ReneSola PV micro-inverter receives certification in Australia

Wednesday, 12.19.2012 - 17:20 (Solarserver)

On December 17th, 2012, ReneSola Ltd. (Jiashan, China) announced its Micro Replus solar photovoltaic (PV) micro-inverter has formally obtained a certificate of approval from SAA Approvals. SAA is a third-party certification body accredited by the Joint Accreditation Service of Australia and New Zealand (JAS-ANZ) to issue certificates of approval for electrical equipment that has proven to comply with the safety requirements of the applicable Australian standard. Read more

Conergy completes 1 MW rooftop PV plant in Brandenburg, Germany

Wednesday, 12.19.2012 - 17:16 (Solarserver)

On December 17th, 2012, Conergy AG (Hamburg, Germany) announced that it has built a solar photovoltaic (PV) power plant with a capacity of around 1 megawatt (MW) on six newly-built barn roofs in the Uckerland district of Brandenburg, Germany. The PV plant includes more than 4,000 Conergy P series PV modules on a total roof area of more than 8,000 square meters. Read more

centrotherm photovoltaics announces important Chinese order for PV cell production systems

Wednesday, 12.19.2012 - 13:37 (Solarserver)

At the beginning of 2013, centrotherm photovoltaics (Blaubeuren, Germany) will deliver solar photovoltaic (PV) cell production systems for anti-reflective coating and phosphorous diffusion with a capacity of 300 megawatts to CECEP Solar Energy Technology (Zhenjiang) Co., Ltd. The tender for this solar cell production line key equipment occurred as part of the first capacity expansion of their cell and module production. CECEP Solar awarded the order for the important core processes to centrotherm photovoltaics, a global market leader for diffusion and PECVD systems. Read more

Suntech solar modules shine in desert simulation test

Wednesday, 12.19.2012 - 11:52 (PV-Tech)

Suntech Power Holdings? solar modules have passed the ?blowing sand Test by testing, inspection and certification company SGS. Read more

U.S. DOE grants Fraunhofer CSE USD 11.7 million to develop "plug n' play" home PV systems

Wednesday, 12.19.2012 - 11:39 (Solarserver)

The US Department of Energy (DOE) has selected the Fraunhofer Center for Sustainable Energy Systems (CSE, Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.) to receive USD 11.7 million for a five-year research project focused on the development of "plug and play" solar photovoltaic (PV) systems for homes. The funds will be awarded through the DOE's SunShot initiative, as part of a larger USD 21 million DOE investment in technology solutions to reduce the "soft" costs of residential PV systems. The CSE program will also leverage efforts by the US state of Massachusetts. Read more

Trina to supply 55MW of modules for eight UK projects

Wednesday, 12.19.2012 - 19:06 (Solarpowerportal)

Manufacturer Trina Solar is to supply 55MW of PV modules to renewable energy provider Anseco for solar eight projects in southern England. Read more

Edison acquires 900kW plant from IBC Solar

Wednesday, 12.19.2012 - 18:47 (PV-Tech)

Utility Edison Power has acquired a 900kW plant in southern Spain from IBC Solar. Read more

Report: UK to install 8GW of solar by 2016

Wednesday, 12.19.2012 - 18:26 (Solarpowerportal)

A new report published by Rexel predicts that the UK could outperform other European solar hotspots by 2016. Read more

SolarCentury obtains approval for 6.3 MW PV plant near Southampton, U.K.

Wednesday, 12.19.2012 - 17:24 (Solarserver)

On December 14th, 2012, SolarCentury (London, United Kingdom) announced that it has received a planning permission from the Eastleigh Borough Council for a 6.3 megawatt (MW) solar photovoltaic (PV) power plant at the Chalcroft Farm near Southampton, United Kingdom. Once complete, the solar park at Chalcroft Farm will consist of 25,632 PV panels, covering about 40 acres of land. It will produce enough electricity to power the equivalent of 1,800 homes, the company states. Read more

Solar Cube sees dramatic increase in roof integrated system demand

Wednesday, 12.19.2012 - 17:21 (Solarpowerportal)

PV distributor Solar Cube has seen a huge increase in demand for roof integrated products throughout 2012. Read more

Solar Gangnam Style: Do the Solar Dance

Wednesday, 12.19.2012 - 15:00 (Renewable Energy World)

 SolarEdge 2012 Happy Holidays Clip One thing I can say about the music for this year?s video: the decision to go with Gangnam Style was easy and almost unanimous.  So we had a song and we had a concept ? we wanted to do the solar dance, something fun and happy that everyone can relate to.  We also knew we want it to include SolarEdge employees onl Read more

National Grid: More than 10GW of solar will overload UK grid

Wednesday, 12.19.2012 - 14:21 (Solarpowerportal)

National Grid has outlined concerns over the likely technical challenges that would arise from integrating anything more than 10GW of solar electricity on the UK power grid. Read more

