GE Brilliance PV inverter receives UL certification

Thursday, 9.15.2011 - 21:12 (Solarserver)

On September 13th, 2011, General Electric Company (Schenectady, New York, U.S.) announced that its 1 MW Brilliance solar inverter has received two certifications from Underwriters Laboratories (UL, Northbrook, Illinois, U.S.). The inverters passed tests on performance under extreme environmental conditions including temperature, as well as voltage and grid fluctuations to receive the UL 1741 and CSA 22.2 No. 107.1-0 certifications. Read more

Order Focus: Opel trackers equip Conergy?s PV portfolio in Northern California

Thursday, 9.15.2011 - 18:14 (PV-Tech)

Conergy US has chosen to equip its portfolio of PV projects in Northern California with Opel Solar?s TF-800 series single-axis trackers. The trackers will be fitted with Conergy?s P 235W PV modules. Work has already finished on the portfolio?s first system, a 480kW array at a waste water treatment plant in California Central Valley, and Opel CEO Leon Pierhal believes this could be the first of many projects alongside Conergy. Read more

French government enlists help of Tenesol for smart grid project

Thursday, 9.15.2011 - 16:09 (PV-Tech)

The French government is funding a new solar programme that will see Tenesol install 500 PV systems and 250 converters in several of the country?s overseas territories. La Réunion and Corsica are among the islands set to benefit from the ?30 million Millener project, which will build 1,000 energy management systems over the next four years. Read more

Rhode Island Rapidly Implementing Feed-in Tariffs for Distributed Generation

Thursday, 9.15.2011 - 15:32 (Renewable Energy World)

In a move that took North American renewable energy advocates by surprise, tiny Rhode Island has passed a law implementing a limited feed-in tariff and set it on a fast track to implementation. Read more

Solutia warns of weaker than expected product demand

Thursday, 9.15.2011 - 12:53 (PV-Tech)

Solar module encapsulant materials specialist, Solutia has guided lower revenue for the third quarter on the back of weaker than expected demand across its served markets including PV module manufacturing. Despite fallen module prices, PV installations have not rebounded to the degree envisioned and overcapacity remains an issue, reducing material demand. Read more

Photovoltaics: German researchers present solar cells printed on standard paper

Thursday, 9.15.2011 - 10:55 (Solarserver)

The Institute for Print and Media Technology at Chemnitz University of Technology developed solar photovoltaic (PV) panels, which are printed with special inks with electrical properties on standard paper Researchers at Chemnitz University of Technology have now presented solar panels that are printed on paper. The technology known as 3PV (3PV stands for printed paper photovoltaics) uses conventional printing methods and standard substrates, like those used for magazines, posters or packaging, The Institute for Print and Media Technology reports in a press release. Read more

Report: Calisolar cuts workforce at California cell facility, focuses on polysilicon manufacturing

Thursday, 9.15.2011 - 22:25 (PV-Tech)

Just a little over a week after Calisolar announced plans to build a 16,000MT silicon production facility in Lowndes County, Mississippi, the company has advised of plans to lay off 80 employees at its Silicon Valley factory. According to GigaOM, the company released a statement noting that it was compressing its solar cell production as it began to shift its focus to polysilicon manufacturing. ?We will significantly downsize commercial cell production and?as a result?reduce the labor force? at the Sunnyvale, California, facility, the company said in the statement. Read more

NRG, Washington Redskins unveil 2MW solar installation at FedEx Field

Thursday, 9.15.2011 - 21:44 (PV-Tech)

According to an interview Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder gave ESPN, the push to go solar came from his kids who urged the football team owner to ?go green?. ?My kids have always been telling me we should ?Go Green?. They want us to buy a hybrid. They always talk about paper or plastic,? said Snyder. ?So I talked to my top executives at the Redskins and asked about ways we can do more for the environment.? Read more

GE to provide CdTe panels, inverters, BOS components for expansion of Brazilian solar power plant

Thursday, 9.15.2011 - 21:08 (PV-Tech)

GE has entered the Brazilian solar market with its new agreement signed with MPX, a division of EBX Group. GE will provide a 1MW solar power plant to the Brazilian company using its thin-film panels, Brilliance inverters, transformers and SunIQ monitoring and control system. The companies? agreement will double the output of MPX?s plant, which covers an area of 129,166 square feet. Read more

Construction begins on U.S. Solar Decathlon, Bosch supports 12 teams

Thursday, 9.15.2011 - 20:45 (Solarserver)

On September 13th, 2011, teams of college students from five nations began construction on a series of full-scale model solar-powered homes on the National Mall in Washington D.C., U.S., to compete in the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Solar Decathlon. The Bosch Group (Stuttgart, Germany) has announced that it will donate USD 115,000 in various products including solar photovoltaics (PV) to 12 teams participating in the contest, which will be held September 23rd through October 1st, 2011. Read more

REC solar wafers and PV modules certified for European Content, premium available for PV systems in Italy

Thursday, 9.15.2011 - 20:30 (Solarserver)

Wafers and solar photovoltaic (PV) modules produced by REC (Sandvika, Norway) are both now certified to benefit from the 10 percent premium available as part of an Italian photovoltaic incentive scheme for solar systems containing European components. Read more

Main Street Power selects AlsoEnergy?s monitoring suite for distributed solar project in California

Thursday, 9.15.2011 - 20:04 (PV-Tech)

Solar financier Main Street Power revealed that it had selected AlsoEnergy?s software platform for a nearly 3MW distributed generation solar project in California. AlsoEnergy?s technology will support the energy monitoring and user interface requirements for the multi-site project. Read more

