A Pressing Need for Design and Engineering Standards

Monday, 3.7.2011 - 6:58 (Renewable Energy World)

The solar industry has historically applied its technical resources, research dollars and time to increasing the efficiency, driving down the cost and improving the reliability of modules and inverters. The infrastructure that supports these solar modules, however, has largely been ignored probably because it does not generate any revenue for investors, businesses or homeowners. Read more

National Solar Trainers Helps Community Colleges Start New Solar Programs at the IREC Workforce Development Conference

Monday, 3.7.2011 - 23:49 (Renewable Energy World)

National Solar Trainers Executive Director, David Sawchak will be attending the IREC national workforce development and education summit in Albany New York. He will speak on the importance of hands-on training. Read more

Local ASHRAE Members and National Solar Trainers Holds Trainings on Offering Solar To Commercial Customers

Monday, 3.7.2011 - 23:44 (Renewable Energy World)

National Solar Trainers provided free training programs at the latest ASHRAE and USGBC regional conference. The engineers and architects in these organizations are doing more than talking about renewable energy, they are doing it. Read more

Hilco Industrial to act as agent in sale of Evergreen Solar?s Devens, Massachusetts, facility

Monday, 3.7.2011 - 23:07 (PV-Tech)

Hilco Industrial will be overseeing the sale of Evergreen Solar?s PV solar panel facility in Devens, Massachusetts. The manufacturing facility produces wafers, solar cells and solar panels with a rated output of 160MW per year and an actual output of over 180MW per year. The sites original cost in 2009 was over US$425 million. Although Evergreen?s Devens facility is still in operation, starting this month it will begin a scheduled phased shut down. Read more

Proinso debuts web application to help qualified installers set up free customized catalogues

Monday, 3.7.2011 - 22:50 (PV-Tech)

Proinso is offering its 1,311 qualified installers in Germany, France, Greece, Italy, Canada and the U.S. the chance to partake in Solar Sigma; the company?s web application that allows qualified installers to create a free customized catalogue using their own logo and photos of their facilities. The catalogue will be produced in PDF formats and can be generated as many times as the installers wishes. Read more

Florida Power & Light opens hybrid concentrated solar thermal/natural gas power plant

Monday, 3.7.2011 - 22:13 (PV-Tech)

Commemorating the opening of what has been deemed the world?s first hybrid solar power plant, Florida Power & Light was joined by state senators, public officials, business leaders and Florida?s Governor Rick Scott on the site of their 500-acre Martin Next Generation Solar Energy Center in Martin County, Florida. Read more

Dow Corning appoints Samaro as its silicon solar products distributor in France

Monday, 3.7.2011 - 21:40 (PV-Tech)

Dow Corning has named Samaro, a French specialty chemical product supplier, as the distributor for its silicon-based solar product solutions in France. The French company will be a technical resource and production base for Dow Corning?s solar division while delivering Dow Corning?s solar silicon products to local customers. Samaro has acted as Dow Corning Electronics? French distributor and will additionally undertake the delivery of Dow Corning?s Molykote brand lubricant applications in North Africa. Read more

Amcor Glass and Solyndra sign US$200 million long-term supply deal

Monday, 3.7.2011 - 21:17 (PV-Tech)

Solyndra and Amcor Glass Tubing have agreed to a long-term supply agreement where Amcor will provide Solyndra tubular glass for its solar panels. Throughout the life of the business contract, over US$200 million will be transacted between the two companies. Currently, Amcor operates two production lines at its Millville, New Jersey glass tubing facility for Solyndra. With a US$4 million expansion of the production site, Amcor plans to have an additional three production lines, which should allow the company to begin its increased production by this fall and reach full production by the beginning of 2012. Read more

MEMC goes to China: JV with JA Solar on cell manufacturing

Monday, 3.7.2011 - 19:32 (PV-Tech)

Adding another downstream element to its evolving integrated business model with risk adverse overtones, MEMC is forming a joint venture c-Si solar cell plant in China with JA Solar. The Phase One (250MW) production facility will be located at JA Solar?s Yangzhou site, and is expected to begin commercial production in the second half of 2011. Read more

Eco Environments is awarded MCS across the board

Monday, 3.7.2011 - 17:36 (Solarpowerportal)

