News of the year 2012

Date: 16.10.2012



Photovoltaics

Report: Solar cell makers still waiting to see impact from Kyocera?s 3-busbar patent

Tuesday, 10.16.2012 - 20:55 (PV-Tech)

A report from the DigiTimes has revealed that solar cell makers are still waiting to see what impact, if any, Kyocera?s patent for its 3-busbar solar cell structure will have on their businesses. Issued in Japan on September 4, different media outlets speculated that Kyocera may use the patent to stop other solar cell makers from manufacturing 3-busbar products. Read more

Mondragon Assembly launches new TS 1200 Plus tool

Tuesday, 10.16.2012 - 20:15 (PV-Tech)

Mondragon Assembly launched their new Tabber & Stringer TS 1200 Plus tool. The technology has a NET capacity of 1300 solar cells soldered per hour. The TS1200 uses an infrared light technology soldering process, which is said to offer easy maintenance, model change and diagnosis. Further, Mondragon Assembly stated that it has the best cell loading autonomy and has greatly lessened installed power and air consumption. Read more

Conergy?s Spanish pilot project achieves grid parity

Tuesday, 10.16.2012 - 19:08 (PV-Tech)

German PV systems supplier Conergy has announced that its 8kW pilot PV project atop the roof of a restaurant located in Barcelona, Spain, has reached grid parity. The PV system also represents the company?s first plant in Spain which will be competitive without any subsidies. Read more

EMCORE awarded PV module contract for AMOS-6 telecom satellite

Tuesday, 10.16.2012 - 16:49 (Solarserver)

EMCORE Corp. (Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S.) announced that it has received a solar photovoltaic (PV) panel manufacturing contract from ATK for the AMOS-6 commercial telecommunications satellite planned for launch in early 2015. The PV panels, containing the company's ZTJ triple-junction solar cells, will power the AMOS-6 spacecraft manufactured by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI). Read more

ReneSola introduces new Virtus II PV module

Tuesday, 10.16.2012 - 16:44 (Solarserver)

On October 10th, 2012, ReneSola (Beijing, China) announced that it has introduced its new Virtus II Plus 250 solar photovoltaic (PV) module. The new module experiences a low initial decay in power output, has an increased power output tolerance of 5 to 10 W and provides an improved linear power output guarantee that is 2% higher than for previous solar modules, notes the company. Read more

Conergy develops PV rooftop project in Spain to achieve grid parity

Tuesday, 10.16.2012 - 16:37 (Solarserver)

Conergy AG (Hamburg, Germany) announced that it will install its first PV plant in Spain that will be competitive without any subsidies and reach grid parity. The 8 kW rooftop plant for the organic restaurant La Sla Varador in Mataró in Barcelona Province is scheduled to be connected to the grid in mid-November 2012. The restaurant will consume 95% of the produced solar electricity and thus save 30% of costs compared to grid power, Conergy explains. For this purpose Conergy analysed the restaurant?s consumption behaviour and load profiles for several weeks, and then sized the plant precisely to ensure that it will allow for the maximum self-consumption ratio. Read more

Solar Junction achieves world record solar cell conversion efficiency of 44%

Tuesday, 10.16.2012 - 15:52 (Solarserver)

Solar Junction (San Jose, California, U.S.) has announced a new world-record conversion efficiency of 44% for a production-ready solar photovoltaic (PV) cell using its multi-junction technology. The measurement of 44% conversion efficiency at 947 suns was verified by the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratories (NREL, Golden, Colorado, U.S.). The new efficiency beats its previous record of 43.5% at 418 suns set in April 2011. Read more

Electricity efficient feed-in tariff could reduce UK?s electricity demand by 40 percent by 2030

Tuesday, 10.16.2012 - 13:57 (Solarpowerportal)

The introduction of electricity efficient feed-in tariffs (ee FiT) could reduce the UK?s electricity demand by 40 percent by 2030, saving in excess of £10 billion per year according to a new report published by Green Alliance and WWF-UK. Read more

Solyndra files anti-trust suit against Suntech, Yingli, Trina

Tuesday, 10.16.2012 - 11:51 (Solarserver)

