Greater Phoenix Economic Council files letter contesting US tariffs on Chinese manufacturers

Thursday, 7.26.2012 - 18:56 (PV-Tech)

At a private reception with Chinese government officials, China-based companies and FDI agencies, the Greater Phoenix Economic Council (GPEC) announced it has filed a strongly-worded letter to the US Department of Commerce and the International Trade Commission (ITC) protesting against the tariffs on Chinese-manufactured photovoltaic cells and modules. Currently, GPEC is the only economic development organization in the country to come forward against the US ruling. Read more

U.S. National Park Service installs 307-kW PV system on Alcatraz Island

Thursday, 7.26.2012 - 15:35 (Solarserver)

The U.S. National Park Service (NPS) and the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have installed a 307-kilowatt (kW) photovoltaic (PV) system on Alcatraz Island, located in the middle of the San Francisco Bay. The PV rooftop system which consists of 1,300 solar panels, will power lights and appliances that for three-quarters of a century were powered by diesel fuel ferried across the bay. Read more

Ferro?s 2Q results tempered by weak demand from PV manufacturers

Thursday, 7.26.2012 - 14:15 (PV-Tech)

Ferro Corporation noted that weak demand for conductive pastes used in solar cell production was partially responsible for lower second quarter sales. The materials specialist said that sales declined by US$90 million within its Electronic Materials segment which includes its sales to the solar industry. Ferro also noted a US$63 million decline in sales of precious metals due to lower silver prices and overall demand. The company reported second quarter net sales of US$482 million. Read more

Evergreen PV announces partnership with Samil Power

Thursday, 7.26.2012 - 12:12 (Solarpowerportal)

Oxfordshire-based solar distributor, Evergreen PV, has announced a partnership with solar inverter manufacturer Samil Power. The agreement will see Evergreen begin stocking the Australian manufacturer?s range of inverters for the UK market, ranging from the 1-5kW SolarRiver to the100-500kW SolarOcean inverter series. Read more

IKEA completes 26th solar energy project with installation in Draper, Utah

Thursday, 7.26.2012 - 22:07 (PV-Tech)

IKEA has been on a roll this week announcing the completion of its latest rooftop solar projects on its US stores. Following its Chicago and Atlanta installations, the company revealed that its Draper, Utah store now has a 1,015kW system spread across 180,500 square feet of rooftop space producing electricity. Read more

European solar manufacturers launch EU ProSun initiative, urge investigation of China trade practice

Thursday, 7.26.2012 - 21:15 (PV-Tech)

European solar manufacturers have officially launched their own initiative to urge the European Commission into investigating what it considers unfair trade practices by Chinese solar manufacturers. The EU ProSun initiative states that its goal is to ?maintain a sustainable and vibrant solar manufacturing base in Europe.? Read more

Envision Solar announces development initiatives in Middle East, Spain

Thursday, 7.26.2012 - 21:15 (PV-Tech)

Shaded parking array designed and developer, Envision Solar International, has announced that through a new partnership with Aconfort, it will be developing new business initiatives through the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Spain. Aconfort is a member of Al Habtoor Enterprises and is based in the UAE and Spain. Read more

SolarWorld Among 20-Plus Manufacturers to File EU Complaint

Thursday, 7.26.2012 - 16:40 (Renewable Energy World)

A SolarWorld coalition of European-based manufacturers officially filed a trade complaint in Brussels late Wednesday, eliciting a strong response from leading Chinese manufacturers and setting the stage for a process that could further shake up the global solar industry. Read more

694 MW of solar projects in Chile approved, another 2.47 GW planned

Thursday, 7.26.2012 - 15:53 (Solarserver)

In its July 2012 report, Chile's Center for Renewable Energy (CORFO) estimates that 694 MW of new solar projects have received environmental approval, with a further 37 projects totaling 2.47 GW in the approval process. This compares to only 300 kW under construction, and a sole 1 MW operational PV plant. Codelco and Solarpack completed the Calama Solar 3 in June 2012, and the plant corresponds to 0.13% of installed non-conventional renewable energy capacity in the nation. Read more

