PV Installations To Soar in Second Half of 2011

Wednesday, 9.21.2011 - 15:05 (Renewable Energy World)

Despite a very weak start to the year, IMS Research has recently increased its photovoltaics (PV) forecast for the full year by more than 1 GW and predicts that more than 22 GW of new PV capacity will be added in 2011. The research firm cited growing demand in all major markets, notably in Asia and the Americas, as well as a pick-up in the sluggish German market, and installations in the second half will be nearly double that seen in the first six months. Read more

California: Stanislaus County approves land use for 25 MW SunPower PV plant

Wednesday, 9.21.2011 - 11:25 (Solarserver)

On September 15th, 2011, a county in California's Central Valley approved the use of agricultural land for a 25 MW solar photovoltaic (PV) plant to be built by SunPower Corporation (San Jose, California, U.S.). The Stanislaus County Planning Commission voted unanimously to approve the McHenry Solar Farm, which will occupy 63 hectares near Modesto, California. The site is surrounded by agriculture and is adjacent to the Del Rio golf facility. Read more

Photovoltaics in France: Gehrlicher Solar France SAS builds the second largest PV rooftop system in the Alsace region (2.9 MWp)

Wednesday, 9.21.2011 - 11:17 (Solarserver)

Gehrlicher Solar France SAS, the French subsidiary of Gehrlicher Solar AG (Dornach near Munich), the international photovoltaic (PV) company, on September 20th, 2011 announced the completion of the second largest roof system in the French Alsace region with a total power of 2.9 MWp. The rooftop PV system is constructed on the roofs of seven warehouses belonging to Ecosun Expert in the metropolitan area of Mulhouse. Ecosun Expert is the sole investor in the project. Read more

Solarcentury named as UK?s fastest growing private renewable energy company

Wednesday, 9.21.2011 - 19:20 (Solarpowerportal)

For the second consecutive year, Solarcentury has been listed as the fastest growing private renewable energy company in the UK. Read more

US on the up: report reveals US market increased installs by 69% year-on-year

Wednesday, 9.21.2011 - 18:53 (PV-Tech)

A report released by GTM Research and Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) suggests that the solar PV market in the US has continued on its current upward trend, installing 314MW of solar power in Q2?11, an increase of 69% on Q2?10. The market has garnered a larger portion of the total global market and looks to be still on track to install 1.75GW of PV in 2011, according to GTM Research and the SEIA?s latest quarterly ?US Solar Market Insight? report. Read more

New solar scheme for businesses puts the ?free? into Freetricity

Wednesday, 9.21.2011 - 18:52 (Solarpowerportal)

Freetricity has just announced a new free solar scheme aimed at businesses, charities and community groups. Read more

The Question Day 7: How Can the U.S. Solar Industry Meet Expectations?

Wednesday, 9.21.2011 - 16:00 (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

On Solar and Solyndra

Wednesday, 9.21.2011 - 14:52 (Renewable Energy World)

Reports of the death of the solar industry are greatly exaggerated. Yes, there have been some high profile bankruptcies of US solar companies ? Solyndra, Evergreen, Spectrawatt ? in 2011. But the solar industry as a whole is on a boom that is only going to increase in coming years. We are in the elbow of an exponential solar growth curve that is going to transform how we produce and use energy. Read more

SEIA to promote SolarNexus business management software

Wednesday, 9.21.2011 - 14:25 (Solarserver)

On September 19th, 2011, the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA, Washington D.C., U.S.) and SolarNexus Inc. (Berkeley, California, U.S.) announced a partnership to promote efficient business practices for SEIA members by using the SolarNexus business management software system. SolarNexus states that its software helps solar contractors manage projects, organize client data, and collaborate with team members. As part of the partnership, SolarNexus will also promote SEIA membership to its customers. Read more

MicroCSP: Sopogy wins GoingGreen Global 200 award; names Terry Revnak vice president of sales

Wednesday, 9.21.2011 - 14:18 (Solarserver)

