Team from U of T, KAUST and Penn State develop most efficient colloidal quantum dot solar cell yet

Monday, 9.19.2011 - 23:53 (PV-Tech)

It?s being called the most efficient colloidal quantum dot (CQD) solar cell ever and a team of international researchers is being praised for the new development. Researchers from the University of Toronto (U of T), King Abdullah University of Science & Technology (KAUST) and Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) have created the new CQD solar cell based off the need for a design that compacts quantum dots together so that less distance between the quantum dots equals a higher efficiency. Read more

DuPont, Loxley complete 8.7 MW PV plant in Thailand

Monday, 9.19.2011 - 21:09 (Solarserver)

On September 15th, 2011, DuPont Apollo (Hong Kong, China) announced the completion of an 8.7 MW solar photovoltaic (PV) plant in Thailand in collaboration with Loxley Public Company Ltd. (Bangkok, Thailand). The plant, located 180 km from Bangkok, is comprised of amorphous silicon thin-film PV modules and is scheduled to be commissioned in the fourth quarter of 2011. Read more

Concentrating solar photovoltaics: Baja Sun Energy to build 100 MW factory in Mexicali, 10 MW CPV plant

Monday, 9.19.2011 - 21:09 (Solarserver)

In September 2011, Baja Sun Energy SRL (Mexicali, Mexico) announced that it will build a manufacturing facility to produce concentrating solar photovoltaic (CPV) modules in Mexicali, Mexico, and use these modules to construct a 10 MW CPV plant. Arima EcoEnergy Technologies Corporation (Taipei, Taiwan) will outfit the factory with an equipment line to produce cells, modules and dual-axis tracking systems. Read more

NRG installs 2 MW of PV at American football stadium in Washington, D.C.

Monday, 9.19.2011 - 21:08 (Solarserver)

On September 15th, 2011, NRG Energy Inc. (Princeton, New Jersey, U.S.) and the Washington Redskins American football team unveiled three new solar photovoltaic (PV) plants totaling almost 2 MW at the team's home stadium. The three PV plants at FedExField in Washington D.C. feature crystalline silicon, building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) and organic photovoltaic (OPV) technologies, providing power for the stadium and three electric vehicle charging stations. Read more

Renewable energy bank finances three new photovoltaic parks in Bulgaria

Monday, 9.19.2011 - 15:39 (PV-Tech)

Solar energy financier BayernLB has supplied ?17.9 million for three new solar parks located in south-east Bulgaria for Bulgarian construction company Minstroy Holding JSC. Read more

Solyndra pushes bidding back as 100 companies contacted over sale of bankrupt firm

Monday, 9.19.2011 - 13:59 (PV-Tech)

Latest bankruptcy court filings from Solyndra, highlight the scaling-up efforts to find a potential buyer of its operations. Investment bank, Imperial Capital is in the throws of contacting over 100 companies that could be interested in acquiring its CIGS thin film-based manufacturing facilities. Read more

Stion achieves 14.1% efficiency with CIGS circuits, opens factory in Mississippi

Monday, 9.19.2011 - 13:32 (Solarserver)

On September 16th, 2011, Stion Corporation (San Jose, California, U.S.) announced that the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratories (NREL, Golden, Colorado, U.S.) has verified its 14.1% efficient production-scale copper indium gallium selenium (CIGS) thin-film circuits. On the same day, the company announced the grand opening of its new CIGS PV module production facility in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, United States. The first phase of the factory will have the ability to produce 100 MW of thin-film solar photovoltaic (PV) modules annually. Read more

Gehrlicher sells five Italian PV plants to White Owl Capital

Monday, 9.19.2011 - 13:29 (Solarserver)

On September 16th, 2011, Gehrlicher Solar AG (Dornach near Munich, Germany) announced that it has sold five Italian solar photovoltaic (PV) plants totaling 10.4 MW to White Owl Capital AG (Berlin, Germany). The five PV plants are located in the regions of Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna in Northern Italy. All the plants were commissioned before the reduction of feed-in tariffs went into effect on September 1st, 2011. Read more

GE, MPX to add 1 MW to PV plant in Brazil

Monday, 9.19.2011 - 13:25 (Solarserver)

On September 15th, 2011, General Electric Company (GE, Schenectady, New York, U.S.) and MPX Energia S/A (Rio De Janeiro, Brazil) announced an agreement to add an additional 1 MW to an existing 1 MW solar photovoltaic (PV) plant in the Ceara state of Brazil. The addition to the Taua plant will utilize GE cadmium telluride thin-film PV modules, GE Brilliance inverters and transformers as well as the company's SunIQ monitoring and control system. Read more

Berkeley Lab: U.S. PV system costs fall sharply in 2010, 2011

Monday, 9.19.2011 - 9:07 (Solarserver)

On September 15th, 2011, the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley, California, U.S.) released a report stating that the average cost of residential and commercial solar photovoltaic (PV) systems in the U.S. has declined significantly since the beginning of 2010. Berkeley Lab's fourth edition of its Tracking the Sun report estimates the average installed cost of such systems completed in 2010 declined by 17% over 2009, and an additional 11% in the first six months of 2011. Read more