Solyndra LLC (Fremont, California, U.S.) has filed an anti-trust lawsuit against Suntech Power Holding Company Ltd. (Wuxi, China), Trina Solar Ltd. (Shanghai, China) and Yingli Green Energy Holding Co. (Baoding, China) in U.S. federal court, asking for USD 1.5 billion in compensation. In what appears to be an attempt to capture the spirit of the recent ruling by the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC), the lawsuit alleges that these companies employed predatory pricing practices and other methods to undermine U.S. solar manufacturers. Both Yingli and Trina have responded to the lawsuit, calling it baseless. Read more

GSE: Italy reaches 15.9 GW of operational PV

Tuesday, 10.16.2012 - 8:47 (Solarserver)

Italian grid operator GSE SPA (Rome, Italy) reports that the nation has supported 15.9 GW of operational solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity in 448,000 plants, at an annual cost of EUR 6.39 billion (USD 8.27 billion), as of October 12th, 2012. This total represents plants incentivized through the five phases of the nation's Conto Energia policy. A further 2,961 plants totaling 672 MW of PV are registered but not yet commissioned, which will add EUR 71.8 million (USD 93.0 million) to annual costs. Read more

Centrotherm Photovoltaics submits reorganization plan to German court

Tuesday, 10.16.2012 - 8:40 (Solarserver)

Centrotherm Photovoltaics AG (Blaubeuren, Germany) has submitted a restructuring plan to the District Court of Ulm (Germany). Following court examination, the plant will be presented to creditors, who will then vote on whether or not to accept it. Centrotherm says that if the plan is approved, it can then operate independently on a solid basis on the market as a reorganized company. Centrotherm has submitted similar restructuring plans for subsidiaries Centrotherm Thermal Solutions GmbH & Co. KG (Blaubeuren, Germany) and Centrotherm SiTec GmbH (Blaubeuren, Germany). Read more

Solar Junction?s solar cells reach new record for energy efficiency

Tuesday, 10.16.2012 - 0:15 (PV-Tech)

Solar Junction announced that its multi-junction solar energy cells have set a new world record for energy efficiency of a commercial-ready production solar cell. The company advised that the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) verified that the power conversion efficiency of its cells measured 44% at 947 suns, beating its own previous 43.5% at 418 suns record. Read more

Order Focus: China Sunergy to deliver 1.65MW of solar modules to Japan?s INFiNi Group

Tuesday, 10.16.2012 - 0:02 (PV-Tech)

China Sunergy and Japanese conglomerate INFiNi Group advised that they had signed a sales contract, which will see China Sunergy provide 1.65MW of its solar modules to INFiNi. The solar modules, slated to be shipped by the end of the month, will be installed in Okayama First Solar Plant. This is the first ground-mounted solar project for INFiNi. Read more


Thermal Power/Heating

Report: First Solar aims for 10MW solar farm in Australia to help bring country up to par with US

Tuesday, 10.16.2012 - 21:14 (PV-Tech)

First Solar noted that, in its opinion, Australia is four years behind the US in the development of large solar farms. In a report by Bloomberg BusinessWeek, it was reported that the company is looking to help Australia build up its solar industry, specifically with a 10MW project that First Solar is partnering on with General Electric. Read more

The Question Day 10: What is the Most Difficult Issue Facing the Solar Industry?

Tuesday, 10.16.2012 - 19:23 (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

REC third quarter results below analyst estimates

Tuesday, 10.16.2012 - 18:15 (PV-Tech)

REC?s third quarter results indicate a result below analyst estimates. The company cites challenging market conditions leading to the sequential reduction in both sales volumes and selling prices for REC Solar and REC Silicon. Based on preliminary consolidation, REC expects to report, from continuing operations, revenues of NOK 1.5 billion (US$2.64 million) and a negative EBITDA of about NOK 185 million (US$32.6 million) for the third quarter 2012. REC Silicon is expected to report close to break-even EBITDA while REC Solar expects to report a negative EBITDA of about NOK 175 million (US$30 million). Read more

First Solar and PJB Services sign MoU for 100MW PV projects in Indonesia

Tuesday, 10.16.2012 - 17:35 (PV-Tech)