In September 2011, Sopogy Inc. (Honolulu, Hawaii), producer of micro concentrating solar power systems (MicroCSP), announced that it has received a GoingGreen Global 200 award for the third year running. Industry experts, including professionals from Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Hewlett-Packard, KPMG and Silicon Valley Bank, selected Sopogy to be amongst the best 200 private cleantech companies from around the world to win the award. Read more

SGS Solar Test House offers desert dust testing of PV modules

Wednesday, 9.21.2011 - 14:12 (Solarserver)

SGS Germany GmbH (Kurort Hartha, Germany) announced that the SGS Solar Test House is offering desert dust testing according to DIN EN 60068-2-68 LC2, which determines the effects of dust and sand, suspended in air on solar photovoltaic (PV) modules. The desert dust test simulates the impact of high-velocity particles and proves the solar module's applicability for desert regions. The SGS Desert Dust Test helps to select the right panel technology for a particular type of application and location, SGS Germany emphasizes. Read more

OPEL Solar to supply PV trackers for Conergy U.S. projects

Wednesday, 9.21.2011 - 14:10 (Solarserver)

On September 15th, 2011, OPEL Solar Inc. and OPEL Technologies Inc. (Shelton, Conn.), a global supplier of high concentration photovoltaic (HCPV) solar panels and solar tracker systems and a semiconductor device and process developer, announced that Conergy U.S. (Denver, Colo.) has selected OPEL to supply its TF-800 series of single axis trackers for multiple projects in Northern California. Read more

Gefran launches new residential solar inverter range

Wednesday, 9.21.2011 - 14:02 (Solarpowerportal)

Gefran has now officially launched its new range of Radius solar inverters, aimed specifically at the UK domestic market. Based in Italy, Gefran’s Radius inverter technology builds on the company’s 45 years of experience in the electrical drive and energy management sector. Read more

PV in Ukraine: Activ Solar completes phase 3 of the Ohotnikovo solar power station

Wednesday, 9.21.2011 - 13:50 (Solarserver)

Vienna-based Activ Solar GmbH on September 2011 announced the completion of phase 3 of the Ohotnikovo solar power station, Ukraine. Phase-3 of the solar photovoltaic (PV) plant has a total capacity of 20 megawatts (MW) and is expected to produce more than 25,000 MWh of clean electricity per year. The installation consists of about 90,000 crystalline PV modules, ground-based on an area of 40 hectares. The installation is expected to meet the electricity needs of about 5,000 households and reduce more than 20,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year. Read more

LDK Solar announces private placement of 4.37 million ordinary shares

Wednesday, 9.21.2011 - 13:48 (Solarserver)

On September 19th, 2011, LDK Solar Company Ltd. (Xinyu City, China) announced the private placement of 4.37 million ordinary shares. Pursuant to a share repurchase program, LDK had repurchased USD 110 million worth of American depositary shares between July 11th, 2011 and August 26th, 2011, which exceeded allowable restricted payments under its February 28th, 2011 indenture. Read more

Canadian Solar?s modules to power New Jersey Hospital?s 2.1MW solar project

Wednesday, 9.21.2011 - 13:21 (PV-Tech)

Continuing its expansion into the US, Canadian Solar has announced that it has been awarded the module supply contract for a 2.1MW solar installation at St. Peter?s University Hospital in New Brunswick, New Jersey. The company will supply almost 10,000 of its 6P 240P modules for the project, which will comprise two rooftop arrays, three solar canopies on parking lots and another solar canopy on the roof of a multi-floor parking structure. Read more

TÜV Rheinland joins forces with China?s CGC certification body

Wednesday, 9.21.2011 - 12:45 (PV-Tech)

TÜV Rheinland is now collaborating with China General Certification Center (CGC) to provide testing and certification for solar manufacturers looking to break into the Chinese PV market. Read more

PV in India: Solar Frontier surpasses 30 MW of projects in Gujarat province

Wednesday, 9.21.2011 - 11:34 (Solarserver)