Korean conglomerate SK Group makes $50 million equity investment in CIGS solar panel maker HelioVolt

Monday, 9.19.2011 - 23:43 (PV-Tech)

Member companies of large South Korean conglomerate SK Group have agreed to invest $50 million in HelioVolt to collaborate on technology development and help the CIGS thin-film PV company expand its manufacturing capabilities. While confirming that the funds are an equity investment in the Austin, TX-based firm, company chairman BJ Stanberry would not disclose to PV-Tech what ownership percentage the SK outlay represents. Read more

Yingli sees movement on its board of directors

Monday, 9.19.2011 - 23:41 (PV-Tech)

Yingli Green Energy Holding advised of the recent change to its board of directors and committees. Effective September 19, Chi Ping Martin Lau, an independent director and member of the audit and compensation committee for Yingli Solar, resigned from the board and committee to better focus on his duties as President of Tencent Holdings. Read more

Opel Solar secures warranty insurance, independent engineering assessments for PV tracker systems

Monday, 9.19.2011 - 23:21 (PV-Tech)

OPEL Solar has advised of its recent agreement with Energi Insurance Services, which will see the solar company buy Energi?s Manufacturer?s Product Warranty (MPW) Insurance for its TF-800 solar tracking systems. The additional insurance will supplement the company?s five-year limited, or optional 10-year extension, warranty, for material and equipment. Read more

US DOE national lab report finds that cost of PV system installations has dropped significantly

Monday, 9.19.2011 - 22:38 (PV-Tech)

According to the new Tracking the Sun report released by the US Department of Energy?s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the cost of installing a solar system in the US considerably shrunk in 2010 and through the first half of 2011. The annual report looked at solar PV costs in the US and examined over 115,000 PV systems that were installed between 1998 and 2010 across 42 states. Read more

Octopus Investments to continue supporting UK solar industry

Monday, 9.19.2011 - 18:45 (PV-Tech)

Octopus Investments has reaffirmed its commitment to the UK solar industry by launching two new solar-focused venture capital trusts. Unlike Octopus?s previous investments, the new funds are being aimed at companies developing medium-sized ( Read more

New fund closes in on UK solar parks

Monday, 9.19.2011 - 17:44 (Solarpowerportal)

Property Asset Manager Palmer Capital has partnered with Low Carbon to launch the UK’s first fund targeting UK solar energy farms. Utilising pension and insurance funds, approximately £52 million will be raised to acquire three of the 5MW solar parks constructed and operated by Low Carbon. Read more

Evergreen Solar and Solyndra Fail: Is Wall Street's Hatred of the Solar Industry Still "Irrational?"

Monday, 9.19.2011 - 15:40 (Renewable Energy World)

Much has been made this week about the nearly contemporaneous bankruptcy filings of two American solar companies, Silicon Valley's Solyndra and Evergreen Solar (formerly ESLR) out of Massachusetts. These two had something in common: Both made different types of photovoltaic (PV) panels and both were more expensive than average PV. These two firms did not fail because they manufactured in America, or because solar itself is untenable (on the contrary), but primarily because they were deploying advanced technology that ultimately could not find enough of a market to achieve the scale required to become profitable. Read more

The Question Day 5: How Can the U.S. Solar Industry Meet Expectations?

Monday, 9.19.2011 - 15:00 (Renewable Energy World)

RenewableEnergyWorld asked solar executives and our social media community to lend their voices and define what three strategies they think will lead to a thriving solar industry. Answers were varied, and many valid opinions were brought to light. Responses will be updated here daily, and feel free to look at previous insights by clicking on the page links below. Read more

Asia Report: Wind Espionage and a Solar Riot

Monday, 9.19.2011 - 14:58 (Renewable Energy World)

Earlier this month, an American senator called on President Obama to hike taxes on solar panel imports coming from China. The move underscored what could be growing tension between Chinese and American companies often competing for the same dollar. The relationship may have gotten a bit rockier this past week as American Semiconductor accused Chinese wind turbine manufacturer Sinovel of industrial espionage. The Massachusetts company, which recently went through a large round of layoffs, says the Beijing firm hired someone to expose its technology. Read more

SMA Solar makes significant cut to 2011 sales forecast

Monday, 9.19.2011 - 14:47 (PV-Tech)

Financial analysts had raised concerns last week about SMA Solar being able to retain its previously reported financial guidance for 2011, after what many felt was a rather solemn analyst day held last week. At a Board meeting today, SMA did indeed lower is revenue guidance by a significant amount, highlighting the underlying weaker than expected demand recovery in the third quarter of the year. Read more

What is the Value of Solar for the Consumer?

