Powerway to build 18 MW PV plant in Thailand

Monday, 10.15.2012 - 22:34 (Solarserver)

Powerway Renewable Energy Company Ltd. (Foshan City, China) has been awarded a contract to build an 18 megawatt (MW) solar photovoltaic (PV) plant in Thailand. In addition to supplying engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services, Powerway is also supplying the mounting structures and thin-film PV modules for the plant through a collaboration with a "renowned" thin-film producer. Read more

Canadian Solar comments on DOC's decision on tariffs for Chinese solar cells and modules, accentuates commitment to the U.S. solar market

Monday, 10.15.2012 - 22:28 (Solarserver)

Canadian Solar Inc. (Ontario, Canada) has commented on the final countervailing duty (CVD) and anti-dumping (AD) rulings by the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) regarding the import of Chinese photovoltaic (PV) cells and modules to the United States. Canadian Solar states that DOC issued a final determination to impose AD of 15.42% and CVD of 15.24% on crystalline silicon PV cells made by Canadian Solar in China, whether or not assembled into modules. Read more

Installed PV capacity in Italy hits 15.9GW

Monday, 10.15.2012 - 17:15 (PV-Tech)

According to figures released by Italian energy agency GSE, Italy has 448,266 PV plants currently in operation which benefit from the country?s Conto Energia V incentive programme. In total, the plants have a combined PV capacity of 15.9GW. In addition, the country has a further 2,961 PV plants registered for the feed-in tariff which will add 672MW of PV capacity. Read more

Order Focus: ReneSola supplies German PV project developer with 10MW of modules

Monday, 10.15.2012 - 16:14 (PV-Tech)

ReneSola has shipped 10MW of modules to German-based PV project developer, saferay for a new PV power plant being built in Schwarzheide in Brandenburg, Germany. Saferay is using ReneSola?s 245W and 250W multicrystalline solar modules for the project. Read more

Recurrent Energy Continues U.S. Hires Despite Trouble at Parent Sharp

Monday, 10.15.2012 - 14:46 (Renewable Energy World)

Sharp Corp, deeply in the red, has recently announced that it will cut almost 11,000 jobs (or 18% of its workforce) around the World, and sell many assets. The asset sale may include Recurrent Energy that it bought in 2010 for $305 Million. Rumor has it that Sharp hopes to get $312 Million for Recurrent Energy. Recurrent is itself in good financial Read more

NREL produces 18.2% efficient nanostructured PV cell

Monday, 10.15.2012 - 13:00 (Solarserver)

The U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratories (NREL, Golden, Colorado, U.S.) has produced an 18.2% efficient solar photovoltaic (PV) cell using a nanostructured surface. This research builds on the use of "black silicon" technology, including nano-islands of silver on the surface of a cell which is etched to make billions of nano-sized holes, a process also eliminates the need for anti-reflection layers. The research was first published in the journal "Nature Nanotechnology". Read more

centrotherm photovoltaics waits for court and creditor approval on reorganization plan

Monday, 10.15.2012 - 10:15 (PV-Tech)

Major PV equipment supplier, centrotherm photovoltaics has submitted its reorganization plans to the insolvency court in Ulm, Germany. Although the company did not provide details on what those plans would be, the company said in a statement that it had now entered a critical phase in its insolvency proceedings that also need creditor approval. Both its subsidiaries, centrotherm thermal solutions and centrotherm SiTec have also filed plans with the court separately. Read more

China's MOFCOM, PV makers criticize U.S. DOC trade ruling

Monday, 10.15.2012 - 9:50 (Solarserver)

China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) has declared its strong dissatisfaction with the U.S. Department of Commerce's (DOC) recent ruling proposing tariff levels for imports of Chinese solar photovoltaic (PV) products. MOFCOM Spokesman Shen Danyang alleges that the DOC disregarded the defense of the Chinese government and Chinese companies, and stated that the ruling sends a negative signal of protectionism, counter to the aim of mitigating climate change. A number of top-tier Chinese PV makers have also criticized the ruling and affirmed their commitment to the U.S. market. Read more

European Commission approves Hanwha, Q-Cells merger

Monday, 10.15.2012 - 9:42 (Solarserver)

The European Commission has granted clearance to Hanwha Group's (Seoul, South Korea) acquisition of Q-Cells SE (Bitterfeld-Wolfen, Germany). Q-Cells' creditors had approved the purchase by Hanwha on August 29th, 2012 for USD 50 million in cash and USD 227 million in assumed debt. Hanwha plans to retain the majority of Q-Cells employees and most parts of the group including facilities in Bitterfeld-Wolfen, Berlin and Malaysia. Read more

ET Solar granted Certisolis certification for its BIPV frameless modules

Monday, 10.15.2012 - 23:55 (PV-Tech)

