Order Focus: Santerno secures ?25 million inverter deal for 265MWp PV power plant

Tuesday, 11.27.2012 - 16:01 (PV-Tech)

PV inverter manufacturer, Santerno part of Carraro Group is to supply a series of 1.5 MW plug & play stations, complete with inverters, medium voltage transformers and remote control systems for the Mount Signal Solar project 1, in Imperial Valley in Southern California. Read more

Costa Rica inaugurates first utility-scale PV plant at 1 MW

Tuesday, 11.27.2012 - 15:59 (Solarserver)

Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla has inaugurated the nation's first utility scale solar photovoltaic (PV) plant, the 1 MW Miravalles Solar Park. The plant is located on the slopes of the Miravalles Volcano. Miravalles is also the largest operational PV plant in Central America. The project was proposed by the Costa Rican Institute of Electricity (ICE, San José, Costa Rica) and was supported by the nation's Ministry of Environment, Energy and Telecommunications (MINAET). Read more

Italian Small Wind Growing with Feed-in Tariffs

Tuesday, 11.27.2012 - 15:00 (Renewable Energy World)

The installation of small wind turbines is growing rapidly in Italy since the introduction of feed-in tariffs, according to a report by the Department of Engineering at Milan's Polytechnical University (Politecnico di Milano Dipartimento di Ingegneria Gestionale). Read more

The Solar Industry Waves Goodbye To One of Its Biggest Advocates

Tuesday, 11.27.2012 - 19:35 (Renewable Energy World)

I was saddened to hear the news that Larry Hagman, the former star of the hit TV show ?Dallas? had died over the weekend.  Hagman, whom I interviewed in 2010 at Intersolar North America, was a great solar advocate. He told me that his decision to install solar on his ranch in California came shortly after the great blackout of 2003. Originating in Read more

Spanish regional governments file complaint against solar moratorium

Tuesday, 11.27.2012 - 19:24 (PV-Tech)

The regional governments of Extremadura and Galicia have filed a complaint against the Spanish government?s subsidies moratorium with the highest judicial body in Spain, the Constitutional Court. Read more

Order Focus: two-year supply agreement signed between Zep Solar and SolarCity

Tuesday, 11.27.2012 - 18:50 (PV-Tech)

PV module mounting systems specialist, Zep Solar has signed a two-year supply agreement with major US installer, SolarCity. Read more

SolarReserve Gets Approval for 150-MW CSP Plant in Maricopa County, AZ

Tuesday, 11.27.2012 - 18:30 (Renewable Energy World)

Relying on the sun to produce energy always leads to the question: what happens when's the sun's not shining? Can the energy produced be stored? The good news is, companies like California-based SolarReserve know the answer to those questions, and they're busily implementing energy storage technology in innovative ways. Even better, local governments are getting behind those efforts in growing numbers. Read more

Solar-powered water meters capable of saving MOD £100,000 a year

Tuesday, 11.27.2012 - 17:14 (Solarpowerportal)

Severn Trent Costain, a joint venture between engineering firm Costain and water supplier Severn Trent, is looking at extending the roll out of special solar-powered water meters to 1,200 Ministry of Defence sites following a successful trial. Read more

Tokyo Electron completes acquisition of Oerlikon

Tuesday, 11.27.2012 - 15:51 (Solarserver)

On November 26th, 2012 Tokyo Electron Ltd. (TEL, Tokyo, Japan) announced that it has completed acquisition of Oerlikon Solar AG (Trübbach, Switzerland). The company's new name will be TEL Solar AG, it will be headquartered in Switzerland, and current TEL Corporate Director Kiyoshi Sato will serve as president. TEL is currently determining the impact of the acquisition on the company's financial performance, and may make an announcement at an unspecified later date. Read more

Report: Emerging solar markets hold 20GW of PV project potential

Tuesday, 11.27.2012 - 15:49 (PV-Tech)

A slew of emerging markets for PV have been identified in a weighty new report from market research firm IHS, which has identified 20GW of PV projects across Asia Pacific, Latin America, Middle-East, Africa and ?emerging Europe?. Read more

Rajasthan issues call for 200MW of solar projects

Tuesday, 11.27.2012 - 13:40 (PV-Tech)

India?s Rajasthan state is calling for bids to set up 200MW of solar projects after mothballing the programme for almost a year. Read more

Oerlikon Solar to become core growth business unit of Tokyo Electron

Tuesday, 11.27.2012 - 12:23 (PV-Tech)

The ?250 million acquisition of silicon thin film equipment supplier, Oerlikon Solar by Tokyo Electron (TEL) has finally been concluded. Read more

Technip to help build new 10,000 MTY polysilicon facility in Saudi Arabia

Tuesday, 11.27.2012 - 12:06 (Solarserver)

Technip Engineering & Construction Ltd. (Paris, France) has signed an agreement to provide project management and engineering services to IDEA Polysilicon Company (IPC, Khobar, Saudi Arabia) for a new polysilicon, ingot, and wafer production facility in Yanbu Industrial City, Saudi Arabia. The project will be the largest polysilicon production facility in the Middle East, with a production capacity of 10,000 tons annually (MTY), of which 4,000 tons will be converted to solar wafers. Read more

Hanwha SolarOne opens office in Israel

Tuesday, 11.27.2012 - 1:01 (PV-Tech)

Solar manufacturer Hanwha SolarOne has expanded its global presence with its first office in Israel. Read more

Imaging Technologies May Solve Puzzle of Plant Architecture and Bolster Biofuel Production

Tuesday, 11.27.2012 - 16:27 (Renewable Energy World)

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and the BioEnergy Science Center (BESC) combined different microscopic imaging methods to gain a greater understanding of the relationships between biomass cell wall structure and enzyme digestibility, a breakthrough that could lead to optimizing sugar yields and lowering the costs of making biofuels. Read more

