MIT develops cheap inkjet solar cell printing; New materials make it possible to produce photovoltaic cells on paper or fabric, nearly as simply as printing a document

Thursday, 7.14.2011 - 18:50 (Solarserver)

Almost as cheaply and easily as printing a photo on an inkjet, an inexpensive, simple solar cell has been created by MIT researchers on a flimsy sheet of paper, formed from special ?inks? deposited on the paper. It can be folded and slipped into a pocket, then being unfolded and watched generating electricity again in the sunlight. Read more

Fraunhofer joins Dunmore?s ?FastCert? project to reduce backsheet R&D and module assembly costs

Thursday, 7.14.2011 - 18:31 (PV-Tech)

PV module backsheet material specialist, Dunmore has recruited Fraunhofer USA?s Center for Sustainable Energy Systems (CSE) to consult with its ?FastCert? customers on reducing the cost of producing solar modules by increasing performance and lowering material and manufacturing costs.  By providing its backsheet material customers access to a network of research and development knowledge, Dunmore hopes that PV module manufacturers gain greater success in the certification processes. Read more

Photovoltaics in northern Germany, 2.3MWp solar power park opened in the village of Klixbuell; proven record-breaking yields

Thursday, 7.14.2011 - 18:31 (Solarserver)

The federal state of Schleswig-Holstein moves ahead towards energy transition: Thursday, July 7th, 2011 saw the official opening ceremony of a 2.3 megwatt (MWp) solar power park in the village of Klixbuell, close to the Danish border. Despite its reputation for bad weather, Northern Germany?s geographical situation proves to be ideal for PV power: for several months now, the solar installation that was finished by end of 2010 has been carrying record-breaking yields. Read more

Fronius extends inverter warranty to 20 years

Thursday, 7.14.2011 - 12:47 (Solarpowerportal)

Fronius, the Austrian inverter manufacturer, has increased customer confidence by extending its product warranty to 20 years. From July 1 until the end of October 2011 Fronius customers will receive a 20 year warranty on their inverters for the same price as a ten year one. Read more

Toppan boosting ?Tedlar? PV2400 PV backsheet production via new agreement with DuPont

Thursday, 7.14.2011 - 12:24 (PV-Tech)

Despite production capacity expansions since announcements, which started in 2008, demand for DuPont?s ?Tedlar? PV2400 polyvinyl fluoride (PVF) film, used as a backsheet material for PV modules of all shapes and sizes, demand has been such that DuPont Photovoltaic Fluoromaterials has expanded the rights of a technology license agreement with Toppan Inc. Printing Co., that will see Toppan?s immediate supply capability double. Toppan?s capacity levels were not disclosed. Read more

Fast-track feed-in tariff fate to be finalised

Thursday, 7.14.2011 - 12:14 (Solarpowerportal)

Members of the Micropower Council, the Building Council for Sustainable Energy UK, the British Photovoltaic Association, the Anaerobic Digestion and Biogas Association and the Combined Heat & Power Association will today appeal to the House of Lords to seriously consider the fast-track feed-in tariff adjustments. Read more

Fronius offers discounted 20-year warranty on inverter installations

Thursday, 7.14.2011 - 0:06 (PV-Tech)

Fronius recently advised that customers who install the company?s inverters between July 1 and October 31 will be offered a 20-year warranty for the price of a 10-year warranty. Installations using the Fronius IG, Fronius IG Plus, Fronius IG TL and Fronius CL series will be eligible for the 20-year warranty promotion. Read more

Fronius offers discounted 20 year warranty on inverter installations

Thursday, 7.14.2011 - 0:06 (PV-Tech)

Fronius recently advised that customers who install the company?s inverters between July 1 and October 31, will be offered a 20 year warranty for the price of a ten year warranty. Installations using the Fronius IG, Fronius IG Plus, Fronius IG TL and Fronius CL series will be eligible for the 20 year warranty promotion. Read more

CLEAN is a Better FIT for the USA

Thursday, 7.14.2011 - 23:36 (Renewable Energy World)

