Konarka joins forces with ThyssenKrupp Steel on BIPV products

Monday, 9.12.2011 - 17:45 (PV-Tech)

Konarka Technologies is working alongside the colour and construction unit of ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe to develop a number of building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) solutions using its Power Plastic. Read more

Tenesol launch ?second generation? Sun Smart+

Monday, 9.12.2011 - 16:13 (PV-Tech)

Four years in the making, and following one of the largest field tests ever undertaken in Europe, Tenesol has launched a new energy storage system it believes represents the next generation of solar. Read more

Tenesol launches ?second generation? Sun Smart+

Monday, 9.12.2011 - 16:13 (PV-Tech)

Four years in the making, and following one of the largest field tests ever undertaken in Europe, Tenesol has launched a new energy storage system it believes represents the next generation of solar. Read more

US DOE finalizes loan guarantees to PV companies 1366 Technologies, Cogentrix

Monday, 9.12.2011 - 13:34 (Solarserver)

In two days, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has finalized two loan guarantees totaling USD 241 million for the solar photovoltaic (PV) industry. On September 8th, 2011, the DOE finalized a USD 150 million loan guarantee to 1366 Technologies Inc. (Lexington, Massachusetts, U.S.) for the development of a multicrystalline silicon wafer manufacturing project to reduce production costs. Read more

Sanyo adviser elected PV CYCLE president

Monday, 9.12.2011 - 13:29 (PV-Tech)

The European association implementing a voluntary, industry-wide program to recycle expired solar modules, PV CYCLE, elected as president Sanyo adviser Wilfried Taetow at a special meeting last week in Hamburg during EU PVSEC. Read more

Sanyo adviser elected PV Cycle president

Monday, 9.12.2011 - 13:29 (PV-Tech)

The European association implementing a voluntary, industrywide program to recycle expired solar modules, PV Cycle, elected as president Sanyo adviser Wilfried Taetow at a special meeting last week in Hamburg during EU PVSEC. Read more

Salt River Project commissions 20 MW PV plant, Arizona's largest

Monday, 9.12.2011 - 13:15 (Solarserver)

On September 6th, 2011, Salt River Project (SRP, Tempe, Arizona, U.S.) announced that its 20 MW Copper Crossing Solar Ranch is now producing electricity for more than 100 schools that participate in its Community Solar Program. Copper Crossing Solar Ranch was built by Iberdrola Renovables SA (Madrid, Spain) as its first solar photovoltaic (PV) plant in the United States. The plant is also the largest operational PV plant in the U.S. state of Arizona. Read more

Conergy restructures, suspends wafer and solar cell production

Monday, 9.12.2011 - 13:03 (Solarserver)

On September 8th, 2011, Conergy AG (Hamburg, Germany) announced that it is discontinuing its silicon wafer and solar photovoltaic (PV) cell production at its manufacturing facility in Frankfurt (Oder), Germany. The company states that these changes are a result of the "difficult" PV market environment, and that it will focus on PV module production at the factory. As a result of these changes Conergy will lay off 100 permanent employees. Read more

Italy becomes the world's largest PV market: GSE announces installation of 6.5 GW in 2011, expects 12 GW by the end of the year

Monday, 9.12.2011 - 10:56 (Solarserver)

On September 8th, 2011, the organization which manages Italy's feed-in tariff announced that the nation has exceeded 10 GW of solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity, including 6.5 GW added so far in 2011. Gestore Servizi Energetici SpA (GSE, Rome, Italy) also estimated that the nation will reach 12 GW by the end of 2011, with 350,000 PV plants. GSE states that as a result of these numbers, Italy has become the world's largest PV market, installing three times as much PV as Germany to date in 2011. Read more

Edward Grady takes seat on Cimetrix?s board

Monday, 9.12.2011 - 23:58 (PV-Tech)

Software solution company Cimetrix has appointed industry veteran Edward Grady as the newest member of its board of directors. Grady will take over for Alan Weber, who resigned from the board to serve as a Cimetrix employee. Grady is REEL Solar?s chairman and CEO and is a member of the board for Advanced Energy Industries, Electro Scientific Industries and Molecular Imprints. Read more

Baja Sun Energy and Arima Operations jointly form first Mexican integrated solar business

