News of the year 2011

Date: 13.12.2011



Photovoltaics

REFUsol garners UL certifications for four PV inverters, adds team members

Tuesday, 12.13.2011 - 22:47 (PV-Tech)

REFUsol has received its official certificate from Underwriters Laboratories (UL) for four of its products, which include its REFUsol 012K-UL, 016K-UL, 020K-UL and 024K-UL. Its products originally passed safety testing in October with the company noting that its products are now dually listed in the CSI List of Eligible Inverters, which verifies that the devices have an efficiency rate of up to 98%. Read more

Bisol PV modules pass salt mist corrosion test

Tuesday, 12.13.2011 - 17:02 (Solarpowerportal)

Bisol Group, one of Europe’s largest producers of solar modules, has received a salt mist corrosion certificate for all its solar photovoltaic modules, in accordance with the IEC 61701 standard. Read more

aleo solar modules used for 1MW BIPV system

Tuesday, 12.13.2011 - 15:50 (PV-Tech)

aleo solar has supplied modules for a 1MW building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) system at a farm in Aveyron, France. The rooftop system, which spans seven buildings, is made up of 5,261 aleo S_16 Solrif modules and will generate around 1GWh of electricity a year. Installation of the system was carried out by Eiffage Energie Quercy Rouergue Gevaudan. Read more

SCHOTT achieves 19.7% efficient PV cell with electroplated copper contacts, reaches 289 watt output with PERFORMA MONO prototype

Tuesday, 12.13.2011 - 12:33 (Solarserver)

On December 12th, 2011 SCHOTT Solar AG (Mainz, Germany) announced that it has achieved a 19.7% conversion efficiency with a solar photovoltaic (PV) cell utilizing electroplated copper contacts in place of silver, as verified by Fraunhofer ISE (Freiburg, Germany). Also on December 12th, 2011, the company announced that prototypes of its PERFORMA MONO PV modules have reached 289 watts output, also confirmed by Fraunhofer ISE. The company expects to launch these modules in the second quarter of 2012. Read more

U.K. installs 83.1 MW of PV in second-to-last week before FIT cuts

Tuesday, 12.13.2011 - 12:27 (Solarserver)

On December 7th, 2011, the U.K. Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) released figures for its feed-in tariff (FIT) program showing that 83.1 MW of solar photovoltaic (PV) plants smaller than 50 kW were installed in the week ending on December 4th, 2011. These numbers represent the second-to-last week before FIT levels for PV were cut roughly in half on December 12th, 2011. The 83.1 MW of installations was the largest capacity of any week to that date, representing more than 20,000 applications, mostly for systems smaller than 4 kW. Read more

SiC Processing reduces European operations, builds Chinese wafer slurry recycling capacities

Tuesday, 12.13.2011 - 12:22 (Solarserver)

On December 9th, 2011 SiC Processing GmbH (Hirschau, Germany), provider for the conditioning of used slurry from the photovoltaic and the semiconductor industry, announced that it has decommissioned a significant portion of its production capacity in Norway, as well as moving to reduced hours for roughly 100 employees at its facility in Bautzen, Germany. The company states that these actions were necessary due to reductions in European solar wafer production, including the closing of REC ASA (Sandvika, Norway) wafer facilities in Norway. Concurrently, the company announced the commissioning of production lines at its new facility in Zhenjiang, China. Read more


Thermal Power/Heating

Italian solar energy market is still on the rise: KYOCERA supplies an additional 10 MW of PV modules for second phase of 16 MW "Lotti" and "Petiva" solar park

Tuesday, 12.13.2011 - 23:52 (Solarserver)

Kyocera Corporation (Kyoto, Japan) in December 2011 announced that it has recently delivered an additional 10 megawatts (MW) of solar modules to an existing 6 MW installation near Turin, Italy - which the company supplied modules for earlier this year. Kyocera anticipates continued growth in the solar industry in Italy, as high levels of energy production from favorable sunlight conditions and an attractive feed-in tariff promote the expansion of solar energy. Read more

Duke Energy Renewables acquires two Arizona solar farms totaling 20 MW; APS to buy all of the output under a PPA

Tuesday, 12.13.2011 - 23:52 (Solarserver)

Duke Energy Renewables (Charlotte, N.C.), a commercial business unit of Duke Energy, purchased the Ajo Solar Project and Bagdad Solar Project from Recurrent Energy in August 2011. Financial terms were not disclosed. Arizona Public Service Co. (APS) will buy all of the output from both solar farms from Duke Energy Renewables under the terms of two 25-year power purchase agreements. APS originally signed these agreements with Recurrent Energy, Duke Energy reports in a press release. Read more

Report estimates 6,400 employed in Tennessee solar industry and related industries

Tuesday, 12.13.2011 - 23:51 (Solarserver)

On December 8th, 2011 the Tennessee Solar Institute (TSI, Knoxville, Tennessee, U.S.) released a report which estimates that 6,400 residents of Tennessee are employed in the solar industry and related industries, with the majority of growth in small businesses. "Tennesee's Solar Value Chain: A Workforce Development Needs Assessment" claims to be the first comprehensive look at the U.S. state's solar industry. TSI states that it will use the study to assess strategic options to support this industry in Tennessee. Read more

