approves four loan guarantees totaling USD 4.74 billion for four PV projects

Monday, 10.3.2011 - 19:52 (Solarserver)

In the final hours before a deadline for approvals on September 30th, 2011, the U.S. Department of Energy finalized USD 4.74 billion in loan guarantees to support four solar photovoltaic (PV) projects totaling 1.78 GW of capacity. The largest of these loan guarantees at USD 1.46 billion, will support First Solar Inc.'s (Tempe, Arizona, U.S.) 550 MW Desert Sunlight project. The second largest, at USD 1.4 billion, will support Project Amp, which aims to put 752 MW of PV plants on rooftops owned by Prologis Inc. (Denver, Colorado, U.S.). Read more

ET Solar modules used for PV array on German prison

Monday, 10.3.2011 - 11:54 (PV-Tech)

sinoPARTNER Technologie has finished installing a 280kWp PV system on the roof of a juvenile prison complex in Schifferstadt, Germany. The system, which was first connected to the grid earlier this summer, will be powered by ET Solar modules. Read more

OneRoof Energy partners with CertainTeed, IES to provide single-source solar and roofing solution

Monday, 10.3.2011 - 23:23 (PV-Tech)

OneRoof Energy will be collaborating with CertainTeed and Integrated Electrical Services (IES) for a single-source roofing and solar solution. CertainTeed, a subsidiary of Saint-Gobain, is set to help with the bureaucratic process that comes with installing a solar system and will also supply solar products, permitting and design services and rebate and incentive processing for the OneRoof and CertainTeed customers including the offering of its SolarSelect Lease program for roofing contractors. Read more

University of Maryland takes home top prize in US DOE?s Solar Decathlon 2011

Monday, 10.3.2011 - 23:06 (PV-Tech)

The fifth US Department of Energy (DOE) Solar Decathlon wrapped up over the first weekend of October and US Energy Secretary Steven Chu was on hand to announce the winners for the 2011 competition held in Washington, DC. The University of Maryland was named as the overall winner for its design, build and operation of the most cost effective, energy efficient and attractive solar powered house in the competition. Purdue University came in second place with Team New Zealand, made up of Victoria University of Wellington, finishing third. Read more

Return of demand elasticity in Germany as solar installations set to soar, says IHS iSuppli

Monday, 10.3.2011 - 20:08 (PV-Tech)

Finally, demand for PV installations in Germany, are set to soar, according to the latest report from market research firm IHS iSuppli. It didn?t happen in the third quarter as many had expected - after weak installation figures in the first-half of the year meant there were no mod-year FiT regressions. Weak demand and manufacturing overcapacity have seen continued price declines - questioning when demand elasticity would kick-in. German PV installations are now forecasted to reach 5.9GW in 2011, down 20.4% from 7.4GW in 2010. Read more

Azur, Bluefield sign £20m contract to bring free solar to UK businesses

Monday, 10.3.2011 - 18:43 (Solarpowerportal)

Specialist PV fund manager Bluefield Partners LLP has signed a strategic agreement with Azur Solar to finance a range of new 50kW and 150kW systems on industrial, commercial and agricultural roofs across the UK. The systems will be installed for free between now and March, 2012 and consequently will be eligible for the Government’s current feed-in tariff rate. Azur will operate and manage all of the systems. Read more

Asia Report: The Race for Innovation, Dominance and Capital

Monday, 10.3.2011 - 17:48 (Renewable Energy World)

As the AMSC-Sinovel wind espionage dispute continues to simmer, there is also growing tension in the solar industry as an American company prepares to file an unfair trading practices suit against China. Have China and the United States embarked on a full-fledged renewable energy race, as some American officials have suggested recently? Is there still hope for an alliance that would unite American innovation and Chinese manufacturing? And how will this impact investment as American companies look to China for capital? Read more

First Solar?s Topaz Solar Farm to operate for 35 years; habitat restoration agreement made

Monday, 10.3.2011 - 16:46 (PV-Tech)

Although the financial costs remain unknown, an agreement has been reached over conservation issues arising from the 550MW Topaz Solar Farm project that First Solar is developing in San Luis Obispo County, California. A lawsuit against the project started by North County Watch and Carrizo Commons is expected to be dropped. Read more

Taiwan?s largest solar project connected to grid

Monday, 10.3.2011 - 16:04 (PV-Tech)

Eighteen months after construction begun, Taiwan?s largest solar plant has been connected to the grid. The 5.92MW system, located in Kaohsiung, is comprised of 16,000 panels, cost NT$640 million (US$20.9 million) to build and is being managed by the state-run Taiwan Power. Read more

The Question Day 15: How Can the U.S. Solar Industry Meet Expectations?

