Trina Solar modules gains new extreme conditions certification

Monday, 8.15.2011 - 15:22 (PV-Tech)

Alongside a growing number of solar module manufacturers upgrading product quality and performance lifetime warranties, is an increasing number selecting to have modules certified to extreme conditions such as salt mist and ammonia gas exposure. Some, such as Trina Solar have done both. Trina said it has now received the ammonia gas resistance certificate from TUV Rheinland and its ?Multi Module Series? had already received salt mist certification from Intertek Testing Services. Read more

KACO new energy expands PV inverter production capacity by 4 gigawatts

Monday, 8.15.2011 - 14:10 (Solarserver)

KACO new energy (Neckarsulm, Germany) has invested EUR 30 million in its headquarters in Neckarsulm and has expanded its peak capacity by 4 gigawatts (GW). The new, scalable manufacturing facility enables flexible production in line with market developments, the company emphasizes in a press release. The third largest inverter manufacturer has therefore secured itself logistic advantages at the international competitive level. As with all its other manufacturing facilities, the production in Plant 5 is also climate-neutral. Read more

ECM introduces conductive grid/busbar inks for thin-film PV applications

Monday, 8.15.2011 - 14:03 (Solarserver)

Engineered Conductive Materials, LLC (Delaware, OH), a global supplier of conductive interconnect materials for photovoltaic (PV) applications, introduces two next-generation conductive grid inks, CI-1083-L and CI-1081-H, for use in thin-film solar modules. These material formulations have been optimized for excellent conductivity and low contact resistance on transparent conductive oxides used in solar applications, the company emphasizes. Read more

Toys"R"Us completes largest rooftop PV plant in United States

Monday, 8.15.2011 - 12:30 (Solarserver)

On August 11th, 2011, toy maker Toys"R"Us Inc. (Wayne, New Jersey, U.S.) celebrated the completion of a 5.38 MW solar photovoltaic (PV) plant, the largest rooftop PV plant in the United States, at its Flanders, New Jersey distribution center. The PV plant is comprised of 37,000 Uni-Solar amorphous silicon flexible thin-film PV modules, and will meet an estimated 72% of the electricity needs of the facility. Read more

SMA recovers in 2Q 2011 results, maintains guidance

Monday, 8.15.2011 - 12:18 (Solarserver)

SMA Solar Technology AG (Niestetal, Germany) benefited from its strong brand presence in the major solar markets worldwide and distinguished itself markedly from its closest competitors. In the second quarter of 2011, SMA doubled its solar PV inverter output sold compared with the first three months of the year. In the first half of 2011, SMA sold an inverter output of 3.1 GW (Q1 ? Q2 2010: 3.1 GW). Read more

Citigroup, Sungevity sign deal to create $50 million tax equity fund for residential solar leases

Monday, 8.15.2011 - 23:29 (PV-Tech)

Sungevity and Citigroup have created a renewable energy tax equity fund that will support over $50 million of new residential solar lease projects.  The installer/integrator company said it has raised funds to support over $120 million in residential solar projects in the US since 2010. Read more

Noteholders push Evergreen Solar into bankruptcy; ?String Ribbon?  technology assets to be sold

Monday, 8.15.2011 - 22:33 (PV-Tech)

Only hours after PV-Tech reported that Evergreen Solar had said it was in detailed and time-consuming negotiations with holders of its convertible senior secured notes, which had caused the company to delay quarterly SEC filings, the company said it has filed for voluntarily bankruptcy under US Chapter 11. At the same time, Evergreen stated that it has made agreements with certain noteholders with more than 70% the outstanding debt to sell its ?String Ribbon? wafer technology business assets. A ?stalking-horse? bidding process has been agreed. Read more

Note holders push Evergreen Solar into bankruptcy; ?String Ribbon?  technology assets to be sold

Monday, 8.15.2011 - 22:33 (PV-Tech)

Only hours after PV-Tech reported that Evergreen Solar had said it was in detailed and time consuming negotiations with holders of its 13% Convertible Senior Secured Notes due 2015, which had caused the company to delay quarterly SEC filings, the company has said it has filed for voluntarily bankruptcy, under US Chapter 11 bankruptcy codes. At the same time Evergreen Solar said that it had made agreements with certain note holders with more than 70% the outstanding debt to sell its ?String Ribbon? wafer technology business assets. A ?stalking-horse? bidding process has been agreed. Read more