Green Grants selects First Associates to service solar lease portfolio in Louisiana

Thursday, 7.26.2012 - 15:40 (Solarserver)

Green Grants LLC (New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.) has selected First Associates Loan Servicing LLC (San Diego, California, U.S.) to service its residential solar power lease portfolio in the U.S. state of Louisiana. Green Grants notes that its solar leasing program covers the upfront costs of installing solar energy systems, rendering irrelevant the lag time before consumers can receive the state's 50% tax rebate and the 30% federal tax credit. Louisiana has one of the most generous rebates in the nation, but this has not spurred the dramatic market growth seen in other U.S. states. Read more

China Sunergy sells 7.8 MW of solar PV modules to Australian Urban Group Energy

Thursday, 7.26.2012 - 15:28 (Solarserver)

On July 24th, 2012, China Sunergy Co. Ltd. (Nanjing, China) announced that it has signed a modules sales agreement with Urban Group Energy, the energy arm of Urban Group Australia. Under the agreement, China Sunergy will supply 7.8 megawatts (MW) of solar photovoltaic (PV) modules to Urban Group Energy. The shipment of the modules is scheduled to be completed by the end of August 2012. Read more

Order Focus: Senersun appoints Spanish distributor and signs 6MW supply deal

Thursday, 7.26.2012 - 13:59 (PV-Tech)

France-based PV module specialist, Senersun has appointed Spanish distributor Revosolar as its official distributor for the Spanish market. As part of the arrangement Senersun will supply 6MW of modules to the company. Read more

Credit Suisse funds Sunrun, SolarCity

Thursday, 7.26.2012 - 12:40 (Solarserver)

On July 25th, 2012, two leading U.S. solar as a service companies announced that they will be receiving investments from Credit Suisse (Zurich, Switzerland) for a total of USD 400 million. Credit Suisse has committed to a second USD 100 million round of investment in SolarCity Corporation's (San Mateo, California, U.S.) PV services, to bring the total to USD 200 million. The financial services company has also committed USD 200 million to Sunrun Inc. (San Francisco, California, U.S.), to support its solar power service offering. Read more

U.S. government releases final document identifying solar energy zones on public lands

Thursday, 7.26.2012 - 12:35 (Solarserver)

The U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) has released a formal guide for solar energy development on the nation's public lands, proposing 17 Solar Energy Zones in areas with access to transmission and limited resource conflicts. The DOI states that its Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) will make for faster and better permitting of large-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) and concentrating solar power (CSP) projects on public lands. The nation's Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and Large-scale Solar Association both applauded the move. Read more

Seventeen Shropshire schools fitted with solar

Thursday, 7.26.2012 - 11:40 (Solarpowerportal)

Shropshire council has completed the installation of solar arrays on 17 schools across the county, with the help of solar installer SolarTech Ltd. The £1.5 million project saw over 3,000 solar panels fitted to the schools in just four weeks. Read more

Suntech rejects SolarWorld´s PV dumping allegations in Europe

Thursday, 7.26.2012 - 9:57 (Solarserver)

On July 25th, 2012Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd. (Wuxi, China), the world's largest producer of solar photovoltaic (PV) panels, published a statement regarding the filing of an anti-dumping complaint by SolarWorld AG at the European Commission. "Suntech rejects SolarWorld´s allegations that it has received illegal subsidies and is dumping solar products in Europe and will cooperate fully with any investigation. As the market leader with a global presence and customers in 80 countries, Suntech will continue to demonstrate its adherence to fair international trade practices", said Jerry Stokes, President of Suntech Europe. Read more

Pursuing Abundance: USDA, DOE Invest $41M to Drive Biofuels Feedstock Yields, Diversification

Thursday, 7.26.2012 - 19:20 (Renewable Energy World)

