Victoria latest Australian state to suffer FiT reduction

Thursday, 8.4.2011 - 15:56 (PV-Tech)

Australia?s Clean Energy Council (CEC) and Department of Primary Industry (DPI) are planning to phase out the state of Victoria?s premium feed-in tariff (FiT). Read more

BISOL modules gain higher power output certification

Thursday, 8.4.2011 - 13:18 (Solarpowerportal)

Photovoltaic module manufacturer BISOL has obtained upgraded international certificate IEC 61215 Ed. 2.0 for its product range, as well as receiving accreditation for new power classes up to 269Wp, providing consumers with more energy per installation. Read more

PV production: centrotherm photovoltaics anticipates increased demand for upgrade orders for solar cell manufacturing over the coming months

Thursday, 8.4.2011 - 12:37 (Solarserver)

centrotherm photovoltaics AG (Blaubeuren, Germany) has identified significant demand for high-performance solar cells and photovoltaic (PV) modules emanating from solar cell manufacturers. ?Manufacturers who achieve high efficiency levels have made good use of their production facilities? capacities," explained Dr. Peter Fath, CTO of centrotherm photovoltaics. ?Monocrystalline solar cells with over 18% efficiency and multi-crystalline solar cells with over 16.5% efficiency are selling well on the end customer market. Solar cells with significantly poorer values only sell reasonably well and achieve much lower prices.? Read more

Chinese PV producer Yingli increases guidance for 2Q 2011; module shipments increased from 35% to 37%

Thursday, 8.4.2011 - 12:37 (Solarserver)

On August 3rd, 2011, Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Ltd. (Baoding, China) provided an updated guidance for the second quarter of 2011, increasing the quantity of shipments that it anticipates. The company now expects solar photovoltaic (PV) module shipments in the second quarter of 2011 to have increased from 35% to 37%. Yingli previously estimated a 30% increase in module shipments. Read more

First Solar quarterly sales continue downward trend: capex cut over US$200 million

Thursday, 8.4.2011 - 22:36 (PV-Tech)

(UPDATED) First Solar has reported second-quarter 2011 net sales of US$533 million in the quarter, a decrease of US$34.5 million from the first quarter, which were a decrease of US$42.5 million from the fourth quarter of 2010. The CdTe thin-film leader noted that the sales decline was primarily due to lower average selling prices, which in turn were due to policy uncertainties in Italy, Germany and France, leading to weaker-than-expected demand. Read more

PG&E, Sempra Generation to add 150MW to Copper Mountain Solar; First Solar to provide panels, EPC

Thursday, 8.4.2011 - 20:56 (PV-Tech)

One of the largest solar PV power plants in North America will be expanded, nearly tripling its generating capacity in a few years. Pacific Gas and Electric and Sempra Generation have signed a 25-year contract for a 150MW (AC) expansion of Sempra Generation?s Copper Mountain Solar complex in Boulder City, NV. First Solar will provide millions of ground-mounted thin-film CdTe panels and serve as the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contractor for the 1100-acre project. Read more

GT Solar at full steam ahead: backlog stands at US$2.3 billion as sales up 71%

Thursday, 8.4.2011 - 19:21 (PV-Tech)

Despite current weakness in solar related equipment spending, due to weak demand for PV modules in the first half of the year and a longer than expected inventory build, GT Solar posted first quarter financial year revenue of US$231.1 million, compared to US$271.6 million last quarter and up 71% from the US$135.2 million of revenue in the first quarter of fiscal 2011. Record order backlog stood at US$2.3 billion. Read more

MEMC points to 40% decline in PV industry wafer prices in 2Q while hit by weak demand

Thursday, 8.4.2011 - 17:31 (PV-Tech)

Excluding the one time financial benefit of a US$149.4 million influx from a recently announced wafer supply contract cancellation with Suntech, MEMC?s solar materials business took a significant hit across key financial metrics in the second quarter of 2011. Solar material revenue was US$323.1 million in 2Q, down 1% sequentially however, excluding the Suntech payment, solar material revenue would have been US$173.7 million, a 47% decline from the first quarter. Read more

Sun and Wind and Rock 'n' Roll: A Three-Decade Journey

Thursday, 8.4.2011 - 16:50 (Renewable Energy World)