Vestas and Mitsubishi Planning to Build Biggest Offshore Wind Turbine

Tuesday, 11.27.2012 - 16:49 (Renewable Energy World)

Vestas Wind Systems A/S is in talks with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. to build the biggest offshore turbine for the $81 billion wind energy industry, bolstered by securing financing yesterday through 2015. Read more

Denmark to Decide on U.K. Power Cable Next Year, Grid Says

Tuesday, 11.27.2012 - 15:00 (Renewable Energy World)

Grid companies in the U.K. and Denmark are completing studies for the first subsea cable linking the countries, in a bid to boost electricity trading and help integrate a growing share of wind power output. Read more

Renewable Energy Executive Roundtable

Tuesday, 11.27.2012 - 21:02 (Renewable Energy World)

Power Engineering's Lindsay Morris hosted this year's Renewable Energy Executive Roundtable with five executives in the clean energy sector: Matt Burkhart, vice president of electric and fuel procurement, San Diego Gas & Electric; Rhone Resch, president and CEO, Solar Energy Industries Association; Karl Gawell, executive director, Geothermal Energy Association; Jim Ivany, president of Bechtel's Renewable Power business group; and Rob Gramlich, Senior Vice President of Public Policy, American Wind Energy Association. Read more

Report: Positive outlook for Australian solar, says Climate Change Commission

Tuesday, 11.27.2012 - 17:23 (PV-Tech)

The Australian Climate Change Commission, an independent body providing information on climate change to the Australian public, has released its 15th report. It notes that solar PV and wind could be the cheapest forms of power in Australia for retail users by 2030, if not earlier, as carbon prices rise. Read more

On-Bill Repayment Shows Great Promise for Energy Efficiency, But Significant Challenges Remain

Tuesday, 11.27.2012 - 16:08 (Renewable Energy World)

On-bill repayment has received a great deal of attention during the last few years as a potential approach to expanding the reach of energy efficiency financing in the residential and commercial sectors. With on-bill repayment, utilities or third-party lenders cover the upfront cost of energy efficiency retrofits and customers pay back the loans through their utility bills. Read more

Kirkless College partners with Waxman Energy to teach bespoke renewables course

Tuesday, 11.27.2012 - 15:51 (Solarpowerportal)

Kirkless College has partnered with Waxman Energy Group to introduce a UK-first renewables course that aims to train the installers of the future. Read more

Kirkless College partners with Waxman Energy to teach bespoke renewable course

Tuesday, 11.27.2012 - 15:51 (Solarpowerportal)

Kirkless College has partnered with Waxman Energy Group to introduce a UK-first renewables course that aims to train the installers of the future. Read more

California County's PACE Program Could Get Feisty with Feds

Tuesday, 11.27.2012 - 15:37 (Renewable Energy World)

Does a Riverside County, CA, residential energy financing program put thousands of homeowners on a collision course with the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA)? In a proposed rule-making, the FHFA has suggested that Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) policies represent a threat to the safety and soundness of mortgages held by government-backe Read more

Project Energy Distribution agrees distribution deal with ISOFOTON

Tuesday, 11.27.2012 - 15:11 (Solarpowerportal)

Spanish solar manufacturer ISOFOTON has announced an agreement with Project Energy Distribution that will see the distribution company supply ISOFOTON?s 250w PV modules to the domestic market. Read more

Survey: Energy Bill proposals unlikely to deliver 2020 goals

Tuesday, 11.27.2012 - 12:44 (Solarpowerportal)

New research commissioned by the international law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has revealed that a large number of top executives and main investors within the UK electricity industry believe that government?s proposed Electricity Market Reforms (EMR) will not help the UK meet its 2020 decarbonsiation target. Read more

OECD releases report on low-carbon investment strategies

Tuesday, 11.27.2012 - 12:12 (Solarserver)

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD, Paris, France) has released a new report which identifies barriers to private investment in low-carbon infrastructure and exploring the actions that governments can take to address these barriers. "Towards a green investment policy framework: The case of low-carbon, climate-resilient infrastructure" presents a five-point policy framework to guide domestic reforms to better use of public funds while incentivizing private investment. These include a host of policy proscriptions to build markets, increase returns, and reduce costs and risks. Read more

Report: China to install 10 GW of PV, 1-3 GW of CSP by 2015

Tuesday, 11.27.2012 - 9:56 (Solarserver)

The Chinese Academy of Sciences has released a "green paper" assessing the potential of multiple solar technologies for the nation, which predicts that by 2015 China will install 1-3 GW of concentrating solar power (CSP). While "Report on Combating Climate Change (2012): Climate Finance and Low-Carbon Development" states that the nation is still in the appraisal stage for solar potential, it also finds that the vast majority of the nation suitable for solar development. The paper was presented at a social sciences forum in Beijing on November 21st, 2012. Read more

Climate Commission: Australian solar industry growing rapidly

Tuesday, 11.27.2012 - 9:49 (Solarserver)

Australia's Climate Commission has released a report which summarizes the state of renewable energy in Australia and its potential, finding that almost 754,000 Australian households and businesses have installed PV systems as of July 2012. "The Critical Decade: Generating a Renewable Australia" examines solar technologies along with other renewable energy technologies, against the backdrop of urgent action to address climate change. Read more

COP18 begins in Qatar

Tuesday, 11.27.2012 - 9:44 (Solarserver)

On November 26th, 2012, the 18th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP18) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) opened in Doha, Qatar. The 2011 COP17 meeting in South Africa ended with an agreement to work on a legally binding resolution including all 194 member nations, and this work will begin at COP18. This will also be the last conference before the expiration of the current phase of the Kyoto Protocol, which ends on January 1st, 2013. Read more