JinkoSolar increases product warranty to 10 years

Monday, 8.15.2011 - 17:07 (PV-Tech)

The previous PV industry standard, five-year product warranty is fast becoming obsolete as more PV module manufacturers reset to ten-year guarantees. Joining the ten-year brigade is JinkoSolar, moving from five to ten-year product warranties, though positive tolerance and separate, linear performance warranty remain an optional extra. JinkoSolar also offers a third-party insurance policy through PowerGuard Specialty Insurance Services. Read more

Evergreen Solar misses SEC filings date as debt restructuring efforts continue

Monday, 8.15.2011 - 15:53 (PV-Tech)

Teetering on the brink of financial collapse, Evergreen Solar has missed the prescribed filing date with the US SEC body for its quarterly report, which ended July 2, 2011. The company said in a statement that ongoing discussions with holders of its 13% Convertible Senior Secured Notes due 2015, had taken-up management resources sufficiently in the period to delay the filing of the required documents. Read more

Hastings Councillor encourages residents to embrace solar

Monday, 8.15.2011 - 15:04 (Solarpowerportal)

While Whitehall has done its best to undermine the UK solar industry over the past six months, many figures in local government continue to pledge their support for the sector. Jeremy Birch, the leader of Hastings Borough Council, is latest municipal politician to do just this after urging residents to make Hastings into a “solar-powered town”. Read more

Centrosolar keeps to revised guidance as Italian and other EU markets improve

Monday, 8.15.2011 - 13:37 (PV-Tech)

Having previously revised downwards its 2011 revenue guidance, Centrosolar remains positive that it will achieve full-year revenue target of ?330 to ?380 million with a positive operating result. As international sales as a percentage of sales increased from 49% to 63% in the first-half of the year, the company noted a pick-up in demand for rooftop installations in Italy, UK, Belgium and the USA. Read more

TFG Radiant, Ascent Solar sign long-term partnership, including deal to establish CIGS fab in China

Monday, 8.15.2011 - 13:00 (PV-Tech)

Flexible CIGS thin-film PV developer/manufacturer Ascent Solar and TFG Radiant have signed a long-term strategic partnership that encompasses more than $275 million plus royalties. The deal includes investments by TFG Radiant in Ascent and a joint development agreement between the two companies to establish manufacturing facilities in East Asia. Under the terms of the agreement, TFG Radiant has also committed $165 million for the initial East Asia fab, bringing the total deal value to about $450 million plus royalties. Read more

CanSIA supports reduction in Ontario FiT rates; study shows that private investment is leading to a healthy solar industry

Monday, 8.15.2011 - 12:23 (Solarserver)

On August 9th, 2011, the Canadian Solar Industries Association (CanSIA, Ottawa, Canada) announced that it supports the reduction of feed-in tariff rates (FiT) in the fall of 2011, when the program is scheduled to come under review. CanSIA cites a study that shows that private investment is leading to a healthy solar industry, which will support an estimated 74,000 person-years of employment over the next seven years. Read more

Canadian Solar expands product and performance module warranties

Monday, 8.15.2011 - 12:12 (PV-Tech)

Improvements to both product and performance warranties have been made to Canadian Solar?s PV module series. Effective August 1, 2011, Canadian Solar?s warranty now provides a linear performance guarantee for power output over a 25-year period as well as having a product warranty covering workmanship and material defects to 10 years. Read more

S.A.G. Solarstrom shows annual growth of 62% over 1H 2011

Monday, 8.15.2011 - 12:06 (Solarserver)

As a rare success story in a struggling industry, on August 11th, 2011, S.A.G. Solarstrom AG (Freiburg, Germany) released financial results for the first half of 2011, reporting sales of USD 197 million, a 62% growth over the first half of 2010. The company also reported an EBIT margin of 5.0%, only slightly less than the previous year. In its results S.A.G. Solarstrom noted the "difficult market, particularly in Germany", and states that most of its sales were achieved outside the nation. Read more