Monday, 9.12.2011 - 23:13 (PV-Tech)

As Governor Osuna of Baja California toured CPV company Arima Operations in Taipei, Arima and Baja Sun Energy advised of their plan to form Mexico?s first integrated solar business. The new company will build a CPV solar system manufacturing plant and use the panels manufactured by the plant to install a utility-sized solar generation facility at the Silicon Border CleanTECH Park in Mexicali, Mexico. Read more

Video: Solar Decathlon Is 10 Days of Imagination and Innovation

Monday, 9.12.2011 - 20:17 (Renewable Energy World)

The houses have hit the road as the world’s greenest block party gets ready to kick off a 10-day celebration of solar innovation in the front yard of America’s capital. The fifth Solar Decathlon — an event held every two years on the National Mall in Washington — invites collegiate teams from across the world to build solar homes that shatter thoughts of what is possible and refine our visions of the future. The Department of Energy has invited teams from China to Denmark and from Miami to Middlebury, Vt., to design, build and ultimately set up shop on the Mall from Sept. 23 to Oct. 2. The premise is simple — build an affordable home that produces Read more

Seaward Solar hosts free hands-on PV training

Monday, 9.12.2011 - 18:04 (Solarpowerportal)

Helping new installers with the often-confusing electrical testing requirements for solar photovoltaics, Seaward Solar will host a series of free training courses across the UK. Designed with a more hands-on approach, Seaward hopes the sessions will build confidence to complete the required PV installation commissioning tests. Read more

U.S. Solar PV Pipeline Up to 24 GW

Monday, 9.12.2011 - 17:50 (Renewable Energy World)

That vaunted American solar PV pipeline just got a whole lot wider. Read more

Sheffield shines as Britain?s leading city for solar power generation

Monday, 9.12.2011 - 17:03 (Solarpowerportal)

Since the introduction of feed-in tariffs in April last year, Sheffield has adopted more solar power generation per head than any other city in the UK. Published by the AEA Group, the ‘top 10’ authorities in the UK utilising photovoltaic technology are ranked by total output – showing Cornwall as number one, with 3.09MW capacity. Sheffield places at number five with 2.03MW capacity contributing 1.262% to the total microgeneration in the UK. However if the figures are analysed by installed capacity in relation to the population, they tell a different story. Read more

Tenesol launch ?second generation? solar with Sun Smart+

Monday, 9.12.2011 - 16:13 (PV-Tech)

Four years in the making, and following one of the largest field tests ever undertaken in Europe, Tenesol has launched a new energy storage system it believes represents the next generation of solar. Read more

Asia Report: Will Region Maintain Its Edge?

Monday, 9.12.2011 - 15:23 (Renewable Energy World)

Since the beginning of the month, the world solar market has focused intently on China. The collapse of big-name American companies like Evergreen and Solyndra and the continued troubles for many European makers pointed to the same question: Can anybody compete with Chinese solar manufacturers? The question has reverberated across both sides of the Pacific. On the Asian side, companies like Suntech are preparing for the emergence of the Chinese market, while makers like Solar Frontier in Japan are focusing on that nation's government-led surge toward renewables. Meanwhile in the U.S., one Democratic senator says he has a solution to China's dominance: Increase taxes on solar Read more

Are the Chinese Using Predatory Pricing to Knock America Out of Solar Manufacturing?

Monday, 9.12.2011 - 14:55 (Renewable Energy World)

Armed with tens of billions in loans from the Chinese government, Chinese solar companies have scaled at a rate unthinkable only a few years ago. At the end of this year, there will likely be 50,000 MW of manufacturing capacity in place around the world, with much of that new capacity being developed in China and other Asian countries. (In the year 2000, there was only 100 MW of production capacity world-wide.) Read more

China Primed for a Bright Solar Future

Monday, 9.12.2011 - 14:39 (Renewable Energy World)

China's announcement this summer that it plans to establish new nationwide feed-in tariffs has unleashed a wave of renewed optimism in the solar industry. The policy stands to substantially boost domestic demand for solar technologies, making China not only the biggest manufacturer of solar panels worldwide but potentially also the largest consumer of solar energy. The proposal also indicates how serious the Chinese government is about adopting solar power as a substantial share of the country's renewable energy mix. Read more