News item: Several months after a crippled nuclear reactor disaster that shocked the world and upended long-term global energy strategies, a group of prominent rock musicians have scheduled a historic benefit concert on August 7, 2011. Performers led by Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, Crosby Stills & Nash, the Doobie Brothers, and John Hall, under the banner Musicians United for Safe Energy (MUSE), plan to raise funds and awareness against nuclear power, and in favor of clean-energy sources like solar and wind. Read more

Schott Solar to supply 16MW of modules to Phoenix Solar projects in Thailand

Thursday, 8.4.2011 - 16:23 (PV-Tech)

Phoenix Solar Singapore has placed an order with Schott Solar for 67,000 PV modules, equivalent to approximately 16MW for two projects being developed near Bangkok, Thailand since June, 2011. The contract on supplying these modules was said to have been negotiated at this year?s Intersolar Europe. The two installations are expected to go into operation by the end of the year. Read more

China Stamps Solar FIT, But What Does It Mean?

Thursday, 8.4.2011 - 16:20 (Renewable Energy World)

China has established itself as a solar PV manufacturing hub ? but a new national solar feed-in tariff (FiT) hopes to make the nation a long-term player as an end-market, too. Read more

Indian EPC firm selects SunPower modules and trackers for multiple projects

Thursday, 8.4.2011 - 15:49 (PV-Tech)

India-based, Mahindra EPC Services is using SunPower solar panels and T0 Tracker technology for multiple grid-connected solar power plants in India in the Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat regions, planned for this year. In total, SunPower is supply 15MW of modules and trackers and is the first partnership SunPower has had with the EPC contractor in India. Read more

LADWP approves plan for re-launch of Solar Incentive Program

Thursday, 8.4.2011 - 15:11 (Solarserver)

On August 2nd, 2011, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP, Los Angeles, California, U.S.) announced that is has approved a plan for the re-launch of its Solar Incentive Program in September 2011. The utility states that the new rules incorporate public input received during workshops in the month of July 2011. The LADWP suspended the program on April 9th, 2011, citing over-subscription by customers. Read more

GT Solar receives USD 55.1 million polysilicon production order

Thursday, 8.4.2011 - 15:05 (Solarserver)

On August 2nd, 2011, GT Solar International Inc. (Merrimack, New Hampshire, U.S.) announced that it has received an order from a new customer in Asia for USD 55.1 million in polysilicon production equipment. GT Solar states that the new order includes its entire range of polysilicon production equipment including hydrochlorination equipment used in the production of TCS, SDR reactors, filament and product processing equipment, as well as other equipment. Read more

Dow expands production of ENLIGHT polyolefin encapsulant films used in solar PV panels

Thursday, 8.4.2011 - 14:51 (Solarserver)

The Dow Chemical Company (Midland, Michigan) on August 3rd, 2011 announced it is adding capacity for its "ENLIGHT" polyolefin Encapsulant Films. Two new manufacturing plants ? one in Map Ta Phut, Thailand, and one in Schkopau, Germany, will be built in 2012. Together, these sites will more than triple the Company?s capacity for making specialty films used in photovoltaic (PV) modules, and will significantly expand the Company?s ability to supply encapsulant films worldwide. Read more

Intersolar Europe 2011 achieves positive outcome: Tremendous satisfaction among exhibitors, visitors and conference attendees

Thursday, 8.4.2011 - 13:09 (Solarserver)

On June 10th, 2011, the third and final day of Intersolar Europe (Munich) drew to a close with new records set for both exhibitor and visitor numbers. Following a provisional analysis of the numbers performed on the final day of the event, the final figures for the exhibition are now in. This year 2,286 companies exhibited at Intersolar Europe. Added to this, a total of 76,738 visitors from Germany and abroad attended the world's largest exhibition for the solar industry. Read more

U.S. DOE announces USD 50 million program to support domestic PV manufacturing

Thursday, 8.4.2011 - 12:57 (Solarserver)

