Centrosolar supplies PV modules for SOS Children?s Village in Kenya: 60 kW plant, third-largest photovoltaic system in East Africa, goes online

Friday, 6.17.2011 - 19:34 (Solarserver)

Over 60 per cent of Centrosolar solar photovoltaic (PV) modules are used outside of Germany. The Hamburg (Germany) based company has now delivered PV modules for an SOS Children?s Village in Mombasa, Kenya. With over 300 modules, the solar power plant is the third largest system in East Africa. The project dates back to the ?Renewable Energies Export Initiative? of the German Federal Ministry for Economics and Technology (BMWi). Read more

Santa Clara University to expand PV research program for undergraduates

Friday, 6.17.2011 - 19:34 (Solarserver)

On June 15th, 2011, Santa Clara University (Santa Clara, California, U.S.) announced that it will create a new program for solar photovoltaic (PV) research in the 2011-2012 academic year using an anonymous gift of USD 1.3 million from an engineering alumnus and his wife. The Latimer Engineering Scholars Program will support teaching and research in renewable energy, working with incoming freshman engineering students. Read more

SEIA, GTM: U.S. PV markets, manufacturing boom in 1Q 2011

Friday, 6.17.2011 - 14:00 (Solarserver)

On June 16th, 2011, the U.S. Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA, Washington D.C., U.S.) and Greentech Media (GTM) Research (Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.) released a report stating that the U.S. installed 252 MW of grid-connected solar photovoltaics (PV) in the first quarter of 2011, a 66% increase over a year ago. U.S. Solar Market Insight: Q1 2011 notes that while all U.S. PV sectors grew, a big increase in commercial PV projects was responsible for the much of that growth. Read more

German PV market: Federal Network Agency has published installed capacities for March to May 2011; Feed-in-tariffs will not be reduced as of July 1st.

Friday, 6.17.2011 - 13:58 (Solarserver)

The German Federal Network Agency has published data pertaining to newly installed photovoltaic (PV) capacities for March, April and May. According to the status quo, feed-in-tariffs will not be reduced to July 1st, 2011. Even though the exact figures for installed capacity in May have not been published yet, the Federal Network Agency announced in a press release, an estimation of 700 MWp in the months relevant for the calculation. Hence, the market did not meet expectations. Read more

Solar Cell Makers, Consider Another (Potentially) Renewable Resource: Water

Friday, 6.17.2011 - 11:00 (Renewable Energy World)

PV manufacturing typically consumes large quantities of water. With solar cell manufacturing facilities moving into water-scarce regions, like the Middle East, PV fab processes must be retooled to conserve and recycle water. Here's how. Read more

Order Focus: Solectria inverters selected for 2.5MW PV installation at Sonoma Valley school district

Friday, 6.17.2011 - 1:59 (PV-Tech)

Solectria Renewables is providing its inverters, ranging in size from 13kW to 300kW, to 10 projects throughout the Sonoma Valley Unified School District, which amount to a total of 2.5MW. The projects consist of 19 carports, 3 ground-mounted arrays and 6 shade structures. Read more

DOE awards another conditional loan guarantee, as 1366 Technologies nabs $150 million offer

Friday, 6.17.2011 - 22:31 (PV-Tech)

In the fifth award announcement regarding a solar project or company this week, the US Department of Energy said it has offered a conditional loan guarantee commitment of $150 million to 1366 Technologies to help the Lexington, MA-based silicon PV innovator to scale and expand manufacturing of its DirectWafer technology. The company plans to use the funds to bring its first plant, a 20MW facility in Massachusetts, online in 2013, and then to begin construction on a second 1GW plant that same year in an as-yet undetermined US location. Read more

AstraZeneca commissions 1.7MW solar PV power plant on Wilmington campus

Friday, 6.17.2011 - 21:58 (PV-Tech)

A 1.7MW solar PV power system comprised of 7300 Motech crystalline-silicon panels has been installed at AstraZeneca?s campus in Wilmington, DE. The project is expected to produce about 2.1 million KWh annually, which will account for approximately 10% of an office building?s electricity needs. Read more

JinkoSolar opens new R&D center, sees cell efficiencies reaching 18.6% by end of 2011

Friday, 6.17.2011 - 21:33 (PV-Tech)

Chinese manufacturer JinkoSolar is opening a new R&D center to focus on improving conversion efficiencies of solar cells and next-generation photovoltaic technology. The company aims to boost the efficiencies of its monocrystalline-silicon cells from 18.1% to >18.6% and its multicrystalline cells from 16.8% to >17.5% by year?s end. The firm is also planning to launch the first generation of its Blue Cell modules in Q3, featuring the high-efficiency monocrystalline cell technology. Read more

Britain Raises Biogas Tariffs & Revises Solar PV Tariffs

Friday, 6.17.2011 - 20:11 (Renewable Energy World)

Britain's Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has issued new tariffs for solar photovoltaics (solar PV) and biogas under its pioneering feed-in tariff program. Read more

DOE Loan to Help Fund Two Plants

Friday, 6.17.2011 - 16:46 (Renewable Energy World)