Amtech withdraw $60 million shelf registration

Monday, 9.12.2011 - 14:31 (PV-Tech)

Solar equipment supplier Amtech Systems said ?adequate cash resources? are the reason for withdrawing a $60 million shelf registration filed earlier this year. Read more

Amtech withdraws $60 million shelf registration

Monday, 9.12.2011 - 14:31 (PV-Tech)

Solar equipment supplier Amtech Systems said ?adequate cash resources? are the reason for withdrawing a $60 million shelf registration filed earlier this year. Read more

Solarbuzz reports US non-residential solar project pipeline reaches 24GW on module price declines

Monday, 9.12.2011 - 14:17 (PV-Tech)

The significant fall in solar module prices in the first-half of the year have fuelled a huge jump in the PV project pipeline in the US, according to a new report from market research firm, Solarbuzz. Only two months ago, Solarbuzz reported that the US non-residential pipeline had reached 17GW, yet this has now climbed to 24GW. Read more

Suniva, GTRI, Radiance Solar team receive USD 2.8 million from DOE to improve solar PV balance of system designs

Monday, 9.12.2011 - 13:02 (Solarserver)

On September 8th, 2011, Suniva Inc. (Norcross, Georgia, U.S.) announced that it is part of a team of companies that has been awarded a USD 2.8 million contract from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to develop improved solar photovoltaic (PV) balance of system (BOS) designs. The project is led by the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI, Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.) in collaboration with Suniva and Radiance Solar (Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.). The grant was provided through the DOE's SunShot Initiative. Read more

Yingli sponsor solar for low-income Californian families

Monday, 9.12.2011 - 12:36 (PV-Tech)

Yingli Solar, the American subsidiary of China-based Yingli Green Energy, will sponsor free solar modules for fifty low-income families on the United States west coast, in collaboration with non-profit solar installer GRID Alternatives. Read more

Yingli sponsors solar for low-income Californian families

Monday, 9.12.2011 - 12:36 (PV-Tech)

Yingli Solar, the American subsidiary of China-based Yingli Green Energy, will sponsor free solar modules for fifty low-income families on the United States west coast, in collaboration with non-profit solar installer GRID Alternatives. Read more

Rehm Thermal Oxidizer wins best product at Solar Industry Award

Monday, 9.12.2011 - 11:22 (PV-Tech)

Rehm Thermal Systems thermal oxidation process has received industry recognition with the presentation of a Solar Industry Award at last week?s EU PVSEC in Hamburg. Read more

PV in Sicily: DEGERenergie equips two new solar parks with a total installed capacity of two megawatts with MLD tracking

Monday, 9.12.2011 - 10:49 (Solarserver)

DEGERenergie (Horb am Neckar, Germany) announced another success on the Italian solar market: In the province of Enna in Sicily, two new solar parks are currently being installed, with a total of 270 DEGERtrakers 6000NT. The two new solar parks in Sicily, operated by Etna Energia Srl, have a combined installed capacity of two megawatts (MW). In each of the two solar parks, energy is generated with 135 dual-axis DEGERtrakers 6000NT. Every DEGERtraker is equipped with modules for 7.35 kWp. Read more

Geothermal, Offshore Wind Get Boost in U.S.

Monday, 9.12.2011 - 20:57 (Renewable Energy World)

The geothermal and offshore wind industries received major boosts over the next several years from the U.S. Department of Energy late last week. Read more

SolOptics Fusion optical micro lens technology claims significant boost in PV module power output

Monday, 9.12.2011 - 23:40 (PV-Tech)

SolOptics, a division of Genie Lens Technologies, revealed a significant milestone in the performance testing of its Fusion PV enhancement technology. Testing conducted at the US Department of Energy?s (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has concluded that the Fusion technology increased the overall energy production of the PV modules tested by up to 4%, with performance enhancements for all irradiance ranges. Read more

Day4 Energy and Ever Energy sign IP and manufacturing agreement

Monday, 9.12.2011 - 17:57 (PV-Tech)

Ever Energy has signed a deal to use Day4 Energy proprietary technology and equipment to manufacture Day4 DNA photovoltaic cells in Taiwan, the companies said Monday. Read more