Solar energy company Eco Environments has become one of a handful in the UK to gain a full set of industry-leading accreditations. With offices located in Liverpool, Darlington, Manchester, Tamworth and Penrith the company has been awarded accreditation under the microgeneration certification scheme (MCS) for its solar PV, solar thermal, heat pump and wind divisions. Read more

CSP tipped to emerge as dominant solar technology in MENA

Monday, 3.7.2011 - 16:58 (Renewable Energy World)

Political stability is being cited as the biggest challenge for solar development in North Africa and Middle East, according to research conducted by CSP Today. Read more

GT Solar to pay-out US$10.5 million to settle post IPO litigation

Monday, 3.7.2011 - 16:22 (PV-Tech)

Silicon crystalline growth systems specialist, GT Solar is to settle two securities class-action lawsuits related to initial public offering in 2008 at a cost of US$10.5 million. Read more

TMY ? typical meteorological year - What should it represent and what means P50, P70 and P90

Monday, 3.7.2011 - 14:09 (Renewable Energy World)

Technical Top Tip courtesy of Suntrace Solar Resource Assessment Read more

Motech Americas receives approval for its modules from the Florida Solar Energy Center

Monday, 3.7.2011 - 12:46 (PV-Tech)

Motech Industry?s subsidiary, Motech Americas, has received approval for its high-performance solar modules from the Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC). Read more

Upheavals in the Chinese Polysilicon Market May Lead to Further Solar PV Cost Reductions

Monday, 3.7.2011 - 6:18 (Renewable Energy World)

New standards for polysilicon manufacturers may cause shakeup in the market but ultimately drive down costs, analysts say. Read more

Turning Bacteria into Butanol Biofuel Factories

Monday, 3.7.2011 - 6:17 (Renewable Energy World)

University of California, Berkeley, chemists have engineered bacteria to churn out a gasoline-like biofuel at about 10 times the rate of competing microbes, a breakthrough that could soon provide an affordable and "green" transportation fuel. Read more

Wind Power Mexico, 12 - 13 May 2011, Mexico City

Monday, 3.7.2011 - 11:41 (Renewable Energy World)

This event will provide stakeholders with the opportunity to meet with both domestic and international market leaders and set the agenda for dramatic expansion in the Mexican wind market. Read more

Small States Grapple With Big Canadian Hydropower

Monday, 3.7.2011 - 6:19 (Renewable Energy World)

Peterborough, NH, USA -- In New Hampshire a major transmission project that was announced last year is spurring discussion about what should qualify as renewable energy and what the goals of renewable portfolio standards ought to be.  The project, known as The Northern Pass, is set to construct a 140-mile high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission line from the Canadian province of Quebec into neighboring New Hampshire.  The line will carry 1200 MW of emission-free electricity from Hydro-Quebec’s hydropower facilities into the state of New Hampshire and through to its neighboring New England states. The issues are, or course, manifold.  First, there Read more

Enhanced Geothermal Systems: Good Concept but Commercially Viable?

Monday, 3.7.2011 - 12:00 (Renewable Energy World)

With a need for cheaper renewable energy on a vast scale, conventional geothermal energy has long been seen as a reliable source of energy, based primarily along continental boundaries. With the potential to produce energy 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) has been seen as a viable renewable resource which if successful could help the US meet its energy needs by exploiting the approximately 500,000 MWe of EGS resources. Read more

Daqo reports 2010 polysilicon shipments at 3,650MT: revenue US$242.7 million

Monday, 3.7.2011 - 18:19 (PV-Tech)

China-based polysilicon producer, Daqo New Energy, has reported its first financial year results as a public company, listed on the NYSE. Polysilicon shipments for 2010 were 3,650MT, module shipments were 3.5MW, after starting volume production in the fourth quarter. Revenues in the fourth quarter of 2010 were $81.9 million, an increase of 29.6% from the third quarter of 2010. The increase was mainly due to higher average selling prices for the polysilicon. Read more

ABB wins construction contract for 24.2MW Lazio plant

Monday, 3.7.2011 - 16:30 (PV-Tech)

ABB has won a US$50-million contract to design and build a 24.2MW PV plant in Lazio, Italy for Phoenix Renewables. Construction is expected to take four months and when completed the system will generate up to 35GWh of electricity a year. Read more