At Intersolar this week, I spoke on camera with Craig Lewis who is the Executive Director of the CLEAN coalition, a group that seeks to bring feed-in tariffs (FITs) to utilities across the country. Except the programs aren’t called FITs anymore, instead they are calling them CLEAN programs.  CLEAN stands for "clean, local, energy accessible now" and careful thought was put into each word. Lewis explained the original “rebranding” was conceived by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund who believed that Americans are not comfortable with the word “tariff.”  The group found through research that Americans are particularly interested in things Read more

DelSolar concludes installation on 1.15MW PV project for US Foodservice

Thursday, 7.14.2011 - 23:26 (PV-Tech)

DelSolar Development USA recently completed a 1.15MW solar project, consisting of both a rooftop PV system and two canopies at the La Mirada, California facility of US Foodservice. Co-developed with SunExpress, the solar project uses 4,998 multi-crystalline, 230Wp, D6P230A3E solar modules and will collectively generate around 1,656,774kWh of solar energy per year. Read more

RevoluSun expands, adding jobs and office space

Thursday, 7.14.2011 - 23:25 (Renewable Energy World)

www.RevoluSun.com ? Hawaii's leading solar energy firm, RevoluSun, announced today it has just added six new "green collar" jobs as it expands into an additional 2,900-square-feet of space in the Pan Am Building located at 1600 Kapiolani Avenue, and anticipates adding 15 more jobs by year's end. New employees include electrical and mechanical engineers, as well as accounting personnel with RevoluSun. In leasing additional space, the firm acknowledges that it has outgrown its sustainably designed and constructed 5,305-square-foot corporate offices in the building's penthouse and needs the additional space to consolidate its residential construction operations. Read more

SolarWorld donates PV system to Geraldine Chaplin?s fundraising for Peru project

Thursday, 7.14.2011 - 20:56 (PV-Tech)

More than simply ?off-grid,? a pilot project, part of a program to provide a series waterborne telecommunications, health-care and business centres that will travel rivers within Peru to remote villages has received a donation of an 11 kilowatt PV system from SolarWorld. Film Star Geraldine Chaplin is working to help coordinate the donation. Read more

One of world's largest rooftop solar PV projects to be constructed in Windsor, Ontario

Thursday, 7.14.2011 - 18:59 (Solarserver)

Ontario-based solar installation company Solar & AlternativeTechnology Corp. (S.A.T., Mississauga, Canada) has partnered with solar panel manufacturer Soventix Canada Inc., known as Sovello in Canada, and Hiram Walker & Sons Ltd., to design and build the largest rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) plant in Canada, at 7.9MW. The 7.9 megawatt plant will be the largest rooftop solar project to be built in Ontario under the Feed-in Tariff program. Read more

Intersolar NA: Unirac teams up with Kyocera on 1.16MW system on historic New Jersey site

Thursday, 7.14.2011 - 18:55 (PV-Tech)

PV mounting and systems company Unirac has joined forces with Kyocera Solar to establish a 1.16MW PV installation on the historic Masonic Lodge of New Jersey. The system was designed by NJ Solar Power, framed using Unirac?s ISYS Ground Mount (IGM) mounting solution and kitted out with 5,656 of Kyocera?s KD205 modules. Read more

JA Solar appoints Min Cao as new chief financial officer

Thursday, 7.14.2011 - 18:48 (PV-Tech)

JA Solar has appointed Min Cao as the successor to Anthea Chung as the Chinese module manufacturer?s chief financial officer. Read more

Order Focus: Abound Solar enters supply agreement with ABEL ReTec

Thursday, 7.14.2011 - 18:09 (PV-Tech)

German-based PV project developer, ABEL ReTec is to use Abound Solar?s CdTe thin-film modules in large-scale free-field projects, with an initial order of 1.2MW, which was shipped during the second quarter of 2011. The long-term purchase agreement was based on testing Abound?s AB1-series modules for rooftop installations. Read more

Intersolar NA: Trina launches Trinamount solution for US market

Thursday, 7.14.2011 - 18:04 (PV-Tech)