Rooftop array gives Scottish riding centre stable power supply

Monday, 8.15.2011 - 11:35 (Solarpowerportal)

Ingliston Country Club on the outskirts of Glasgow has finished work on one of Scotland’s largest solar projects to date. The 120kW system cost £380,000 and spans 820m2 of roof space on the country club’s 200-stable horse riding centre. Read more

In Iowa, Most GOP Nominees Back Wind

Monday, 8.15.2011 - 19:21 (Renewable Energy World)

In most Republican circles, support for wind energy can be heard as little more than a faint echo in the call for energy independence. Read more

Post-stimulus Financing: Will Renewable Growth Continue?

Monday, 8.15.2011 - 13:00 (Renewable Energy World)

Money is flowing worldwide for many forms of renewable energy, as the industry presses forward with dramatic growth. CleanEdge reported US$188.1 billion in global revenue for biofuels, solar and wind energy in 2010, a 35.2% surge over 2009. Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) found that clean energy investment worldwide reached $243 billion in 2010, nearly double the sector investment just four years earlier. And venture capital investment for clean technology in the US rose 54% in the first quarter of 2011 compared with the same period one year earlier, in a trend led by solar energy companies, according to Ernst & Young. Read more

A Tribute to One of the Lions Who Helped Us Arrive Where We Are Today

Monday, 8.15.2011 - 20:49 (Renewable Energy World)

On Sunday August 8, former Senator Mark Hatfield, an anti-war Republican from Oregon, died at age 89. In his 30 years in the Senate, Hatfield was not only one of the Senate chamber's most consistent voices against the war in Vietnam, but he was also an ardent advocate of environmental protection and renewable energy. In my nine years as a Senate aide in the 1970's, I got to know him well. Read more

Tokyo Electric Power building PV power plants in Kawasaki City

Monday, 8.15.2011 - 18:29 (PV-Tech)

A 7MW PV power plant has gone on stream in Ukishima, Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, built and operated by Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO). The PV plant, built on land owned by Kawasaki City is expected to generate about 7,400MWh per year, or equal to annual total energy consumption of 2,100 households from 38,000 modules. TEPCO said it would operate the plant for 18 years. Read more

Hoku to commence polysilicon operations in next few weeks

Monday, 8.15.2011 - 16:30 (PV-Tech)

The long and winding road for polysilicon start-up, Hoku Materials looks to straightening after the company said it expected to start operations at its poly plant in Pocatello, Idaho. Hoku said it had received continued financial support from Tianwei New Energy Holdings, to complete construction of its first phase (2,500MT) plant and begin production. Read more

PV Products to utilize Day4Energy PV technology

Monday, 8.15.2011 - 14:24 (Solarserver)

On August 11th, 2011, Day4 Energy Inc. (Burnaby, Canada) announced that it has signed an agreement to provide PV Products GmbH (PVP, Styria, Austria) with equipment and technology to manufacture solar photovoltaic (PV) modules using Day4 DNA Technology. The technology upgrade of PVP's 30 MW PV factory is planned to begin immediately, and the company expects to be in production using the new technology in early September 2011. Read more

Daqo receives US$150 million loan from Bank of China to expand polysilicon production

Monday, 8.15.2011 - 12:33 (PV-Tech)

China-based polysilicon manufacturer, Daqo New Energy has received a US$150 million loan approval from Bank of China, through its Shihezi branch in Xinjiang, China to support its ?Phase II? polysilicon expansion plan in Xinjiang. The loan will be a 6-year long-term project finance loan. Polysilicon production remains 100% utilized. Read more

KfW signs USD 356 million loan to build 125 MW Indian PV plant

Monday, 8.15.2011 - 12:11 (Solarserver)

On August 10th, 2011, the KfW Development Bank (Frankfurt, Germany) signed a EUR 250 million (USD 356 million) loan agreement to support the construction of a 125 MW solar photovoltaic (PV) plant in the Indian state of Maharashtra. KfW signed the loan in New Delhi on behalf of the German Federal Ministry of Economic Development and Cooperation for the Shivajinagar Sakri Solar Power Plant, which will be larger than any PV plant currently in operation in the world. Read more