ET Solar Group announced that its BIPV frameless modules had been tested and certified by the Certisolis Test Centre to conform to NF-EN 61215 and NF-EN 61730 guidelines. The frameless modules passed tests on preconditioning, initial evaluations, damp heat, mechanical load and module breakage. Read more

Canadian Solar launches new solar program under partnership with PetersenDean

Monday, 10.15.2012 - 23:15 (PV-Tech)

Canadian Solar has teamed up with US roofing company PetersenDean in order to offer a new roofing program. PetersenDean has initiated its own solar division and will use it to promote the program. No details were given by the companies entailing what the program or the partnership will specifically offer. However, PetersenDean did note that the program will kick-off at Santana Row, October 19-21. Read more

U.S. Natural Resources Defense Council, Indian Council on Energy and Water: Concentrating solar power important for India's energy future

Monday, 10.15.2012 - 22:39 (Solarserver)

The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC, Washington, D.C., U.S.) and the Council on Energy and Water (CEEW, New Delhi, India) have released a new report which asserts that concentrating solar power (CSP) has an important role to play among renewable energy technologies in India. "Concentrating solar power: Heating up India's solar thermal market under the National Solar Mission" cites CSP's ability to incorporate low-cost thermal energy storage as an deciding asset in meeting the power needs of the nation. The report also identifies obstacles to the development of CSP and provides recommendations to support the long-term feasibility of the technology. Read more

The Question Day 9: What is the Most Difficult Issue Facing the Solar Industry?

Monday, 10.15.2012 - 20:27 (Renewable Energy World)

It's been a year of both continued expansion and mounting challenges for the global solar industry. RenewableEnergyWorld asked solar industry executives to share their thoughts and insights on one burning question: Read more

UPDATE: Western Solar Zones to Streamline Development on Public Lands

Monday, 10.15.2012 - 18:02 (Renewable Energy World)

Update: Interior Secretary Ken Salazar officially announced last week that the Department of the Interior has designated 285,000 acres of public land for solar development on pre-sited zones in the Western states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah, as RenewableEnergyWorld.com reported in July. Read more

Solar Silicon to Bottom as China Halts Factory Expansion

Monday, 10.15.2012 - 16:51 (Renewable Energy World)

Polysilicon, the raw material used by the $38 billion a year solar industry, is forecast to bottom near a record low next year after the leading manufacturers in China and South Korea halted factory expansions. Read more

Treasury Dept. Fingers SolarCity in Exploration of the Dark Underbelly of Solar Leasing

Monday, 10.15.2012 - 16:39 (Renewable Energy World)

A new government investigation of Solarcity on the eve of its initial public offering (IPO) may explain how solar leasing is fleecing federal taxpayers and making U.S. residential solar more expensive than in other countries. Read more

Sky Solar breaks ground on 60 MW PV plant in Xinjiang, China

Monday, 10.15.2012 - 16:15 (Solarserver)

Sky Solar Holdings Company Ltd. (Shanghai, China) has broken ground on a 60 MW solar photovoltaic (PV) plant, as the first phase of an 800 MW project in China's Xinjiang Province. The company credits "tremendous" support from all levels of the Chinese government through the entire development process for the plant, which will occupy 1.2 million square meters of land in the Gobi Desert. Read more

US Dept. of the Interior finalizes roadmap for large-scale PV developments on public land

Monday, 10.15.2012 - 16:15 (PV-Tech)

In line with President Obama?s energy strategy to increase domestic energy production, Secretary of the US Department of the Interior Ken Salazar has finalized the Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) for large-scale solar energy development in six western US states, namely Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah. Secretary Salazar signed the Record of Decision at an event in Las Vegas, Nevada, with Senator Harry Reid. Read more

Gestamp, Solarpack complete two 20 MW PV plants in Peru

Monday, 10.15.2012 - 16:09 (Solarserver)

Gestamp Solar SL (Madrid, Spain) and Solarpack (Getxo, Spain) have completed two 20 MW solar photovoltaic (PV) plants in Southern Peru, as the largest PV plants in Latin America to date. The two plants occupy 120 and 123 hectares, respectively, in the Tacna and Moquegua regions of Peru. Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Ltd. (Baoding, China) supplied 147,000 of its YL290 crystalline silicon PV modules as the sole module supplier for the project. Read more

Solar Thermal Holds Steady in Europe

Monday, 10.15.2012 - 15:00 (Renewable Energy World)

Should the European solar thermal industry be cautiously optimistic that a year without decline points to a market turnaround? Introducing the trade body's new market report, European Solar Thermal Industry Federation (ESTIF) president Robin Welling commented that "overall, there was little development" across the sector in 2011. The European solar thermal market showed neither real decline nor growth when compared to 2010, Welling continued, but he noted that previously the market had decreased for two consecutive years. Read more

