IMS Research: falling prices to hit PV inverter supplier revenues in 2013

Tuesday, 10.23.2012 - 18:15 (PV-Tech)

Although 35GW of installed PV capacity has been predicted for 2013, inverter manufacturers are set for yet another challenging year with global revenues forecast to remain flat, a report by IMS Research forecasts. Read more

Q-Cells transferred to Hanwha Chemical Corporation

Tuesday, 10.23.2012 - 17:07 (PV-Tech)

Photovoltaics company Q-Cells SE has been transferred to its new owner, Hanwha Chemical Corporation, saving 80% of the jobs at the troubled firm. Read more

Masdar to build 15 MW PV plant in Mauritania

Tuesday, 10.23.2012 - 15:34 (Solarserver)

Masdar (Abu Dhabi, UAE) has announced that it will build a 15 MW solar photovoltaic (PV) plant in Nouakchott, the capital of Mauritania. The project will be the first utility-scale PV plant in the nation. As the existing grid-connected electricity generation capacity of the nation is only 144 MW, the plant will increase this capacity by 10%. The Nouakchott PV plant will also help to serve growing electricity demand, estimated at 12% annually, as well as to help mitigate energy shortages. Read more

JinkoSolar wins bid to provide 50MW of solar modules to PV plant in China

Tuesday, 10.23.2012 - 0:15 (PV-Tech)

JinkoSolar Holding?s announced that it will be delivering 50MW of its solar modules to China Three Gorges New Energy. The company is developing a PV power plant in Gansu Province, China, and has tapped JinkoSolar to supply the needed PV modules. Over the last month JinkoSolar has received a 40MW order for two plants in China and a 50MW order for PV plants in Kenya. Read more

Great Strides in Solar: Preventing Fraud and Abuse

Tuesday, 10.23.2012 - 20:48 (Renewable Energy World)

While Solyndra's bankruptcy drove public and political attention to solar, Consumer Reports drew some in the retail solar industry into a frenzy. The October issue of Consumer Reports contains an article on rising scams and fraud in multiple industries - including solar energy. Read more

Clavijo Group completes 11.5MW solar park in Spain

Tuesday, 10.23.2012 - 19:48 (PV-Tech)

Spain?s Clavijo Group has announced the completion of its 11.5MW solar park located in the town of Zuera in Zaragoza, Spain. Read more

MOFCOM approves sale of Oerlikon?s solar division

Tuesday, 10.23.2012 - 19:08 (PV-Tech)

The sale of Oerlikon Group?s loss-making Oerlikon Solar to Tokyo Electron (TEL) has received regulatory approval from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM). Read more

S.A.G. Solarstrom installs 35MWp of PV capacity in Q3 2012

Tuesday, 10.23.2012 - 17:04 (PV-Tech)

German PV systems developer S.A.G. Solarstrom has installed a total of 35MWp of PV capacity in projects in the third quarter of this year. Read more

Democrats Seek to Bolster Solar Energy Development by Winning Arizona Utility Board

Tuesday, 10.23.2012 - 16:47 (Renewable Energy World)

Arizona Democrats are vying to wrest control of the state utility board so they can expand the use of solar energy in the nation's sunniest state. Read more

The Question Day 15: What is the Most Difficult Issue Facing the Solar Industry?

Tuesday, 10.23.2012 - 16:37 (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

LDK Joins China State-led Solar Bailout

Tuesday, 10.23.2012 - 16:32 (Renewable Energy World)

The nascent state-led bailout of China's struggling solar industry has taken another step forward with word that LDK (NYSE: LDK) has just sold a big chunk of itself to a partly state-owned consortium for enough cash to perhaps fund its operations for another month or 2. This new rescue package values LDK at just $140 million, which is probably stil Read more

SRU Solar and Parabel complete 29MW plant in east Germany

Tuesday, 10.23.2012 - 16:15 (PV-Tech)

SRU Solar and Berlin-based Parabel have jointly completed a 29MW solar farm between the cities of Eisleben Wimmelburg, bringing back to life a 100ha former metal works site. Read more