Soitec introducesPlug&Sun CPV tracker, launches Sunidarity initiative to support aid organizations

Tuesday, 12.13.2011 - 23:04 (PV-Tech)

Soitec is looking to bring solar energy to even the most remote, and sunny, parts of the world with its newly launched Sunidarity program, an initiative to help development aid organizations in supporting their efforts to promote economic and human development in the more remote regions of the globe. Soitec plans to donate its new Plug&Sun technology to three selected projects, which will be chosen for their innovation, difficulty of the challenge they overcome and integration within a global development project. Read more

Soltecture restructures solar energy services, debuts new brand design

Tuesday, 12.13.2011 - 22:37 (PV-Tech)

Soltecture has revamped its solar energy services, going so far as to launch a new brand deign, in order to improve client accessibility. ?The focus of our new brand design is our client: they will get a focused overview of our services and portfolio,? explains Soltecture?s CSO Henrik Kruepper. ?Through the integration of our system solutions with our range of services, and by renaming our products in less technical terms, we are delighted to give our brand a more focused and clear identity.? Read more

PV Evolution Labs, Black & Veatch team on improved solar panel performance models

Tuesday, 12.13.2011 - 22:20 (PV-Tech)

PV Evolutions and Black & Veatch advised that they are collaborating to create what they deem as the industry?s first third-party PAN file generation and validation service. The companies? overall aim is to provide accurate models of a PV project?s performance and value, which will in turn help the decision to investment in PV power plants easier on future project developers and investors. Read more

Belectric completes largest thin-film plant in Europe

Tuesday, 12.13.2011 - 17:41 (PV-Tech)

With the completion of Europe?s largest thin-film ground-mounted solar power plant in Alt Daber, Germany, Belectric is celebrating its second year in a row, of having installed more PV power around the world than any other company in the industry. The plant itself is claimed to have an output of almost 70MW and is worth ?100 million. Read more

Solar Power Becomes Cheaper than Diesel in India

Tuesday, 12.13.2011 - 17:36 (Renewable Energy World)

Solairedirect, France's second largest solar power company, made a game-changing bid to supply solar power to India's national power grid at Rs7.49 (US$0.14) per unit (kWh). This rate is now better than the average cost of power generated by diesel generators, which is about Rs 13 (US$0.25) per unit. Read more

BTU?s dual-lane metallization fast firing system completed marathon testing at customer site

Tuesday, 12.13.2011 - 16:49 (PV-Tech)

Advanced thermal processing equipment specialist, BTU International has said it had successfully completed a tool marathon test at a customer site for its ?TRITAN? HV90 dual-lane metallization firing system. The marathon test involved processing in excess of 60 million cells. Read more

Hampshire map firm helps shed light on solar investment

Tuesday, 12.13.2011 - 16:09 (Solarpowerportal)

The implementation of the feed-in tariff cut from December 12 has lead solar firms to carefully consider all aspects of a solar installation in order to maximise output and therefore value for customers and investors alike. Read more

Successful Kick-off for Intersolar China; about 4,500 visitors from all over the world

Tuesday, 12.13.2011 - 15:56 (Solarserver)

Intersolar China, China's international exhibition for the solar industry, drew to a close on Friday, December 9, 2011. In total, 130 exhibitors from 13 countries attended the inaugural exhibition, which took place at the China National Convention Center in Beijing, Solar Promotion GmbH (Pforzheim) reports in a press release. The organizers welcomed about 4,500 visitors from all over the world. The Intersolar China Conference, which ran one day offset to the exhibition, was reportedly also a big success. Nearly 60 speakers presented the latest technologies, industry trends and developments in global solar markets to 492 attendees. Read more

Chinese PV producer JA Solar announces strategic cooperation with German TÜV SÜD

Tuesday, 12.13.2011 - 15:56 (Solarserver)

JA Solar Holdings Co., Ltd., (Shanghai, China) on December 12th, 2011 announced that it has signed a cooperation agreement with TÜV SÜD (Cologne, Germany), one of the world's leading providers of testing and certification services. Under the terms of the agreement, JA Solar and TÜV SÜD will cooperate on a range of solar photovoltaic (PV) product and system testing and certification initiatives, including the establishment of a TÜV SÜD-accredited testing facility at JA Solar's Fengxian facility in Shanghai. JA Solar is the first Chinese solar company to sign a strategic cooperative agreement with TÜV SÜD. Read more

SunPower to supply 54 Megawatts of PV panels to NRG Solar

Tuesday, 12.13.2011 - 15:55 (Solarserver)

SunPower Corp. (San Jose, Calif.) on December 12th, 2011 announced that it will supply NRG Solar, a subsidiary of NRG Energy, Inc. (Princeton, New Jersey, U.S.) with a total of 54 megawatts (DC) of SunPower solar power technology. Under a supply agreement, SunPower will deliver 24 megawatts (DC) of high efficiency solar panels to NRG by year-end 2011. The balance of megawatts, as well as a portion of the 2011 panels, will support NRG's 26-megawatt (AC) Borrego Solar Project in San Diego County, Calif., for which SunPower is supplying its SunPower "Oasis" Power Plant technology. Read more