On August 2nd, 2011, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced a new program to leverage USD 50 million in funding over two years to improve U.S. competitiveness in solar manufacturing, as part of the DOE's SunShot Initiative. The DOE states that the SUNPATH program will help companies with pilot-scale commercial production to scale up their manufacturing capabilities and enable them to overcome funding shortages that can limit expansion. Read more

China sets fixed price for solar PV generation; implements a main element of feed-in tariff systems

Thursday, 8.4.2011 - 12:49 (Solarserver)

On July 24th, 2011, China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) announced national fixed prices for solar photovoltaic (PV) generation, thus implementing a main element of the feed-in tariff system for the nation. NDRC set a price of RMB 1.15/kWh (USD 0.179/kWh) for projects approved before July 1st, 2011 and completed by the end of 2011, and RMB 1/kWh (USD 0.155/kWh) for projects approved on or after July 1st, 2011 or completed after the end of 2011. Projects in Tibet will use the RMB 1.15/kWh price. Read more

Southam takes another step towards becoming UK?s first solar city

Thursday, 8.4.2011 - 10:41 (Solarpowerportal)

EOS Energy has signed up another 100 Southam residents for its free PV scheme, which has been designed to turn the Warwickshire location into Britain’s first solar powered city. Having secured £20 million in funding, the team is able to install under the free installation model, which is now becoming more common in the UK. Read more

MEMC and SunEdison to acquire Fotowatio Renewable Ventures US unit

Thursday, 8.4.2011 - 4:01 (PV-Tech)

MEMC Electronic Materials and its SunEdison unit have reached a definitive agreement to buy privately-held Fotowatio Renewable Ventures Inc., the 100%-owned US subsidiary of global solar project developer/operator/owner, Fotowatio Renewable Ventures. When the deal closes, MEMC will pay $112 million plus repayment of approximately $22.9 million in intercompany loans and capital contributions. Read more

Gevo, Amyris, KiOR: As the Khosla Kids Mature, Scale, Differentiate, Who's on Top?

Thursday, 8.4.2011 - 16:11 (Renewable Energy World)

They share Khosla Ventures in their DNA, and are next-gen companies ? but there, the similarities begin to fade. KiOR ? making biocrude from woody biomass. Gevo, making isobutanol and jet fuel from corn. Amyris, making Biofene and renewable diesel from sugar. Read more

World Wind Market: Record Installations, But Growth Rates Still Falling

Thursday, 8.4.2011 - 15:00 (Renewable Energy World)

The impact of the economic crisis can be seen in BTM's latest report, which again shows record new installations, but a much lower growth rate than in 2009. The rise of Chinese turbine manufacturers and the US financial situation have changed the balance of the market. Read more

Trina Solar supplies Huanghe Hydropower 30MW of PV modules for Chinese projects

Thursday, 8.4.2011 - 15:39 (PV-Tech)

Not be outdone by rivals such as Yingli Green in the utility-scale PV power plant business in China, Trina Solar has secured a 30MW module supply agreement with Huanghe Hydropower Development Co. Huanghe Hydropower is planning two ground-mounted solar projects in China?s Qinghai Province, of which delivery is expected to start from August and continue through October of this year. Read more

We Want to Hear About Cool, Innovative Renewable Projects

Thursday, 8.4.2011 - 21:47 (Renewable Energy World)

We here at REW.com are always on the lookout for interesting, completed projects from across the globe that went online in the past year. It doesn't have to be the largest, most powerful or groundbreaking. We also want to see projects that you think are fun, inspiring or just plain different. It can be in any renewable sector – geothermal, solar, bio, wind, hydro. Submission Guidelines Please send the following information to editor@renewableenergyworld.com: Project name Location Start and completion date Companies involved Brief description Why you think it's worth noting In the subject line please use “Project Submission.” We look forward to reading your Read more

Debt ceiling compromise likely to result in deep cuts to federal energy programs

Thursday, 8.4.2011 - 12:45 (Solarserver)

An advisor to former U.S. President Bill Clinton has stated that the compromise agreement to raise the U.S. government's debt ceiling will likely result in deep cuts to federal energy programs. Former Clinton Administration Energy Advisor Elgie Holstien, who now works for the Environmental Defense Fund, stated that these cuts will near the drastic levels proposed by Congressional Republicans in their fiscal year 2012 budget. Read more