Monday, 10.3.2011 - 15:00 (Renewable Energy World)

RenewableEnergyWorld asked solar executives and our social media community to lend their voices and define what three strategies they think will lead to a thriving solar industry. Answers were varied, and many valid opinions were brought to light. Responses will be updated here daily, and feel free to look at previous insights by clicking on the page links below. Read more

Innotech Solar opens special cell re-processing plant in Germany

Monday, 10.3.2011 - 12:52 (PV-Tech)

Using its laser isolation technology to restore solar cell efficiencies from pre-processed cells from the likes of Bosch and Q-Cells, Innotech Solar has opened its lasted cell plant in Halle/Saale, Germany. The first phase investment totalled ?20 million and created 50 new jobs. The re-worked cells are used in Innotech Solar?s own modules. The new production site is operated by ITS Halle Cell GmbH, a German subsidiary of the Norwegian company. Read more

Export-Import Bank loan to help Indian developer buy SolarWorld panels

Monday, 10.3.2011 - 12:51 (PV-Tech)

The board of directors of the US?s Export-Import Bank has approved a US$3.4 billion financial package to help US exports in a number of key industries, including solar. The Bank forecasts that this funding will support more than 20,000 jobs across the country. Around US$19 million of this package is going to the Indian PV project developer, Tatith Solar, which will use the direct loan to buy SolarWorld Industries America panels for its 5MW project in Gujarat. Read more

BrightSource 29MW CSP system provides steam to Chevron enhanced oil recovery site in California

Monday, 10.3.2011 - 23:42 (PV-Tech)

BrightSource Energy has supplied its solar thermal technology for use at Chevron Technology Ventures? enhanced oil recovery (EOR) project in Coalinga, California. The 29MW thermal ?Solar-to-Steam? facility uses 3,822 heliostats, each consisting of two 10x7-foot mirrors mounted to a six-foot steel pole, which are focused on a boiler on top of a 327-foot tall solar tower. Read more

Advancing Next-gen Biofuels by Turning Up the Heat on Biomass Pretreatment Processes

Monday, 10.3.2011 - 17:26 (Renewable Energy World)

The nation's Renewable Fuels Standard calls for annual production of 36 billion gallons of biofuel by 2022. One of the biggest hurdles to achieving this goal lies in optimizing the multistep process involved in breaking down plant biomass and then converting it into fermentable sugars that can be refined into fuel for our transportation needs. Read more

AMSC, Sinovel and the State of U.S.-China Business Relations

Monday, 10.3.2011 - 15:00 (Renewable Energy World)

Upon learning that American Superconductor (AMSC) has accused its largest customer of intellectual property theft, one couldn't help but well up with nostalgia for the halcyon days of 2008, when Wall Street barely knew the name "Sinovel," the naysayers roundly scoffed at the possibility that AMSC would derive any significant revenue from supplying electronics and other sophisticated components to the wind turbine industry in China, and nearly everyone was incredulous that China had embarked on the development of "wind farms of a magnitude never before seen on earth." Read more

SMU Geothermal Map Updated, National Geothermal Data System Underway

Monday, 10.3.2011 - 16:45 (Renewable Energy World)

Southern Methodist University Geothermal Lab has recently completed research updating the U.S. portion of the 2004 Geothermal Map of North America. Read more

DOE Regains Its Clean Energy Chops

Monday, 10.3.2011 - 19:57 (Renewable Energy World)

WASHINGTON — Throughout September, Energy Secretary Steven Chu heard the jeers. They came from Republican legislators who used the Solyndra bankruptcy for political fodder. They came from taxpayers who wanted him to halt the loan guarantee program ahead of the Sept. 30 deadline. And they came from Beltway pundits clamoring for a clean energy scandal. Mostly, he sat silent. But it was on a rain-soaked first day of October when the clouds finally lifted. Fresh off a flurry of nearly $5 billion in loan guarantees closed the night before, Chu allowed himself to listen to the cheers. They came from hundreds of students from universities across the country in an event that Read more

Orion Energy Systems continues backing of Solyndra

Monday, 10.3.2011 - 13:33 (PV-Tech)

Having used Solyndra?s modules on a majority of its solar rooftop projects, EPC firm, Orion Energy Systems continues to champion the Chapter 11 firm?s technology and remains optimistic Solyndra could still emerge from the bankruptcy proceedings. Though its shares have fallen since Solyndra?s collapse, Orion Energy Systems claimed that it did not expect its business to be ?adversely impacted.? Read more