JinkoSolar to supply 50 MW of PV modules for plant in Gansu Province, China

Tuesday, 10.23.2012 - 15:41 (Solarserver)

JinkoSolar Holding Company Ltd. (Shanghai, China) has won a bid from a subsidiary of China Three Gorges Corporation (Beijing, China) to supply 50 MW of solar photovoltaic (PV) modules for a PV plant in Gansu Province, China. China Three Gorges New Energy Corporation (CTGNE, Beijing, China), which awarded the contract, specializes in renewable energy investments and operations, including wind, solar and hydropower. Read more

Scientists call for all-renewables infrastructure in the UK spearheaded by solar

Tuesday, 10.23.2012 - 13:04 (Solarpowerportal)

Three leading scientists have called for for a moratorium on the building of new conventional power plants following research indicating that renewables could be implemented much faster than the majority of people realise. Read more

Bentek Solar ships string combiners for 110 MW PV project in California

Tuesday, 10.23.2012 - 12:24 (Solarserver)

Bentek Solar (San Jose, California, U.S.) has announced that it has shipped 1000 volt "smart" string combiners and integrated disconnect string combiners to support an un-named 110 MW solar photovoltaic (PV) project in Southern California. The company has also announced a new secure customer and preferred partner web site, which includes its extended line of new solar smart disconnect string combiners, safety systems and recombiners. Read more

Intersolar India pays tribute to solar projects in India; new category included in Intersolar AWARD

Tuesday, 10.23.2012 - 12:17 (Solarserver)

Intersolar, the world's leading exhibition series for the solar industry, has this year expanded the Intersolar AWARD to include the category Solar Projects, Solar Promotion International GmbH (Pforzheim, Germany) reports in a press release. In addition to the existing categories of Photovoltaics, Solar Thermal Technologies and PV Production Technologies, outstanding projects are this year being honored for the first time in the category Solar Projects in India. The best entries in the new category have now been nominated for the Intersolar AWARD, and the prize is being presented in a ceremony at Intersolar India's Innovation Exchange in booth 1180 at 4:00 pm on November Read more

Solarbuzz: PV equipment cancellations exceed USD 3 billion in 2012 so far

Tuesday, 10.23.2012 - 12:09 (Solarserver)

NPD Solarbuzz (San Francisco, California, U.S.) has released a report which finds that solar photovoltaic (PV) equipment order cancellations and push-outs surpassed USD 3 billion in the first nine months of 2012, resulting in a drop in order backlogs. The company's latest "PV Equipment Quarterly" report finds that the third quarter of 2012 is the fourth consecutive quarter of 30% backlog declines, and that the PV book-to-bill ratio has remained below zero for the first time in many years. Read more

Poll: 74% of Brits want more solar than present

Tuesday, 10.23.2012 - 11:40 (Solarpowerportal)

Solar technology has once more topped the opinion polls as the most popular form of energy generation. Almost three quarters of Brits have indicated that they want the Government to utilise more solar to meet the country?s future energy requirements. Read more

Siemens to quit solar business

Tuesday, 10.23.2012 - 9:45 (Solarserver)

Siemens AG (Munich, Germany) has announced that as part of a reorganization of its energy sector it will end its solar photovoltaic (PV) and concentrating solar power (CSP) businesses, to focus on wind and hydroelectric generation. The company will close its Solar & Hydro Division, and is currently holding talks with potential buyers for the solar businesses. Siemens cites policy changes, lower than anticipated growth and strong price pressures for the move. Read more

Sky Solar breaks ground on 50 MW PV plant in Qinghai, China

Tuesday, 10.23.2012 - 9:39 (Solarserver)

A subsidiary of Sky Solar Holdings Company Ltd. (Shanghai, China) has broken ground on a 50 MW solar photovoltaic (PV) plant in China's Qinghai Province, with plans to complete the plant in three months' time. Gonghe County Tianhua New Energy Power Company Ltd. will build the plant in Gonghe County Photovoltaic Industrial Park, Hainan Prefecture, Qinghai. The project will represent a total investment of USD 94.5 million. Read more