An expected solar energy boom in the United States and the continued quest to achieve grid parity are factors behind a Department of Energy loan that will help a Massachusetts company build two new plants and create hundreds of permanent jobs. Read more

China Sunergy lowers shipment and margin guidance

Friday, 6.17.2011 - 16:12 (PV-Tech)

Several key factors are impacting business at PV module manufacturer, China Sunergy as it lowers shipment and revenue guidance for the year - along with lower shipment, revenue and margin for the second quarter of 2011. Citing customer solar project financing problems, higher production costs due to silver paste prices and faster than expected module average selling price (ASP) declines, gross margin for the second quarter is expected to collapse to just 1%. Read more

Freetricity offers south east residents the chance to go solar ? for free

Friday, 6.17.2011 - 15:05 (Solarpowerportal)

Freetricity is to offer homeowners the chance to go green for free, as part of its solar energy strategy. A total of 1,200 residents per selected county will get the opportunity to have free solar panels installed and maintained absolutely free of charge under the rent-a-roof model that has become popular across the UK. Read more

DOE offers conditional commitment for USD 275 million loan guarantee to Calisolar

Friday, 6.17.2011 - 14:02 (Solarserver)

On June 15th, 2011, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced the offer of a conditional commitment for a USD 275 million loan guarantee to Calisolar Inc. (Sunnyvale, California, U.S.) to commercialize its solar silicon manufacturing process. This will include the construction of a polysilicon facility with an annual capacity of 16,000 metric tons (MT). The DOE states that Calisolar's process could produce silicon for use in PV cells at less than half the cost of traditional polysilicon purification processes. Read more

SDG&E signs contracts for 237 MW-AC of PV

Friday, 6.17.2011 - 13:53 (Solarserver)

On June 16th, 2011, San Diego Gas and Electric Company (SD&E, San Diego, California, U.S.) announced that it has signed two contracts for a total of 237 MW-AC of electricity from solar projects. The first contract is a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with a subsidiary of enXco Inc. (San Diego, California, U.S.) for electricity from the 110 MW-AC Catalina Solar plant. Read more

PVA TePla introduces new MultiCrystallizer system for the Solar PV Industry

Friday, 6.17.2011 - 13:44 (Solarserver)

PVA TePla AG (Wettenberg, Germany), a manufacturer of silicon crystallization systems as well as vacuum and high-temperature systems, is now marketing a further development of the "MultiCrystallizer" crystal-growing system, generation G5, for higher loads. The product is named MultiCrystallizer VGF732Si HC. Read more

US Concentrated Solar Power Industry receives its biggest boost yet by American DoE

Friday, 6.17.2011 - 13:38 (Renewable Energy World)

2011 will go down In the CSP history books as an excellent year. Following announcements for 2 loan guarantees in late 2010 to construct Ivanpah (a tower CSP plant by BrightSource Energy) and Solana (a parabolic trough with 7 hours storage by Abengoa), 2011 has come with an unprecedented levels of support by the DoE for the CSP industry. Read more

Crystalline silicon cost per-watt to hit US$1 in first quarter of 2012, predicts IHS iSuppli

Friday, 6.17.2011 - 13:19 (PV-Tech)

An important but unintended consequence of the global PV industry meeting at Intersolar Europe, held last week in Munich, Germany was a general fear that the market could decline this year after poor installation figures in key European markets stalled hope of continued growth. According to IHS iSuppli spot prices from the top Chinese brands had been running at US$1.49 per watt for c-Si modules before Intersolar, yet as the show prices had fallen to US$1.30 per watt. This has prompted the market research firm to guide prices to decline to the US$1 per watt by the first quarter of 2012. Read more

Sunny Britain brings solar to UK homes for half the price

Friday, 6.17.2011 - 12:40 (Solarpowerportal)

A new scheme, run by solar energy company Sunny Britain, will help UK residents to benefit from renewable electricity for the half the price. By grouping people from the same area together, the company is able to negotiate saving on equipment, installation and maintenance from local suppliers. In some cases the cost of installing solar panels can be reduced by 50%, making going green more attractive than ever. Read more

Solar installations in US grew 66% over 1Q 2010 to reach 252 MW

Friday, 6.17.2011 - 12:26 (PV-Tech)

The latest quarterly edition of the ?U.S. Solar Market Insight? report, published by the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and GTM Research, reveals continued strong growth in PV installations in the US. Grid-connected PV installations in the first quarter of 2011 increased 66% compared to the same quarter a year ago to reach 252MW. Cumulative grid-connected PV in the US has now reached over 2.3GW, according to the report. PV module production also increased in the US, growing by 17% relative to the fourth quarter of 2010, and up from 297MW to 348MW. Read more

SunPower designs 2.5MW carport system for reinsurance firm

Friday, 6.17.2011 - 12:03 (PV-Tech)

Munich Reinsurance America (Munich Re) has chosen SunPower to design and build its new 2.5MW solar power system in Plainsboro, New Jersey. Construction of the carport system will begin later this year and is scheduled to finish in the second half of 2012. Read more

