Stion receives US$2 million award under US SunShot Initiative

Tuesday, 11.20.2012 - 16:56 (PV-Tech)

High-efficiency thin-film solar module manufacturer Stion received a US$2 million award from the US Department of Energy (DOE) for its tandem junction technology. Read more

Isofoton signs agreement with CONELEC to build 50 MW PV plant in Ecuador

Tuesday, 11.20.2012 - 15:46 (Solarserver)

Isofoton SA (Madrid, Spain) has signed an agreement with the National Electricity Council of Ecuador (CONELEC) for the building of a 50 MW solar photovoltaic (PV) plant in the nation, as the first to obtain planning permission under Ecuador's feed-in tariff system. The USD 100 million plant will be built in the parish of Calderón, 10 km from Quito, and will be larger than any currently operational PV plant in Latin America. Read more

EU to support utility-scale PV plant in Burkina Faso

Tuesday, 11.20.2012 - 15:40 (Solarserver)

EU Development Commissioner Andris Piebalgs has announced that the European Union will support the development of a solar photovoltaic (PV) plant in Burkina Faso, with an expected output of 32 GWh annually. This equates to roughly 6% of the nation's current electricity production. The EU will supply EUR 25 million (USD 32 million) to the project, with the European Investment Bank and the French Development Agency supplying a total of EUR 38 million (USD 49 million) in loans. Read more

Quarterly Japanese PV market reaches 627 MW, imports growing rapidly

Tuesday, 11.20.2012 - 9:58 (Solarserver)

The Japan Photovoltaic Energy Association (JPEA) has released statistics on Japanese solar photovoltaic (PV) cell and module production and demand in the most recent quarter, reporting a 180% year-over-year growth in the nation's PV market to 627 MW. 68% of domestic demand was met with domestic production, however combined cell and module imports increased over 300% year-over-year. Of the 533 MW of PV modules produced, monocrystalline silicon PV comprised 36%, multicrystalline PV 41%, and thin-film 23%. Read more

CPV Pioneer SolFocus Up for Sale

Tuesday, 11.20.2012 - 0:33 (Renewable Energy World)

One of the leading concentrating photovoltaic companies in the world, SolFocus, has just announced that it is restructuring the business in hopes of finding a buyer. As part of the restructuring, the company let go 35 people last Friday and "the focus of our effort [now] is really around an acquisition," said Nancy Hartsoch, Senior VP of the company. Read more

Dubai Environment and Energy Park teams up with Solar Middle East

Tuesday, 11.20.2012 - 19:39 (Solarserver)

On November 17th, 2012, Environment and Energy Park (Enpark, Dubai, United Arab Emirates) announced that it has signed an agreement with Solar Middle East exhibition and conference to boost the growth of the solar thermal and photovoltaic (PV) sectors in one of the most sunlight abundant regions in the world. Enpark, located in Dubai technology and media free zone, is designed to facilitate the growth of energy environment businesses in the Middle East. Enpark will come onboard the inaugural edition of Solar Middle East as a strategic partner. Read more

ESIA honors Dubai Supreme Council of Energy Vice Chairman Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer with Leadership Award in Solar Projects

Tuesday, 11.20.2012 - 19:29 (Solarserver)

On November 17th, 2012, Emirates Solar Industry Association (ESIA) announced that it has offered the Leadership Award in Solar Projects 2012 to Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer in recognition of his achievements in promoting solar projects in Dubai (United Arab Emirates). Al Tayer is the vice chairman of the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy and managing director and chief executive officer (CEO) of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA). Read more

The Future of Taiwan Solar: Will Recent Gains Continue?

Tuesday, 11.20.2012 - 19:21 (Renewable Energy World)

In a welcome departure from recent trends, Taiwan saw its solar industry revenues rise by 7.5% on increased shipment to China, Japan and the U.S. The gains arrest five months of declines, but do they signal a turnaround for the industry? Green Energy Technology's Swean Lin, for one, believes they do. As executive vice president for Taiwan's largest solar wafer maker, which alone gained a 66% rise in revenue in October, Lin sees the uptick in demand as pointing to what he hopes will be a transformation in the market. He envisions a day when performance trumps the downward spiral of pricing and demand and supply return to balance. Read more

Enphase Energy, CertainTeed launch AC solar PV roofing system

Tuesday, 11.20.2012 - 19:17 (Solarserver)

On November 16th, 2012, Enphase Energy (San Francisco, California, U.S.) announced that it has become an inverter partner of building materials manufacturer CertainTeed for the new Solstice AC solar photovoltaic (PV) roofing system. The Solstice AC solar roofing system includes an Enphase M215 micro-inverter mounted directly to a SolarWorld 250-watt photovoltaic (PV) module and ins monitored by Enphase's Enlighten software. Read more

Trina Solar revises down full-year shipments as Q3 sales and revenue fall

Tuesday, 11.20.2012 - 17:02 (PV-Tech)