Neo Solar Power and DelSolar merger moves ahead

Wednesday, 12.19.2012 - 13:49 (PV-Tech)

The boards of Taiwan-based PV manufacturers Neo Solar Power (NSP) and DelSolar have approved the second stage of the planned merger of the two companies. Read more

A Look Back at Solar Energy in 2012

Wednesday, 12.19.2012 - 13:00 (Renewable Energy World)

2012 was a big year for solar, both domestically and globally, with some unlikely players throwing their hats into the ring and upping the ante on achievable power generating capacity. Here's a wrap-up of some of the year's most impactful events in the solar industry, with a little added perspective from some experts in the field. Read more

Chinese dumping ?poison? to European solar market

Wednesday, 12.19.2012 - 12:39 (Solarpowerportal)

EU ProSun President and VP of SolarWorld Milan Nitzschke has described alleged Chinese dumping as ?poison? to the European solar market. Read more

National Solar Centre set for 2013 launch

Wednesday, 12.19.2012 - 12:07 (Solarpowerportal)

A dedicated National Solar Centre is to be launched early next year to help drive the UK PV industry towards the 22GW capacity target anticipated by government. Read more

JA Solar commences large-volume module shipments

Wednesday, 12.19.2012 - 11:37 (PV-Tech)

Manufacturer JA Solar Holdings has started solar module shipments from successful bids totalling 40MW with China Three Gorges New Energy Corporation (CTGNE). Read more

BYD to supply 110 MW of solar PV modules for plants in South Africa

Wednesday, 12.19.2012 - 10:09 (Solarserver)

BYD Company Ltd. (Shenzhen, China) has announced that it will supply 110 MW of solar photovoltaic (PV) modules to an un-named customer for two PV projects in South Africa. The modules will be used for a 75 MW PV plant and a 35 MW PV plant, which were selected under the first phase of South Africa's Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Programme (REIPPP). Read more

Ibereólica files for environmental approval for 400 MW CSP project in Chile

Wednesday, 12.19.2012 - 9:35 (Solarserver)

On December 10th, 2012 Ibereólica's (Madrid, Spain) Chilean subsidiary filed for environmental approval for a 400 MW concentrating solar power (CSP) project in the nation's Antofagasta Region. The USD 3.29 billion María Elena project will consist of four 100 MW solar power tower CSP plants equipped with molten salt thermal energy storage. Ibereólica plans to build the plants in the commune of María Elena and connect them to the nation's Norte Grande (SING) grid. Read more

U.S. Boosts Duties on China Wind Energy as Trade Talks Open

Wednesday, 12.19.2012 - 15:24 (Renewable Energy World)

Ratcheting up trade tensions with China, the U.S. increased import duties on wind turbine towers produced by Chengxi Shipyard Co. and CS Wind Corp. as economic talks between the two nations opened in Washington. Read more

LG honored with best project award for superior energy solutions for building energy system including PV

Wednesday, 12.19.2012 - 17:27 (Solarserver)

On December 17th, 2012, LG Electronics announced that it has received the "Best Project Award" from Climate Control Middle East magazine for its LG Electronics Gulf FZE project, a building equipped with LG's DX system. The LG's DX system is a combination of Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) air conditioning, solar photovoltaic (PV) panels and LED lighting. Read more

Investing in Alternative Energy? Consider the Passive Activity Loss Rule

Wednesday, 12.19.2012 - 15:00 (Renewable Energy World)

The federal government provides several valuable incentives to promote alternative energy investments. Many of these incentives take the form of favorable federal income tax benefits. Read more

Australian Climate Change Authority calls for PV subsidy cut

Wednesday, 12.19.2012 - 14:35 (PV-Tech)

The Australian Climate Change Authority (CCA) has released a report advising the government to lower the small-scale renewable energy scheme (SRES) for solar PV from 100kW to 10kW. Read more

GDF sells 60% interest in Canadian renewable energy portfolio

Wednesday, 12.19.2012 - 11:34 (Solarserver)

GDF Suez has agreed to the sale of a 60% equity interest in its Canadian renewable energy generation portfolio to Mitsui & Company Ltd. (Tokyo, Japan) and a consortium led by Fiera Axium Infrastructure Inc. (Montreal, Canada). The portfolio includes 317 MW of wind and solar photovoltaic (PV) projects which it expects to commission between 2013 and 2014. As part of the transaction a total of USD 1.1 billion of project finance has been raised from five banks. Read more

EPIA calls for EU action against nations which backtrack on renewable energy support

Wednesday, 12.19.2012 - 9:39 (Solarserver)

More than 70 companies and associations in the solar photovoltaic (PV) industry have signed a letter to the European Commission (EC) calling for action against member states that enact retroactive measures or cancel support for renewables. The European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA) coordinated this letter to EU Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger, referencing recent or imminent action in Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, France, Greece, Italy and Spain. Read more