Sky Solar begins building 60MW PV plant in Xinjiang, China

Monday, 10.15.2012 - 13:15 (PV-Tech)

Sky Solar Holdings, an international PV project developer with headquarters in Shanghai, China, has broken ground on its 60MW PV facility which represents the first phase of its planned 800MW PV grid-connected project. Read more

1st ?Storage & Solar Briefing?: Market for solar storage on the move

Monday, 10.15.2012 - 12:48 (Solarserver)

EuPD Research (Bonn, Germany) hosted the first ?Storage & Solar Briefing? on 10th October 2012 in Stuttgart. This event focused on the technical and economic feasibility of solar storage solutions as well as the necessity for state incentives. While policy-makers signaled their willingness to advance this technology some participants warned against over regulating the market. Lessons should be learned from developments in the photovoltaic (PV) industry. The goal must be the establishment of a stable market. Read more

Please your plug: Positive nationwide solar campaign set for early 2013

Monday, 10.15.2012 - 11:05 (Solarpowerportal)

An ambitious, nationwide social media campaign which highlights the benefits of solar power is due to rollout next year. ?Please your plug? aims to stimulate renewed interest in the solar industry following the stunting of the market by a succession of cuts to the feed-in tariff over the last 18 months. Read more

U.S. DOI approves plan for solar energy zones

Monday, 10.15.2012 - 9:55 (Solarserver)

U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar has approved a roadmap for the development of utility-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) and concentrating solar power (CSP) development on public lands in six western U.S. states. The Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) will establish solar energy zones, including incentives for development within those zones, and a process through which to consider additional zones and solar projects. The approval follows comment and review processes for the plan. Read more

Order Focus: Solar Frontier supplies first modules in Latin America

Monday, 10.15.2012 - 9:15 (PV-Tech)

Expanding its reach into Central and South American markets, CIS thin-film market leader, Solar Frontier has supplied modules for part of a 5MW Iberdrola built PV power plant. The Cerro Prieto project is owned by CFE, the state-owned electric utility company of Mexico, and is claimed to be the largest PV installation in the country, when operational by the end of 2012. Read more

Germany Power Links for Unbuilt Offshore Wind Cost Consumers, TenneT Says

Monday, 10.15.2012 - 18:22 (Renewable Energy World)

German consumers are paying millions of euros to link the national power grid to windmills in the North Sea that haven't yet been built, grid operator TenneT TSO GmbH said. Read more

Alabama Power Wants More Affordable Wind Power

Monday, 10.15.2012 - 15:27 (Renewable Energy World)

Alabama Power Co. said recently that it has received approval from the Alabama Public Service Commission to purchase more electricity from Midwestern wind projects. A new purchase of electricity from Buffalo Dunes Wind Project, LLC, the firm said, mirrors one previously approved with Chisholm View Wind Project, LLC. Combined, the deals add up to 404 MW of electricity, and each project is under contract for 20 years. Read more

Flux Power Holdings selects Huanyu New Energy to supply advanced lithium ion batteries

Monday, 10.15.2012 - 22:30 (Solarserver)

On October 10th, 2012, Flux Power Holdings Inc. (Escondido, California, U.S.) announced that it has selected Henan Huanyu New Energy Technology Co. Ltd. (Beijing, China) as its preferred battery supplier for the production of its advanced lithium energy storage systems (ESS). "This is a major step for Flux Power, as it enhances our ability to work with large customers to meet their design, delivery and quality goals while providing more technologically advanced energy storage systems to all our customers," Flux Power Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Chris Anthony stated. Read more

Rising energy prices identified as ?biggest threat? to household finances

Monday, 10.15.2012 - 19:19 (Solarpowerportal)

Rising energy bills has beaten out unemployment, inflation and taxes as the biggest concern for UK consumers according to recent findings from YouGov?s Household Economic Activity Tracker (HEAT). Read more

Energy Efficiency: Red, Blue or Happily Neither?

Monday, 10.15.2012 - 17:27 (Renewable Energy World)

We?re so politically polarized about energy, it?s news when we?re not. Exceptions exist, of course, but generally one side identifies with fossil fuels, the other with renewable energy. And energy efficiency seems to be the lucky orphan left out of the pick. The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy talked about this unique positioning l Read more

OECD report explores link between renewable energy and rural development

Monday, 10.15.2012 - 12:53 (Solarserver)

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD, Paris, France) has released a new report exploring the link between renewable energy and economic development in rural areas. Based on case studies in 16 regions in Europe and North America, "Linking Renewable Energy to Rural Development" finds that renewable energy can stimulate rural economies, but only when linked to local, pre-existing industries. The report stresses the importance of an appreciation of local conditions, as well as a complex and flexible policy framework. Read more