EDF Energies Nouvelles commissions 56MW solar plant in France

Tuesday, 10.23.2012 - 1:15 (PV-Tech)

EDF Energies Nouvelles recently commissioned its Massangis solar power plant, located in the Bourgogne region of France. The solar plant holds a 56MW installed capacity and is outfitted with nearly 700,000 thin-film PV panels from First Solar. The project was developed and built by EDF EN France and will be operated and maintained by EDF EN Services. The company noted that this plant completes its generating portfolio in France. Read more

SMA Solar states it?s prepared for 2013 to bring it a loss

Tuesday, 10.23.2012 - 0:15 (PV-Tech)

SMA Solar Technology issues a rather dire outlook for 2013, noting that because of the large subsidy cuts for PV, and the expected European downturn because of the cuts, the company?s managing board anticipates sales to drop to somewhere between ?0.9 billion and ?1.3 billion in 2013. Read more

AWEA Reports 2012 the Strongest Year on Record for U.S. Wind Energy, Continued Success Uncertain

Tuesday, 10.23.2012 - 16:13 (Renewable Energy World)

There's evidence that the wind's picking up, and it's not all hot air. According to a report published on October 17 by the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), 2012 has been a record year for the development of wind power within the United States. The U.S. wind industry has surpassed 50,000 megawatts of electrical power generation capacity, with a total of 4,728 megawatts added this year alone and another 8,430 megawatts in active development throughout 29 states and Puerto Rico. Read more

Geothermal Innovations, Part 1: Redesigning Reservoir Design from the Subsurface Up

Tuesday, 10.23.2012 - 15:48 (Renewable Energy World)

Large-scale projects for the production of geothermal energy begin, essentially, with a detailed study of rocks. As AltaRock Energy's President/Chief Technology Officer Susan Petty told GEA by email, technology improvements "are no substitute for a thorough understanding of geology." The process of gathering and analyzing data on geologic layers of Earth is a complicated dance buoyed in recent years by a focus on innovative research and development from industry experts and aided in part by federal incentives and loans. Read more

Coming Soon: A German Energy Consultant

Tuesday, 10.23.2012 - 15:12 (Renewable Energy World)

It might sound glib, but one answer to rising energy prices is simply to use less energy. And indeed this is exactly what Germany is saying in the face of higher energy prices. The math of it is easy enough: use less, pay less, and the environment wins, too. But how to do this when one already conscientiously flips off the bathroom lights when not Read more

IKEA targets energy independence by 2020

Tuesday, 10.23.2012 - 14:30 (PV-Tech)

IKEA has allocated ?1.5 billion to solar and wind projects up to 2015 in a bid to meet all its on-site energy demands from renewable sources by 2020. Read more

Raytheon wins U.S. military contract for hybrid CSP/diesel generators

Tuesday, 10.23.2012 - 9:35 (Solarserver)

The U.S. Office of Naval Research (ONR) has awarded a contract to Raytheon Company (Waltham, Massachusetts, U.S.) to develop hybrid concentrating solar power (CSP)/diesel generators for the U.S. Marine Corps, using dish Sterling technology. Through the Hybrid Dish/Engine Expeditionary Generator (HyDE-2G) program, the agency aims to save 40% of fuel costs compared to its current use of diesel generators. Raytheon will work with Infinia Technology Corporation (Kennewick, Washington, U.S.), ILC Dover (Frederica, Delaware, U.S.) and Thermacore Inc. (Lancaster, Pennsylvania, U.S.) on the project. Read more

DayStar Technologies signs LOI for acquisition of Grasshopper Energy

Tuesday, 10.23.2012 - 1:15 (PV-Tech)

DayStar Technologies and Ontario, Canada?s, Grasshopper Energy entered into an LOI agreement in which DayStar will buy Grasshopper Energy in, an expected, 30 days. The purchase will be a 100% equity transaction. Grasshopper Energy is known for its turnkey solutions and is said to have one of the largest presences in Ontario. The company has over 100 microFiT contracts awarded to date worth CAN$50 million and additional microFiT and FiT applications exceeding 3,500 projects, which make a potential pipeline worth over CAN$100 million. Read more