Tier 1 PV module manufacturer Trina Solar has reported revenue of US$298 million, down 13.9% compared to the previous quarter. Read more

IBC Solar builds 5MW PV plant in a record 49 days

Tuesday, 11.20.2012 - 16:44 (PV-Tech)

IBC Solar, an integrator of PV systems, has completed and connected a 5MW solar park in Italy in a record 49 days. Read more

German loan supports 160MW Moroccan CSP plant

Tuesday, 11.20.2012 - 16:05 (PV-Tech)

German development bank KfW has signed off a ?100 million loan to Morocco?s solar energy agency MASEN to build a CSP plant in the south-central area of the country. Read more

GCL-Poly?s polysilicon and wafer shipments plummet in Q3

Tuesday, 11.20.2012 - 15:32 (PV-Tech)

Shipments of both polysilicon and solar wafers at GCL-Poly, China?s largest producer, fell significantly in the third quarter of 201 underlining the overall weakness in demand from major tier 1 module manufacturing customers based in China. Read more

Preparing for "Cheaper than Grid" Solar Electricity

Tuesday, 11.20.2012 - 15:32 (Renewable Energy World)

It started with off-grid locations, places where electricity was either carried in or generated on-site. Then it beat expensive diesel generators. In 2010, unsubsidized solar electricity could best on-grid retail electricity prices of major utilities in Hawaii. In the next decade, residents in metropolitan areas representing 100 million people will Read more

The Solar PV Ecosystem, A Brief History and a Look Ahead

Tuesday, 11.20.2012 - 14:12 (Renewable Energy World)

The solar value chain, meaning its ecosystem, begins with raw material suppliers, winds its way through equipment and consumable suppliers, to ingot, wafer, cell technology manufacturers to module assemblers (most cell manufacturers also assemble modules), to demand side participants (system integrators, modules assemblers, installers, distributors, et al), to developers of balance of systems technology (inverters, tracking, etc), to investors, utilities and other end users. Currently the low price of PV modules (technology) has placed the manufacturing side of the solar ecosystem in dire straits and suffering low margins and failure. Virtually no PV technology (referring Read more

BrightSource, Alstom win bid to build 121 MW CSP plant in Israel

Tuesday, 11.20.2012 - 12:59 (Solarserver)

The Israeli government has informed a joint venture of BrightSource Energy Inc. (Oakland, California, U.S.) and Alstom SA (Levallois-Perret, France) that it has won the bid to build a 121 MW concentrating solar power (CSP) plant in Israel's Negev Desert. Megalim Solar Power Ltd. will plan, finance and build the BrightSource-Alstom Megalim CSP plant, with commissioning scheduled for 2017, as well as supplying operations and maintenance services for 25 years. The project is one of three selected through a 250 MW solar tender, and ownership will be transferred to Israel at the end of the 25-year period. Read more

Intersolar India 2012 shows optimistic outlook on national solar market

Tuesday, 11.20.2012 - 12:53 (Solarserver)

The fourth Intersolar India, India's largest exhibition and conference for the solar industry, drew to a close on November 8th, 2012. 200 exhibitors from 17 countries presented their products, solutions and services in an exhibition space covering 20,000 square meters at the Bombay Exhibition Centre (BEC) in Mumbai. Fifty-four percent of the exhibitors in 2012 came from India, with 27% from Europe and 19% from across the rest of the globe. This year's top exhibitor countries were India, Germany, China, the U.S. and Spain, with a total of 7296 visitors attending Intersolar India. Read more

Megalim Solar Power wins contract for 121MW Israeli solar thermal plant

Tuesday, 11.20.2012 - 12:38 (PV-Tech)

Megalim Solar Power, a company established by BrightSource Energy and Alstom, has won the bid to build a 121MW solar thermal power plant in Israel. The construction contract was awarded by Israel?s inter-ministerial Tender Committee. Read more

STA: Cost-effective solar risks falling through the policy framework

Tuesday, 11.20.2012 - 12:10 (Solarpowerportal)

In the next 10 days the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) will be revealing what rate of financial support solar will receive under the Renewables Obligation (RO). The government is consulting with the industry over proposals to drop the available rate from 2ROCs to 1.5ROCs from April next year ? a cut that the Solar Trade Association (STA) believes is too deep. Read more

STA: Mid-sized solar risks falling through policy gap

Tuesday, 11.20.2012 - 12:10 (Solarpowerportal)

The government must address the mid-sized non-domestic solar market in its forthcoming decision on what rate of support solar will receive under the Renewables Obligation (RO), according to the Solar Trade Association (STA). Read more

NSP, DelSolar join forces to create the largest PV cell producer in Taiwan

Tuesday, 11.20.2012 - 9:52 (Solarserver)