Solar Frontier K.K. (Tokyo, Japan) on September 20th, 2011 announced that it has closed deals to supply CIS solar photovoltaic (PV) modules to projects in India under National Solar Mission and Gujarat State program, totaling more than 30 MW to be installed by the end of 2011. Clients expect stand-out performance from Solar Frontier because of the high efficiency of its CIS modules and the suitability of CIS technology for the hot conditions found in India, the producer emphasizes. Read more

Concentrating solar power: Saint-Gobain begins construction on mirror factory in Goodyear, Arizona

Wednesday, 9.21.2011 - 11:11 (Solarserver)

On September 20th, 2011, Saint-Gobain SA (Courbevoie, France) announced that it has begun construction on its new mirror manufacturing facility for concentrating solar power (CSP) plants in Goodyear in the U.S. state of Arizona. The plant will be Saint-Gobain's first manufacturing facility in North America, and is expected to begin production for the U.S. market in the fourth quarter of 2011. Read more

BayernLB finances three solar PV parks in Bulgaria totaling 8.8 MW

Wednesday, 9.21.2011 - 9:38 (Solarserver)

BayernLB (Munich, Germany) is financing three solar photovoltaic (PV) power plants constructed by Solea AG, a company based in the Bavarian town of Plattling, for Minstroy Holding JSC, Sofia. The export finance totaling just under EUR 18 million covers 85% of the costs for development, procurement, construction and installation of the fully-integrated, ready-to-use project, which consists of three self-contained parks in Gabarevo, Pavel Banya (2.6 Megawatt Peak) and Chelnik, Yambol (3.2 MWp and 3.0 MWp) in the South East of Bulgaria. Read more

nTact and imec?s Holst Centre partner on flexible roll-to-roll technologies

Wednesday, 9.21.2011 - 17:16 (PV-Tech)

Roll-to-roll PV manufacturing will receive a boost with the news that imec?s Holst Centre, an open-innovation initiative, has teamed up with nTact for developments in the field of flexible electronics. nTact is the trade name for FAS Holdings Group, a US manufacturer of high-precision deposition systems for the microelectronics and energy industries. Read more

Can Market Access Save Consumers From $4 Gasoline?

Wednesday, 9.21.2011 - 16:36 (Renewable Energy World)

A coalition called FuelChoiceNow has opened for business that is worth taking a very, very close look at. The pitch: that advanced fuel companies are developing new, affordable and commercial-ready alternatives to oil, but are inhibited by lack of access. Read more

Order Focus: Air Liquide signs multiple long-term gas supply contracts worth over US$15 million

Wednesday, 9.21.2011 - 16:25 (PV-Tech)

Specialty gas supplier Air Liquide has announced that over the course of the past few weeks, it has signed long-term gas supply contracts worth in the region of US$15 million. The company credits the reduction in manufacturing costs and the subsequent move by smaller companies to move into high growth markets has having contributed to the significant increase in orders experienced by the company. Read more

10 Reasons Renewables May Beat the Projections

Wednesday, 9.21.2011 - 16:01 (Renewable Energy World)

Five percent? That's the EIA's projected global increase in renewable energy generation by the year 2035. You'd think that nearly 30 years of technological, business and environmental inroads would make a bigger dent in the world's future energy mix. Read more

10 Reasons Renewable Energy May Beat the Projections

Wednesday, 9.21.2011 - 16:01 (Renewable Energy World)

Five percent? That's the EIA's projected global increase in renewable energy generation by the year 2035. You'd think that nearly 30 years of technological, business and environmental inroads would make a bigger dent in the world's future energy mix. Read more

Tenesol?s new Benelux subsidiary builds first PV system; 250 kWp array on a sunshade structure in Wallonia

Wednesday, 9.21.2011 - 13:48 (Solarserver)

Tenesol, the global PV solutions provider, has established a new subsidiary in Belgium that will service the Benelux countries (Belgium, The Netherlands and Luxembourg). The subsidiary recently completed its first PV project in the region, the largest private PV installation in Wallonia. Tenesol has operated in Belgium through its distribution network for many years. But its decision to open a new office there reflects the growing popularity of its products in the region and the increased interest in alternative energy, the company emphasizes. Read more