US solar giant First Solar and Indonesia?s PT. Pembangkitan Jawa Bali Services (PJB Services) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to collaborate on the development of 100MW utility-scale PV projects in Indonesia in order to meet the country?s growing energy demand. Read more

Australia Solar Industry Trails U.S. by Four Years

Tuesday, 10.16.2012 - 17:13 (Renewable Energy World)

First Solar Inc., the biggest maker of thin-film panels, said Australia is four years behind the U.S. in building large solar farms and expects its project with General Electric Co. to help spur the industry's expansion. Read more

Omen of NASDAQ threat of delisting hangs over JA Solar

Tuesday, 10.16.2012 - 17:10 (PV-Tech)

JA Solar has become the second PV manufacturer to receive a de-listing notice, the first being Suntech last month from the NYSE. This time around, NASDAQ stated that based upon the closing bid price of JA Solar?s American Depositary Shares (ADS) for 30 consecutive business days, the company no longer meets the requirement set forth in NASDAQ Marketplace Rule 5450(a)(1), which requires listed securities to maintain a bid price of US$1.00 per share. The NASDAQ notice has no immediate effect on the listing of the Company?s ADSs on the NASDAQ. Read more

Canadian Solar Solutions srengthens ties with Penn Energy Renewables

Tuesday, 10.16.2012 - 16:52 (PV-Tech)

Canadian Solar Solutions signs 10MW turnkey engineering, procurement and construction contract and an operations and maintenance agreement with Penn Energy Renewables Read more

Solar Frontier to suspend production at its Miyazaki-Daini plant

Tuesday, 10.16.2012 - 15:41 (PV-Tech)

Japanese thin-film module supplier Solar Frontier is planning to close the doors of its 60MW Miyazaki-Daini PV module manufacturing facility in south-west Japan for an indefinite period of time in order to focus on increasing output at its larger Kunitomi plant, Reuters has revealed. Read more

Louisiana's Solar Tax Credit Under Review

Tuesday, 10.16.2012 - 15:00 (Renewable Energy World)

The Louisiana Department of Revenue weighed the future benefits of solar energy at a public hearing last week in Baton Rouge. Read more

Psst! Solar Fred Marketing Tip: The Goal Is To Inspire Trust

Tuesday, 10.16.2012 - 15:00 (Renewable Energy World)

Whether you?re solar megawatt developer or a solar kilowatt installer, you may think that the goal is to sell solar panels and megawatts to each prospect, but the truth is that your main goal should be to inspire trust?.which will then lead to closing the sale. In simplest terms, what I mean by trust is this: You offer a solar product or service th Read more

Segen to carry Samsung Eco Heating Systems

Tuesday, 10.16.2012 - 14:35 (Solarpowerportal)

Segen, one of the UK?s largest distributors of solar PV products, has announced that it will be adding Samsung?s EHS Mono range of Eco Heating Systems to its portfolio of renewable energy products. Read more

U.S. Vice-Presidential Candidate Paul Ryan refers to solar, wind funding as "green pork" in formal debate

Tuesday, 10.16.2012 - 11:44 (Solarserver)

As the latest attack by the Republican Party on U.S. funding of renewable energy under the administration of President Barack Obama (D), U.S. Congressman Paul Ryan (R) referred to USD 90 billion in funding for such programs as "green pork" in the formal vice-presidential debate. Congressman Ryan, as candidate for vice-president, also alleged that the recipients of these funds were "campaign contributors and special interest groups", and described "over 100" criminal investigations into the spending of stimulus funding. These allegations range from the exaggerated to the absurd. Read more

ECSOLAR announces new UK partnership with Project Energy Distribution

Tuesday, 10.16.2012 - 11:32 (Solarpowerportal)

Chinese solar manufacturer ECSOLAR has signed a distribution agreement with Hertfordshire-based Project Energy Distribution. The agreement will see Project Energy Distribution become ECSOLAR?s sales partner in the UK. Read more

ECOSOLAR announces new UK partnership with Project Energy Distribution

Tuesday, 10.16.2012 - 11:32 (Solarpowerportal)