On November 19th, 2012 Neo Solar Power Corporation (NSP, Hsinchu City, Taiwan) and Delta Electronics Inc. (Taipei City, Taiwan) announced a strategic cooperation, which will create the largest solar photovoltaic (PV) cell manufacturer in Taiwan and the second-largest globally. The companies will consolidate the PV cell and module businesses of NSP and Delta subsidiary DelSolar as well as the systems business of Delta, with the combined entity holding a PV cell capacity of 1.9 GW. NSP will also launch a tender offer to acquire a 13% to 15% stake in DelSolar. Read more

LDK Solar closes share purchase agreement, threatened with de-listing by NYSE

Tuesday, 11.20.2012 - 9:47 (Solarserver)

On November 16th, 2012 LDK Solar Company Ltd. (Xinyu City, China) announced that it has closed its share purchase agreement with Heng Rui Xin Energy Company Ltd., transferring a total of 25.3 million shares at USD 0.86 per share. These total 20% of the total issued and outstanding capital of LDK solar prior to the issuance. The same day, LDK announced that it has received a notice from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) stating that it does not meet the exchange's criteria for continued listing due to depressed share prices. Read more

China Grabs Share in Latin America Wind Energy with Cheap Loans

Tuesday, 11.20.2012 - 15:22 (Renewable Energy World)

Chinese wind-turbine makers have broken into the South American market, the world's fastest-growing, by offering government-backed loans at interest rates as much as 50 percent lower than local offerings. Read more

Google invests about USD 1 billion in renewable energy

Tuesday, 11.20.2012 - 19:25 (Solarserver)

On November 15th, 2012, Google Inc. (Mountain View, California, U.S.) announced that it has invested more than USD 990 million in renewable energy in the United States. The search engine giant has invested USD 94 million in a portfolio of four solar photovoltaic (PV) projects being built by Recurrent Energy near Sacramento (California, U.S.). Read more

Atlantic Power acquires Ridgeline Energy Holdings

Tuesday, 11.20.2012 - 16:31 (PV-Tech)

Generation and infrastructure company Atlantic Power will buy the outstanding shares of solar and wind company Ridgeline Energy Holdings for US$88 million. Read more

WTO Faults Ontario on Renewable Energy Complaint From EU and Japan

Tuesday, 11.20.2012 - 16:14 (Renewable Energy World)

World Trade Organization judges largely backed complaints by the European Union and Japan against Canada over subsidies the province of Ontario gives to renewable-energy producers that use domestic technology, according to the Sierra Club and Public Citizen. Read more

SunEdison gets the go-ahead for 94MW Chilean PV plant

Tuesday, 11.20.2012 - 15:46 (PV-Tech)

US PV developer SunEdison, a subsidiary of wafer manufacturer MEMC Electronic Materials, has been given the green light to develop its proposed 94MW PV plant in Atacama region in northern Chile. Read more

Ameresco Revenues Fall Off Fiscal Cliff

Tuesday, 11.20.2012 - 15:42 (Renewable Energy World)

The climate of uncertainty caused by deadlock in Washington is leading to penny-wise, pound foolish behavior at all levels of government, and Ameresco, Inc. (NYSE:AMRC) felt the pain severely in the third quarter. Read more

California holds first auction of greenhouse gas allowances

Tuesday, 11.20.2012 - 15:35 (Solarserver)

The California Air Resources Board (ARB) announced the results of the state's first auction for greenhouse gas allowances under its cap-and-trade program. Allowances for the equivalent of 28.7 million tons of CO2 emissions were sold at the auction on November 14th, 2012. In doing so, California has joined the EU, India, Australia and other nations in putting a price on greenhouse gas emissions. During the auction all 23.1 million 2013 allowances sold at a median price of USD 10.09 each, with 5.58 million, or roughly 14% of the 2015 allowances, also selling in advance. Read more

Government confirms controversial energy tariff proposals

Tuesday, 11.20.2012 - 15:08 (Solarpowerportal)

The Government has confirmed that the upcoming Energy Bill will include measures to ensure consumers get the cheapest tariffs available through a number of new obligations on energy suppliers. Read more

MPs slam Osborne?s ?dash for gas?

Tuesday, 11.20.2012 - 14:21 (Solarpowerportal)

A ?dash for gas? would lock the UK into a high-carbon energy system that would leave it vulnerable to rising gas prices, an influential group of MPs has warned. Read more

Phoenix Rising: Renewable Energy Good News Comes to Light After Hurricane Sandy

Tuesday, 11.20.2012 - 13:30 (Renewable Energy World)

As Sandy ravaged parts of North America three weeks ago, hundreds of power generation assets were threatened. According to SNL Energy, there were 731 operating power plants of 10 MW or larger in the path of the storm. Among these facilities were 20 nuclear plants, 80 coal-fired plants, 237 gas-fired plants and 394 plants of various other fuel types, including hydropower, solar, biomass and wind power plants. Read more