Monday, 9.19.2011 - 14:06 (Renewable Energy World)

Marketing 101 teaches us that the most important question any business has to answer is this: What is your business' value to your customer? While we often hear news telling us about the latest multi-megawatt deal, trends in financing, global patterns of demand, spot prices of polysilicon and so on, it pays to see through the static and ask the essential question: What do end-users value most when choosing solar energy? Read more

Southern California Edison to install largest rooftop PV system in US

Monday, 9.19.2011 - 12:15 (PV-Tech)

Southern California Edison (SCE) will install the largest single-building solar rooftop system in the US at an industrial property in Perris, California. Dexus Property Group has signed a 20-year lease with SCE for the 513,588m2 rooftop space, which will soon be home to 36,000 solar panels. The record-breaking system, which will have a peak capacity of 10MW, is part of a network of solar plants SCE is building throughout southern and central California. Read more

JinkoSolar forced to close module manufacturing plant after chemical leaks

Monday, 9.19.2011 - 11:14 (PV-Tech)

Updated: Several days of angry demonstrations by local residents after a leak of fluoride from a module manufacturing plant owned by JinkoSolar has led to the plant closing. According to reports, the plant had been warned of environmental non-compliance earlier this year, but after residents broke through gates, overturning cars and ransacking offices, local government officials have ordered the closure of the plant in Hongxiao, Haining city in eastern Zhejiang province, China. Read more

Jinko Solar forced to close module manufacturing plant after chemical leaks

Monday, 9.19.2011 - 11:14 (PV-Tech)

Several days of angry demonstrations by local residents after a leak of fluoride from a module manufacturing plant owned by Jinko Solar has led to the plant closing. According to reports, the plant had been warned of environmental non-compliance earlier this year, but after residents broke through gates, overturning cars and ransacking offices, local government officials have ordered the closure of the plant in Hongxiao, Haining city in eastern Zhejiang province, China. Read more

JinkoSolar forced to close manufacturing plant after chemical leaks

Monday, 9.19.2011 - 11:14 (PV-Tech)

Several days of angry demonstrations by local residents after a fluoride leak from a JinkoSolar-owned cell manufacturing plant have led to the plant closing. According to reports, the plant had been warned of environmental noncompliance earlier this year, but after residents broke through gates, overturning cars and ransacking offices, local government officials have ordered the closure of the plant in Hongxiao, China. Read more

Adding up the savings with UK Solar Kits? new solar PV calculator

Monday, 9.19.2011 - 10:09 (Solarpowerportal)

UK Solar Kits have produced a calculator to assist newly qualified installers of solar photovoltaics (PV) to meet the system performance requirement of the MCS Solar PV document. Read more

And Now the Solar GOOD News: 6.8% Solar Job Growth Since August 2010

Monday, 9.19.2011 - 9:31 (Renewable Energy World)

Breaking news: Over the weekend, sources from The Solar Foundation gave me some early numbers from the 2011 National Solar Jobs Census. There will be more data released at Solar Power International 2011 in Dallas, but here’s the early scoop: As of August 2011, there are 100,237 solar workers in the U.S. in all 50 states. Across the solar supply chain, from installers to balance of system (BOS) manufacturers, to yes, even solar PV manufacturers, that’s a 6.8% growth rate since August 2010. In terms of exact numbers, there were net 6,735 new solar jobs created since August 2010.   When I say, “net,” my sources tell me that these numbers also accurately Read more

Renewable energy storage: Saft launches industrial production at Jacksonville lithium-ion battery plant

Monday, 9.19.2011 - 21:08 (Solarserver)

Saft SA (Bagnolet, France), the world?s leading designer and manufacturer of high-tech industrial batteries, on September 16th, 2011 inaugurated the world?s most advanced automated lithium-ion battery factory, in Jacksonville, Florida, U.S. This high-volume, state-of-the-art production facility is dedicated to building advanced lithium-ion cells and batteries for energy storage for renewable energy, smart grid support, broadband back-up power, transportation and defense. Read more

Energy Report: India, China to lead Massive Growth in Consumption

Monday, 9.19.2011 - 19:24 (Renewable Energy World)

China and India are expected to lead the global surge in energy demand over the next two-plus decades, and while renewable energy is expected to grab a growing share of that mix, fossil fuels will still dominate world consumption by 2035, according to a new report. Read more

BlueChip Energy: 1.2 MW rooftop PV installation in Florida connected to the grid

Monday, 9.19.2011 - 13:58 (Solarserver)

BlueChip Energy LLC. (BCE, Lake Mary, FL), a fully-integrated solar energy provider for utility, commercial and residential applications, on September 16th, 2011 announced the connection of Florida?s largest solar rooftop installation to the grid. The rooftop PV plant, currently at 1.2 megawatts (MW), is part of the planned 10 MW Rinehart Solar Farm. The massive solar array, spanning the company?s 318,000 square foot corporate offices and solar module production facility in Lake Mary, Florida, is still growing. Read more

REC terminates long-term wafer sales contract with unnamed customer

Monday, 9.19.2011 - 11:34 (PV-Tech)

The Renewable Energy Corporation has terminated a long-term wafer sales contract with an unnamed customer. The Norweigan PV giant will receive USD$40 million in compensation, which will be paid out in Q3. Read more