In Washington, new weekly statistics that will be released by the US Drought Monitor this and next week are expected to show that recent rains are beginning to ease drought conditions in the Midwest. Read more

Oil Group Files Second Lawsuit Over EPA Biofuel Standards

Thursday, 7.26.2012 - 16:07 (Renewable Energy World)

An oil and gas industry trade association filed a second lawsuit challenging U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulations governing fuel additives that include biological materials. Read more

Wind Power Will Grow by 100 TWh per Year, Says IEA

Thursday, 7.26.2012 - 15:00 (Renewable Energy World)

Wind power will be the second biggest contributor to global renewable electricity generation by 2017, according to a ground-breaking report by the International Energy Agency (IEA). Despite economic uncertainties in many countries, global power generation from renewable sources including wind will increase by more than 40% to almost 6,400 terawatt Read more

Suniva modules power Georgia Tech?s Carbon-Neutral Energy Solutions lab

Thursday, 7.26.2012 - 22:15 (PV-Tech)

Georgia Institute of Technology?s Carbon-Neutral Energy Solutions Laboratory, which conducts research on energy efficient technologies and carbon sequestration, has a new solar array courtesy of Suniva. Nearly 1,200 Suniva modules, installed by Inman Solar, power the 45,000 square foot facility. The project additionally includes a walkway canopy and two parking structures. Read more

Eggs in Many Baskets: Arizona Public Service Diversifies Generation Sources

Thursday, 7.26.2012 - 20:27 (Renewable Energy World)

Arizona Public Service (APS) changed how it selects new generation supply with a March 2012 filing; it will no longer use "least cost" as the dominant factor. Instead, it will diversify and distribute its generation eggs in many baskets. Not only that, APS will reduce carbon emissions and total water use, and has protected itself from potential future price spikes and volatility in the natural gas market. Read more

Local authorities required to publish energy efficiency plans

Thursday, 7.26.2012 - 16:47 (Solarpowerportal)

Local authorities will have to publish a report on their plans to achieve improved energy efficiency in their area by March 31, 2013, according to new guidelines issued under the Home Energy Conservation Act (HECA). Read more

Aquentium signs JV agreement for alternative energy projects in Puerto Rico

Thursday, 7.26.2012 - 15:24 (Solarserver)

On July 24th, 2012, Aquentium Inc. (Perris, California, U.S.) announced that it has signed a joint venture (JV) agreement with Green Energy Systems Solutions Inc. to develop alternative energy projects in Puerto Rico. Under the terms of the agreement, Aquentium will be responsible for the cost of all energy system designs, engineering, equipment and installations. Read more

PV producer WINAICO launches into the Australian market at Clean Energy Week 2012

Thursday, 7.26.2012 - 12:12 (Solarserver)

With the opening of Clean Energy Week 2012, Australia´s largest event for the renewable energy and energy efficiency industries, WINAICO (Creglingen, Germany) announces the launch of WINAICO Australia Pty Ltd. Sales and distribution centers now allow the solar industry in Australia and New Zealand to have direct access to WINAICO's high-quality solar photovoltaic (PV) panels. Read more

UK DECC considers further changes to large-scale renewable developments

Thursday, 7.26.2012 - 12:12 (PV-Tech)

The UK Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has set out new proposals for the level of support for large-scale renewable developments between 2013 and 2017, reports Solar Power Portal. Read more

Sumitomo commissions combined CPV/energy storage system at Yokohama factory

Thursday, 7.26.2012 - 9:47 (Solarserver)

Sumitomo Electric Industries Ltd. (Osaka, Japan) has completed and commissioned a combined concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) and energy storage system at its Yokohama Works in Yokohama, Japan. The system features the world's largest redox flow battery with a capacity of 1 MW x 5 hours, 100 kW of CPV, and an energy management system (EMS). Sumitomo expects to commission another 100 kW of CPV by the end of the fiscal year, to bring the system to 200 kW. Read more