Canadian Solar supplies modules for PV systems at Spanish university

Tuesday, 12.13.2011 - 13:23 (PV-Tech)

Canadian Solar has supplied 2.5MW of modules for two Siemens?s projects in southern Spain. The CS6X modules will power a carport and rooftop system at the University of Murcia. Read more

Solar industry appeal to Number 10

Tuesday, 12.13.2011 - 12:02 (Solarpowerportal)

Campaigners fighting to protect the solar sector and the FiT scheme will hand-deliver a letter signed by over 200 prominent organisations and a 17,000-strong petition to Downing Street today. Read more


Biomass/Pellets

Policy Outlook 2012: Don't Expect Much From Washington

Tuesday, 12.13.2011 - 15:26 (Renewable Energy World)

Political turmoil has enveloped 2011, and it is expected set the scene for the coming year. The late-August Solyndra bankruptcy news cast a dark mark on the Department of Energy (DOE) loan program, which is fueling an already fiery Washington D.C. climate. The heated political atmosphere has already affected a biofuels industry facing a $6 billion cut in tax breaks for ethanol producers. It also is poised to impact debates on the set-to-expire 1603 cash grant and the Production Tax Credit (PTC) for the wind, hydro, geothermal and biomass industries. Read more


Wind Energy

There are no news available

 



Hydropower

There are no news available

 



Hydrogen/Fuel Cell

There are no news available

 



Geo Thermal/Heat Pump

There are no news available

 



Energy Policy/Climate/CO2

Oerlikon signs MOU with China Renewable Energy Society to collaborate on thin film silicon PV

Tuesday, 12.13.2011 - 23:53 (Solarserver)

On December 9th, 2011 Oerlikon Solar AG (Trübbach, Switzerland) announced that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the International Cooperation Center for China Renewable Energy Society (CRES) to collaborate on thin film silicon solar photovoltaic (PV) technology in China. Oerlikon describes the collaboration as a strategic partnership, and states that it begins an effort to promote Oerlikon thin film silicon PV technology in the nation, including research, support and participation in demonstration projects undertaken by CRES, and government policy advisory. Read more

OwnEnergy Project Sale to NextEra Epitomizes Community Wind

Tuesday, 12.13.2011 - 16:05 (Renewable Energy World)

Community wind company OwnEnergy has closed a transaction for NextEra Energy Resources to acquire, construct and operate the Blackwell Wind Farm, an Oklahoma project developed by OwnEnergy and slated to be completed by the end of next year. Read more

Canada withdraws from Kyoto Protocol

Tuesday, 12.13.2011 - 15:56 (Solarserver)

On December 12th, 2011 the government of Canada announced that it will withdraw from the Kyoto Protocol, which was extended at the UN Climate Change Conference in Durban, South Africa (COP17) in a final agreement reached the previous day. The departure does not come as a surprise, as Canadian Environment Minister Peter Kent told reporters before going into the conference that Canada would not commit to an extension of the protocol. The Minister later stated that the nation would resist another, similar pact "at all costs". Read more

DECC set to confirm 21p tariffs until April 2012

Tuesday, 12.13.2011 - 12:46 (Solarpowerportal)

Speaking with the solar industry yesterday Minister of State for Energy and Climate Change Greg Barker revealed that the 21p rate proposed by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) is confirmed from December 12 to March 31. This means that all systems installed in that time will receive that rate for the full 25-year lifetime. Read more

Bloomberg Government finds little risk, high value in DOE loan guarantees

Tuesday, 12.13.2011 - 12:16 (Solarserver)

Bloomberg Government (New York, New York, U.S.) has issued an analysis of the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Loan Guarantee Program, noting that 87% of the loan guarantees are for low-risk power generation projects, and that the program has paid for itself to date. "Beyond Solyndra: An Analysis of DOE's Loan Guarantee Program" addresses the media storm over the USD 535 million U.S. federal loan guarantee to now-bankrupt Solyndra LLC (Fremont, California, U.S.). Solyndra was one of two DOE loan guarantee recipients among a total of 28 to go bankrupt in 2011. The two comprised 3.6% of the energy loan guarantee portfolio by value. Read more

Masdar, Fraunhofer Gesellschaft partner on building facade test center in Masdar City, Abu Dhabi

Tuesday, 12.13.2011 - 0:44 (PV-Tech)

Masdar and Fraunhofer Gesellschaft advised that they will be collaborating to construct a façade test centre (FTC) in Masdar City. Fraunhofer?s Institute for Building Physics IBP and Fraunhofer ISE will supply planning and supervision services for the test centre. The FTC aims to support designers and contractors in selecting the buildings materials that will help reduce energy waste in the UAE and the MENA region. Read more


Solar-/Electromobil

There are no news available

 



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