Chinese solar manufacturer ECOSOLAR has signed a distribution agreement with Hertfordshire-based Project Energy Distribution. The agreement will see Project Energy Distribution become ECOSOLAR?s sales partner in the UK. Read more

Solar Frontier delivers PV modules for Mexico's largest PV plant

Tuesday, 10.16.2012 - 8:43 (Solarserver)

Solar Frontier K.K. (Tokyo, Japan) has completed delivery of 1.5 MW of its copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS or CIS) thin-film solar photovoltaic (PV) modules for a 5 MW PV project in Mexico. Iberdrola SA's (Bilbao, Spain) Mexican subsidiary is building the project using multiple module technologies for utility CFE (Mexico City, Mexico) in Cerro Prieto, Mexico. Iberdrola Ingeniería & Construcción Mexico SA (Mexico City, Mexico) plans to complete the plant by the end of 2012, at which time it will be the largest PV plant in the nation. Read more

Order Focus: Yingli Green Energy supplies 40MW for Peruvian solar project

Tuesday, 10.16.2012 - 0:15 (PV-Tech)

Yingli Green Energy Holding?s acted as the exclusive PV module supplier for what is being called the largest solar plant in Latin America to date. The company delivered 40MW of its PV modules for the project, which is being developed by Gestamp Solar and Solarpack in collaboration with other local companies. Read more


Biomass/Pellets

There are no news available

 



Wind Energy

Testing the Waters: Gaining Public Support for Offshore Wind

Tuesday, 10.16.2012 - 15:23 (Renewable Energy World)

The coastlines of the U.S. are brimming with potential for offshore wind development, yet every turbine is on land. Why isn't this coastal goldmine of clean energy and jobs being tapped? According to a new study, the impediment isn't technological, it's social. Read more


Hydropower

There are no news available

 



Hydrogen/Fuel Cell

There are no news available

 



Geo Thermal/Heat Pump

There are no news available

 



Energy Policy/Climate/CO2

SunEnergy, Renerco complete 31.5 MW PV plant on former airfield in Northern Germany

Tuesday, 10.16.2012 - 15:45 (Solarserver)

SunEnergy Europe GmbH (Hamburg, Germany) and Renerco Solar (Munich, Germany) have completed a 31.5 MW solar photovoltaic (PV) plant on a former military airfield in the German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The companies note that the Stralsund-Barth plant was ready for operation a few days before September 30th, 2012, the deadline to obtain the feed-in tariff for large-scale PV plants. Read more

Yingli to open Zurich HQ

Tuesday, 10.16.2012 - 15:44 (PV-Tech)

China?s Yingli Green Energy has announced plans to open a European regional headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland. Read more

Connecticut ZREC Program Faces a Bump in the Road

Tuesday, 10.16.2012 - 15:00 (Renewable Energy World)

In July 2011, Connecticut passed legislation to create two new classes of renewable energy credits ("RECs"). Through this legislation, Connecticut Light & Power ("CL&P") and The United Illuminating Company were then directed by the state to launch a 22 year program which will promote, fund, and expand behind the meter renewable energy generation wi Read more

PV meets 3.9% of Spanish electricity demand in August

Tuesday, 10.16.2012 - 13:15 (PV-Tech)

According to Spain?s Comisión Nacional de Energía (CNE?National Energy Commission), electricity sourced from PV accounted for 3.9% of Spain?s total electricity demand in August. Read more

Opus Energy marks Sunday Times Top Track listing with 100 new jobs

Tuesday, 10.16.2012 - 12:20 (Solarpowerportal)

Northampton and Oxford-based independent energy supplier, Opus Energy, is to create 100 new jobs across its two offices. The news comes after the company was listed in the Sunday Times Top Track 250 league table for the second year running. Read more


Solar-/Electromobil

Battery Maker A123 Systems Files for Bankruptcy

Tuesday, 10.16.2012 - 18:28 (Renewable Energy World)

A123 Systems Inc., the electric car battery maker that received a $249 million federal grant, filed for bankruptcy protection after failing to make a debt payment that was due yesterday. Read more


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