SMA America?s Denver inverter manufacturing site receives ISO certification

Wednesday, 12.21.2011 - 22:31 (PV-Tech)

SMA America advised that its Denver solar inverter manufacturing facility has passed the initial registration audit for both ISO 9001:2008 and ISO 14001:2004 standards with the audit returning no findings. TÜV USA performed the certification audit and awarded SMA registration for meeting the requirements of both ISO standards. Read more

Flamac and imec partner for development of new materials for solar cells

Wednesday, 12.21.2011 - 21:06 (PV-Tech)

Flamac, a unit of SIM vzw, advised that it will work with imec to develop new semiconductor materials for solar cell applications. The collaboration will see the companies produce materials that are alternates for the standard CIGS solar cells. Read more

Consumers attack ?sham? FiT consultation process

Wednesday, 12.21.2011 - 14:02 (Solarpowerportal)

A recent survey of YouGen users has shown that setting a cut-off date for installations that falls before the end of the feed-in tariff consultation period undermines trust in the consultation process. Read more

Natcore receives patent license from NREL to develop "Black Silicon" solar cells, first commercial sale expected in 2012

Wednesday, 12.21.2011 - 13:20 (Solarserver)

Natcore Technology Inc. (Red Bank, N.J.) has been granted a patent license agreement from the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to develop and commercialize a line of black silicon products - including equipment, chemicals, and solar cells - based on NREL patents. The license grants Natcore exclusivity in the field of diffused emitters with liquid phase passivation. Read more

Bosch to enter PV inverter business, plans acquisition of voltwerk electronics GmbH

Wednesday, 12.21.2011 - 12:21 (Solarserver)

The Bosch Group (Stuttgart, Germany) plans to acquire voltwerk electronics GmbH, a Hamburg-based supplier of electronic components and software for the operation of solar photovoltaic (PV) arrays. An agreement to this effect has been signed with Conergy AG, Bosch reports in a press release. The parties have agreed not to disclose the purchasing price. The acquisition is subject to approval by the antitrust authorities. In 2010, voltwerk electronics and its roughly 100 associates generated sales of some EUR 68 million. Its product portfolio mainly comprises string and central inverters for PV arrays. Read more

U.S. CIGS PV producer Stion announces USD 130 million financing led by Korean Investors

Wednesday, 12.21.2011 - 12:15 (Solarserver)

Stion Corporation (San Jose, Calif.), manufacturer of high-efficiency CIGS thin-film solar photovoltaic (PV) modules, on December 20th, 2011 announced a USD 130M equity investment led by AVACO and Korean private equity funds. Existing investors Khosla Ventures, Taiwan Semiconductor (through VentureTech Alliance), Lightspeed Venture Partners, Braemar Energy Ventures, and General Catalyst Partners all participated in the round. Read more

Bosch entering PV inverter market with purchase of Conergy?s voltwerk electronics

Wednesday, 12.21.2011 - 11:58 (PV-Tech)

As part of its business strategy to minimise its direct manufacturing exposure, Conergy has sold its PV inverter subsidiary, voltwerk electronics to the Bosch Group, heralding its move into the market. Bosch intends to integrate voltwerk electronics operations into Bosch Power Tec. Financial terms were not disclosed. voltwerk electronics employed approximately 100 workers with turnover of around ?68 million in 2010. Read more

Ormat Technologies, IID sign PPA for 10MW solar project in Imperial Valley, California

Wednesday, 12.21.2011 - 22:09 (PV-Tech)

Ormat Technologies has signed a PPA with Imperial Irrigation District (IID) for 10MW of solar PV energy, making this the first independent PV project for Ormat in the US, which will be located near the Heber geothermal complex in Imperial Valley, California. The companies did not disclose what types of modules would be used in the project, nor did they release the value of the deal. Read more

WMECo celebrates completion of 2.3MW solar facility in Springfield, Massachusetts

Wednesday, 12.21.2011 - 21:19 (PV-Tech)

Officials from Western Massachusetts Electric Company (WMECo) were joined by state and local personnel to celebrate the completion of the utility?s second large-scale solar facility. Located in Springfield, the 2.3MW project uses 8,200 solar panels and sits on a former foundry site in the Indian Orchard area of Springfield. Read more

Google's Solar Flair: $94 Million Investment in PV Projects

Wednesday, 12.21.2011 - 18:29 (Renewable Energy World)

After Google announced the phase out of its RE<C initiative last month, some in the press drew the conclusion that the tech giant was pulling out of renewables altogether. We quickly pointed out that it was a simple shift in Google's strategy ? moving from R&D to deployment, where the company could make a bigger impact. Read more

Indian solar capacity to reach 33GW by 2022

Wednesday, 12.21.2011 - 17:58 (PV-Tech)

Installed solar capacity in India is set to reach 33.4GW by 2022, according to consulting firm Bridge to India. Much of this growth is forecasted to come from the off-grid sector, which Bridge to India highlights as having enormous potential in its recently released India Solar Handbook. Read more

Time runs out for Solar Millennium as it files for insolvency

Wednesday, 12.21.2011 - 17:04 (PV-Tech)

Unable to secure closure on a previous deal to sell its solar project pipeline to solarhybrid and investor funding for its planned expansion of its Ibersol parabolic trough power plant project, Solar Millennium has filed for the opening of insolvency proceedings at the district court in Fuerth, Germany. The module supply deal between First Solar and solarhybrid becomes suspect. Read more

Breaking News: High Court rules that Government FiT cuts are ?legally flawed?