Borrego completes first phase of solar installation at California?s Sierra Community College

Thursday, 9.15.2011 - 19:50 (PV-Tech)

Students and staff alike at Sierra Community College District?s Rocklin and Grass Valley campuses have begun benefitting from the first phase of two solar PV systems that Borrego Solar Systems is developing. Through a public/private partnership, the California college district is anticipated to save almost US$2 million in energy costs over the term of the agreement. Read more

Schletter to supply Zachry Industrial?s 150MW PV power plant with mounting system

Thursday, 9.15.2011 - 19:28 (PV-Tech)

More details are believed to have emerged regarding the 150MW Mesquite Solar 1 PV power plant in Arizona. Previously announced was that SempraGeneration had selected 800,000 Suntech modules for the project, which would be designed and built by Zachry Holdings. In a statement from PV mounting specialist, Schletter a 150MW plant being built by Zachery would use Schletter?s ground-mounted ?FS System? and its ?Rapid2+? pre-assembled module clamps that have an integrated grounding pin. Read more

Solar Power UK teaches the industry a lesson

Thursday, 9.15.2011 - 18:02 (Solarpowerportal)

This year’s Solar Power UK conference and exhibition invites solar industry players at all levels to attend as students of its PV School and Master Class sessions. Industry newcomers will be given the opportunity to get started in solar, while those who already have a firm grasp on things can focus in depth on keen areas of interest. Read more

"Time shifted" solar power: Tenesol PV energy storage system goes on sale

Thursday, 9.15.2011 - 12:53 (Solarserver)

Tenesol, the global solar power provider, has launched its photovoltaic (PV) energy conversion and storage solution "Sun Smart+". The system is the result of a four year project and is available in certain international markets, the company announces. For years engineers have been working on a viable energy storage system for solar photovoltaic (PV) panels. Such a technology will enable solar power to be ?time shifted?, allowing grid connected systems to self-consume the energy they produce as well as feeding some power into the electricity grid. Read more

Abengoa finalizes DOE loan guarantee, begins construction of Mojave Solar Project

Thursday, 9.15.2011 - 12:43 (Solarserver)

On September 14th, 2011, Abengoa SA (Seville, Spain) announced that it has finalized a USD 1.2 billion loan guarantee with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for its Mojave Solar Project. The company will now begin construction on the 280 MW concentrating solar power (CSP) plant, with commissioning scheduled for 2014. Read more

ADB to provide USD 100 million loan for Gujarat Solar Transmission Project

Thursday, 9.15.2011 - 12:36 (Solarserver)

On September 13th, 2011, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) announced that it will provide a USD 100 million loan to the Indian state of Gujarat for a transmission project to help speed the construction of large solar plants. The ADB Board of Directors has approved the financing for a substation, transmission lines and other equipment for the Gujarat Solar Power Transmission Project. The project will connect plants in the Charanka Solar Park to the grid. Read more

Tecno Spot to offer SolarEdge PV power harvesting systems in Italy

Thursday, 9.15.2011 - 12:31 (Solarserver)

On September 13th, 2011, SolarEdge Technologies Ltd. (Hod Hasharon, Israel) announced that it has partnered with Tecno Spot Srl (Brunico, Italy) to expand its sales into the Italian market. Through the partnership, Tecno Spot will offer SolarEdge module-integrated power optimizers, inverters and the company's monitoring portal. Read more

Optimised Transformers Boost Wind Turbine Profits

Thursday, 9.15.2011 - 15:00 (Renewable Energy World)

The profitability of wind generation is dependent upon the design. If your wind farm is not designed to maximise available generation and minimise operating costs, chances are your wind farm will hemorrhage cash and profits for as long as you own it. However, the weak link in most designs is often not the turbine but the transformer. Read more

Yorkshire entrepreneurs invest £100m in new green energy company

Thursday, 9.15.2011 - 13:12 (Solarpowerportal)

By utilising an investment of £100 million Yorkshire entrepreneurs Philip Taylor and Gary Douglas hope to become one of the UK’s leading providers of renewable energy. The creation of Oakapple Renewable Energy Limited, or OAREL, is also expected to generate 14 new jobs over the next two years. Read more

Preassembled PV kits: Payom subsidiary SOLEN Energy wins further order in the UK

Thursday, 9.15.2011 - 12:26 (Solarserver)

After the successful marketing of small scale complete solar photovoltaic (PV) packages in the last weeks, SOLEN Energy UK has now won another major order with a sales volume of around EUR 10 million. Contract partner is British company Pinnacle Solar Limited. Completely preassembled solar kits with a performance between 2.3 kW and 4 kW amounting to a total volume of more than 6 MW are going to be supplied until the end of March 2012, the company announces. Read more

Small players pay out big in the renewable energy market

Thursday, 9.15.2011 - 11:47 (Solarpowerportal)

According to newly released figures, independent energy company SmartestEnergy has paid out more to renewable generators in the first year of the feed-in tariff (FiT) scheme than any other supplier. Read more

NREL Researchers Prove the Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility in Electric Drive

Thursday, 9.15.2011 - 22:34 (Renewable Energy World)

In the most under-reported cleantech story of the year, researchers from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory have used an impressive array of computational and modeling tools to prove that the Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility, which holds that the first unit of consumption of a good or service yields more utility than the second and subsequent units, doesn't have a loophole for plug-in vehicles. Read more