Trina Solar has qualified its Trinamount mounting solutions for shipment to the North American market, it announced at the Intersolar North America show. The Trinamount solution uses Trina Solar?s Zep Compatible PV module and is a combined effort on the part of Trina Solar and Zep Solar. The mounting system, said to reduce overall system costs, is compatible with a wide variety of roof types, including tiles and flat roofs on commercial buildings, and comes with a 10-year product workmanship warranty and a 25-year linear power warranty. Read more

P2 Solar to build 7.3MW Bulgarian PV system

Thursday, 7.14.2011 - 17:59 (PV-Tech)

Just three days after Gehrlicher unveiled its 1.2MW system in Bulgaria, P2 Solar has given a further boost to the Eastern European nation?s solar industry by unveiling plans to build a 7.3MW PV plant near the Greek border. Read more

Intersolar NA: Cooper Industries fields BOS solutions including monolithic rooftop mounting system

Thursday, 7.14.2011 - 17:23 (PV-Tech)

With growing focus on the balance of system costs as solar module margins bump along the bottom, Cooper Industries is exhibiting its integrated solar mounting and wiring, power management, and circuit management and protection solutions at Intersolar North America, Booth #7722. Cooper Industries, subsidiary, Cooper B-Line is showcasing also showcasing its versatile ?ARISTA? Monolithic Solar Mounting System for solar PV commercial rooftop applications as well as its new EnviroShield Type 3R Wireway System. Read more

SPP, JCM Capital to fund Avacos? 20MW Ontario portfolio

Thursday, 7.14.2011 - 16:44 (PV-Tech)

Solar Power Partners (SPP) and JCM Capital have signed a contract with Avacos Clean Energy, to provide long-term equity financing for its portfolio of rooftop solar arrays in Ontario. Funding will cover both the planning and construction of systems with a combined capacity of up to 20MW across the province. Read more

Eight core renewable technologies ?should surely have been nine?

Thursday, 7.14.2011 - 13:36 (Solarpowerportal)

Government’s Renewable Energy Roadmap, which was published on Tuesday alongside the Electricity Market Reform paper, has left the UK solar sector feeling a little dejected after the technology was excluded from a list of eight renewable energy sources expected to play a key role in the country’s energy mix through 2020. Read more

Solar Frontier ramping 150W CIS modules as customer engagements go global

Thursday, 7.14.2011 - 11:59 (PV-Tech)

CIS thin-film module manufacturer, Solar Frontier has started shipping 150 Watt modules with 12.2% conversion efficiencies after accelerating its production roadmap and achieving production targets ahead of schedule at its Kunitomi plant in Japan. Based on ?keen? interest in its low cost, high yield technology, which benefits from the ?light soaking effect, unique to CIS technology, Solar Frontier said shipments were going to customers on a global basis, though quantity figures were not released. Read more

Siemens Industry to equip 20MW Idaho system

Thursday, 7.14.2011 - 11:40 (PV-Tech)

Interconnect Solar Development has chosen Siemens Industry to equip its 20MW Murphy Flats solar field in Idaho. The multi-million dollar order includes Siemens? panels, Sinvert inverters, transformers and PV-WinCC SCADA monitoring software, all of which will be manufactured at the company?s West Chicago plant. Read more

Biomass Thermal Energy Council Praises Congressional Biomass Caucus Formation, Calls for Additional House Members

Thursday, 7.14.2011 - 21:08 (Renewable Energy World)

The Biomass Thermal Energy Council (BTEC) today applauded the formation of the first Congressional Biomass Caucus. Led by Representatives Charlie Bass (R-NH2) and Peter Welch (D-VT), this coalition will seek to support the development of biomass and elevate the renewable resource's profile in Congress. Read more

POET to outline sustainability efforts in cellulosic ethanol production

Thursday, 7.14.2011 - 16:28 (Renewable Energy World)

From biomass harvest to the final product, sustainability has to be top of mind when designing a commercial cellulosic ethanol plant. Read more

NREL confirms 16.3% efficiency reached in XsunX CIGS technology

Thursday, 7.14.2011 - 0:20 (PV-Tech)

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory confirmed that XsunX?s CIGS PV devices had reached a peak efficiency conversion of 16.36%. The samples tested had efficiency ratings that ranged between 15.3% and 16.36%, which lead to an average efficiency of 15.91%. Read more