Wednesday, 12.21.2011 - 17:00 (Solarpowerportal)

Friends of the Earth, Homesun and Solarcentury’s appeal to the High Court over the Government’s handling of the feed-in tariff has ended in victory. Read more

BP leaves ?commoditised? solar market

Wednesday, 12.21.2011 - 16:02 (Solarpowerportal)

BP Solar is withdrawing from the solar industry after operating in the market for nearly 40 years Read more

NRG, Kraft Group announce tripling of solar power, one-megawatt PV installation

Wednesday, 12.21.2011 - 16:02 (Solarserver)

NRG Energy Inc. (Princeton, New Jersey, U.S.) and The Kraft Group (Foxborough, MA) on December 20th, 2011 announced a comprehensive sustainable energy supply agreement for Gillette Stadium, home of the New England Patriots and the New England Revolution, and Patriot Place, The Kraft Group?s shopping, dining, and entertainment destination in Foxborough, Massachusetts. Under the agreement, NRG will triple the amount of clean, renewable solar power generated at Patriot Place. Read more

Enphase supplies micro-inverter system for 660-kW solar PV farm in Wisconsin

Wednesday, 12.21.2011 - 16:02 (Solarserver)

On December 19th, 2011, Enphase Energy (Petaluma, California, US) announced that its micro-inverter System has been deployed at the Convergence Energy LLC's 660-kW solar photovoltaic (PV) farm located near Delavan, Wis. The Convergence Energy solar project is the second largest solar installation in the state and is located on a 14-acre site. The solar farm site hosts 99 dual axis PV trackers utilizing nearly 2,000 Enphase micro-inverters. Read more

I-Go launches electric vehicle network in Chicago with 18 solar PV powered plug stations

Wednesday, 12.21.2011 - 16:02 (Solarserver)

On December 14th, 2011, nonprofit car sharing organization I-GO (Chicago, Illinois, US) announced that it has received approval from the Chicago Transit Authority to install an "I-GO" car sharing solar-powered charging station for two electric vehicles at the park and ride lot adjacent to the Brown Line Kimball El station. Read more

PV in Ontario: Canadian Solar Inc. and TransCanada Corporation announce sales agreement for 86MW project Portfolio

Wednesday, 12.21.2011 - 15:53 (Solarserver)

Canadian Solar Inc. (Kitchener, Ontario) on December 20th, 2011 announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Canadian Solar Solutions Inc. has entered into a sales agreement with TransCanada Corporation (Calgary, Alberta, Canada). Under the agreement TransCanada will acquire from Canadian Solar a 86 megawatts (MW) AC solar photovoltaic (PV) project portfolio for approximately USD 470 million Canadian dollars. Read more

Solar Millennium and solarhybrid?s 2.25GW US project pipeline negotiations put on hold

Wednesday, 12.21.2011 - 14:09 (PV-Tech)

Announced in October, Solar Millennium no longer believes negotiations for its US project pipeline with solarhybrid will be concluded before the end of the year. The companies had hoped to reach an agreement by the end of November. Read more

US DOI gives green light to 300MW Sonoran Solar Energy Project

Wednesday, 12.21.2011 - 13:25 (PV-Tech)

The US Department of the Interior (DOI) has approved NextEra?s proposal to build a 300MW PV system on public land in Maricopa County, Arizona. The Sonoran Solar Energy Project will be comprised of 150 2MW alternating current arrays, spanning just over 2,000 acres and located in close proximity to existing transmission lines. Read more

Completion of largest PV plant in Europe marks the end of a successful year for solarhybrid

Wednesday, 12.21.2011 - 13:12 (PV-Tech)

With the installation of the last modules this week, December 20 will be remembered as the day the largest PV power plant in Europe connected to the grid. The FinowTower project in Germany, which was expanded this year by 60.4MWp from 24.3MWp to 84.7 MWp ? a total project volume of 218MWp, was completed by solarhybrid AG who plan to put the inverters gradually into operation and feed the full capacity to the grid by the end of the year. Read more

BP Solar operations to fold

Wednesday, 12.21.2011 - 12:22 (PV-Tech)

Having halted PV module manufacturing operations in 2009, BP plans to exit the sector entirely with offloading its stake in projects said to be in the region of 158MW, according to Bloomberg. Approximately 100 employees will be affected and ends over 40-years of involvement in the PV industry. Read more