Green Jobs Are Real: German and American Solar Industry Both Employ More People Than U.S. Steel Production

Friday, 6.17.2011 - 10:40 (Renewable Energy World)

With roughly 93,500 direct and indirect jobs, the American solar industry now employs about 9,300 more workers than the U.S. steel production sector, according to 2010 Bureau of Labor Statistics. The American steel industry has historically been a symbol of the country's industrial might and economic prosperity. But today, the solar industry has the potential to overtake that image as we build a new, clean-energy economy. Read more

Ontario Solar Manufacturing chooses Sunergy inverters for its Canadian solar kits

Friday, 6.17.2011 - 1:50 (PV-Tech)

Ontario Solar Manufacturing (OSM) has struck a deal with Sustainable Energy Technologies for its Sunergy inverters to be featured in OSM?s Canadian-made solar kits. The inverters, which are developed at Sustainable Energy?s Cambridge, Ontario plant, will be supplied for 3MW, or 600 units, of the OSM solar kits, which contain all ?made in Canada? products. Read more

Ontario Solar Manufacturing choses Sunergy inverters for its Canadian solar kits

Friday, 6.17.2011 - 1:50 (PV-Tech)

Ontario Solar Manufacturing (OSM) has struck a deal with Sustainable Energy Technologies for its Sunergy inverters to be featured in OSM?s Canadian-made solar kits. The inverters, which are developed at Sustainable Energy?s Cambridge, Ontario plant, will be supplied for 3MW, or 600 units, of the OSM solar kits, which contain all ?made in Canada? products. Read more

Chimed Farms hosting Open House to showcase its new Solar Energy System

Friday, 6.17.2011 - 0:52 (Renewable Energy World)

Read more

China's Biomass Industry on Track for Accelerated Growth

Friday, 6.17.2011 - 17:30 (Renewable Energy World)

According to industry analysts, if the Chinese central government established more favorable policies to boost the development of the biomass industry, it would immediately enter a period of accelerated growth. This is partly due to the impact of rising oil prices and the expenses of meeting environmental protection requirements. Read more

Which comes first: the wind farm or the turbine?

Friday, 6.17.2011 - 15:20 (Renewable Energy World)

Unless an offshore wind farm is optimally designed, even the most powerful offshore wind turbine will under-perform. While there will always be a trade-off between turbine performance losses and wind farm lay-out cost savings, the trick is knowing how to strike the right balance, says the latest Wind Energy Update Offshore Wind Installation and Construction Report. Read more

Wind turbine blade maintenance: Against all odds

Friday, 6.17.2011 - 15:07 (Renewable Energy World)

When a seven metre portion of a Vestas blade prototype broke off last year - only weeks after the company had a signed a deal to supply the same model to a 420MW wind farm in Australia - the company felt it had some explaining to do. But according to the latest Wind Energy Update Operations and Maintenance Report 2011, human error, which was ultimately the cause of the failure, is all too common in blade prototype manufacturing. Read more

Ten Clean Energy Stocks I'd Buy Now

Friday, 6.17.2011 - 15:04 (Renewable Energy World)

Two years ago I had a problem. In the universe of clean energy stocks I watch, I could not find any that I thought were good values. So I wrote an article saying "We're near the peak." Read more

Siemens buys 16% minority stake in Semprius

Friday, 6.17.2011 - 13:58 (PV-Tech)

Siemens has acquired a minority stake in US company Semprius for an undisclosed sum. The purchase of the approximately 16% share will see Siemens assist Semprius?s HCPV technology development and provide Siemens with an insight into a new CO2-free power generation technology that is nearing market maturity. Read more

California Energy Commission recommends license for Palmdale Hybrid Power Project including CSP

Friday, 6.17.2011 - 13:43 (Solarserver)

A California Energy Commission (CEC, Sacramento) committee is recommending the approval of the planned Palmdale Hybrid Power Project in Los Angeles County. In its presiding member's proposed decision (PMPD) released on June 16th, 2011, the committee reviewing the project said the 570-megawatt (MW) facility, as mitigated, will have no significant impacts on the environment and complies with all applicable laws, ordinances, regulations, and standards. Read more

Tianwei New Energy Yangzhou signs module supply contract with French firm

Friday, 6.17.2011 - 10:50 (PV-Tech)

Tianwei New Energy (Yangzhou), a subsidiary of Baoding Tianwei Group, has signed a contract to supply an unnamed French distributor with 6MW of its polysilicon modules. The first shipment, comprising of 46kW TWY230P660, 295.16kW TWY235P660 and 470.64kW TWY240P660 modules, was delivered in mid-June. Read more

Solaire Generation officially opens carport at General Electric campus

Friday, 6.17.2011 - 15:16 (PV-Tech)

Solaire Generation has unveiled its new Premium F2 solar carport at General Electric?s (GE) complex in Plainville, Connecticut. The electricity generated by the 98.7kW system will be used to power up to 13 vehicles and is GE?s largest charging station of this kind in North America. Read more