Solar corporate group REC receives USD 29 million for terminating a long term wafer sales contract

Wednesday, 12.21.2011 - 12:08 (Solarserver)

Renewable Energy Corporation (REC, Sandvika, Norway) in its third quarter report expects to continue to recognize income from termination of long term wafer contracts. REC has now accepted to terminate one of these contracts and will receive a cash compensation of approximately NOK 170 million (approx. USD 29 million) in addition to certain deliveries of wafers going forward, the company announces. Wafer deliveries under the existing contract will continue until the end of 2011. Read more

Google & KKR partner to acquire an 88 MW portfolio of solar PV projects in California from Recurrent Energy

Wednesday, 12.21.2011 - 12:00 (Solarserver)

Google (Mountain View, Calif.), Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. L.P. (together with its affiliates, ?KKR?, New York), and Recurrent Energy (San Francisco) on December 20th, 2011 announced an investment in a portfolio of solar photovoltaic (PV) facilities serving the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD). The four solar PV facilities included in the transaction will provide 88 MW of generation power to SMUD and were the first to be awarded as part of the utility's feed-in tariff program (FIT) introduced in January 2010. Read more

High court decision over FiT fiasco expected today

Wednesday, 12.21.2011 - 11:24 (Solarpowerportal)

Friends of the Earth, Homesun and Solarcentury’s appeal to the High Court over the Government’s handling of the feed-in tariff will continue today. Read more

The Decline and Fall of the Oil Age

Wednesday, 12.21.2011 - 15:00 (Renewable Energy World)

The decline and fall of the Oil Age is upon us. Its faint outlines are becoming clear as the reality of sustained high oil prices sets in and new technologies appear at an increasingly rapid rate. The new generation of electric vehicles is particularly promising and may lead to a massive transformation in coming decades in how we move people and goods. Read more

Latin America Report: Environmental Concerns Surface

Wednesday, 12.21.2011 - 17:37 (Renewable Energy World)

Many regions in Latin America are struggling to build thriving economies on top of an old energy infrastructure. That's why we're seeing such rapid advancement of wind projects, and why we'll likely see the same for solar a bit further down the road. Meanwhile, hydropower continues to expand its lead in the clean energy race. Read more

Geothermal Outlook 2012: Despite Difficulties, Industry Will Forge Ahead

Wednesday, 12.21.2011 - 15:00 (Renewable Energy World)

The U.S. geothermal market adds new projects to its development pipeline each year and 2012 will be no different. The industry will enter January with up to billions of dollars in planned investments. In 2005, geothermal energy became a qualifying renewable for the production tax credit (PTC), sparking new developments and by early 2011, U.S. capacity had swollen to 3,102 MW. Currently, up to 5,745 MW are in development. In May of 2011, Terra-Gen Power and TAS Energy added 2 MW to the 17-MW Beowawe, Nev. plant - the first geothermal project supported by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to begin operations. Read more

CRS Reprocessing Services finalizes slurry reprocessing services at Dahai New Energy in China

Wednesday, 12.21.2011 - 21:51 (PV-Tech)

CRS Reprocessing Services advised that it had completed slurry reprocessing services for Dahai New Energy Development?s Dongying City, Shandong Province, China site. The long-term agreement between the two companies sees CRS reprocess the slurry used in the manufacturing of Dahai?s silicon wafers. The initial agreement was signed in November 2010 and, with the completion of the reprocessing services nine months later, now sees CRS reprocessing over 210,000 metric tons of slurry annually on a worldwide-basis. Read more

Silfab to supply 5MW to Sunny Day for rooftop projects in Canada

Wednesday, 12.21.2011 - 16:08 (PV-Tech)

Sunny Day Energy and Silfab Ontario have entered into an agreement to supply approximately 5MWp of high efficiency domestic content modules. A number of rooftop projects in the Greater Toronto area will benefit from the modules which range in size between 200 and 500KWp each. Read more

REC supplies modules for two GP Joule projects

Wednesday, 12.21.2011 - 12:07 (PV-Tech)

REC has signed a contract to supply GP Joule with modules totalling 60MW for two of its planned European projects. The first delivery of REC?s Peak Energy Series Modules will arrive before the end of 2011, with the remainder shipped over the coming six months. Read more

U.S. Secretary of the Interior Salazar approves 300 MW Sonoran PV project in Arizona; continues to advance renewable energy development on public lands

Wednesday, 12.21.2011 - 8:30 (Solarserver)

Capping three years of efforts to develop renewable energy resources on public lands both onshore and offshore, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar on December 20th, 2011 announced approval of two utility-scale renewable energy projects. The wind and solar project, when built, together will have a generation capacity of 500 megawatts (MW), provide power for 150,000 homes, and create 700 jobs during peak construction. Read more