Ralf Lüdemann joins Schmid management team

Friday, 12.7.2012 - 18:55 (PV-Tech)

Ralf Lüdemann has been appointed as the new lead for Schmid?s energy storage business unit, and will play a key role as advisor to the photovoltaic (PV) related business units. Read more

Suntech lowers 2012 shipment guidance: Q3 revenue down 18%

Friday, 12.7.2012 - 15:13 (PV-Tech)

Slower demand from key European markets saw Suntech Power Holdings report preliminary Q3 2012 revenue of approximately US$387 million, down 18% form the prior quarter. Read more

Sharp?s triple-junction InGaAs solar cell reaches record 37.7% conversion efficiency

Friday, 12.7.2012 - 13:21 (PV-Tech)

A CPV triple-junction compound solar cell developed and optimised by Sharp Corporation has been verified by Japan?s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) with a record conversion efficiency of 37.7%. Read more

DEGERenergie to supply trackers to 2 MW PV plant in Kazakhstan

Friday, 12.7.2012 - 12:49 (Solarserver)

DEGERenergie GmbH (Horb am Necker, Germany) has announced that it will supply tracking technology to a 2 megawatt (MW) solar photovoltaic (PV) plant in Kazakhstan. The plant in Kapchagay, Almaty Province is the first utility-scale PV plant in Kazakhstan. Deger will deliver 61 Degertracker 9000NT units to Bisol Group doo (Prebold, Slovakia), which is responsible for planning, construction and installation of the PV plant. Bisol plans to commission the plant by the end of 2012. Read more

NREL, LBNL release reports on PV system price reductions in the U.S.

Friday, 12.7.2012 - 9:45 (Solarserver)

On December 4th, 2012 the US Department of Energy's (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratories (NREL, Golden, Colorado, US) and DOE's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL, Berkeley, California, US) jointly released two reports looking at solar photovoltaic (PV) pricing in the United States. The first report looks at historical progress for PV price reductions, as well as providing future projections, finding that system prices are likely to continue to fall through 2012 and into 2013. The second report looks at the components of "soft" costs for PV systems. Read more

Dow to make Powerhouse Solar Shingles available in seven U.S. PV markets

Friday, 12.7.2012 - 19:51 (Solarserver)

Dow Chemical Company (Midland, Michigan, U.S.) has announced that its Powerhouse Solar Shingle will now be available for homeowners in the U.S. states of Connecticut, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan and New York, as well as Washington DC. The Solar shingles were already available in Colorado, Northern California and Central Texas beginning earlier in 2012. Additionally, Dow reports a number of milestones for its Enlight Photovoltaic (PV) films in 2012, including the introduction of new products and manufacturing locations. Read more

Qatar Solar Technologies wins Best Emerging Renewable Energy Company award

Friday, 12.7.2012 - 19:46 (Solarserver)

On December 5th, 2012, Qatar Solar Technologies (QSTec, Doha, Qatar) announced that it has received the New Economy Magazine's Clean Tech & New Energy Award 2012 for the best emerging renewable energy company in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). The award recognizes companies that represent a large spectrum of intelligent ideas for the creation and saving of energy and resources, from water preservation to power generation. Read more

Magnolia Solar selects American Capital Ventures for IR services

Friday, 12.7.2012 - 19:41 (Solarserver)

On December 5th, 2012, Magnolia Solar Corp. (Woburn, Massachusetts, U.S.), developer of thin-film solar cell technologies employing nanostructured materials and designs, announced that it has hired American Capital Ventures to provide investor relations (IR) services. Read more

Pioneer PV Solutions opens its doors for the ?small solar? sector

Friday, 12.7.2012 - 19:29 (PV-Tech)

Pioneer PV Solutions, a thin-film microsolar company, has officially launched, with plans to provide high-quality, off-the-shelf, compact solar solutions for rechargeable and DC power applications. Read more

Prism Solar Technologies receives UL, CEC certifications from Intertek

Friday, 12.7.2012 - 19:07 (PV-Tech)

Bifacial and holographic bifacial solar module producer Prism Solar Technologies has received UL 1703, ULC/ORD-C1703-1 and California Energy Commission (CEC) certifications via product safety certification organisation Intertek. Read more

Half Moon Ventures installs its first PV system in New York

Friday, 12.7.2012 - 16:51 (PV-Tech)

Half Moon Ventures, a solar and wind project developer based in the US city of Chicago, has announced its first PV system in New York which has been constructed on the rooftop of the iPark Hudson, an eight building residential complex. Read more

Nevada unveils its largest school PV array

Friday, 12.7.2012 - 15:56 (PV-Tech)

The largest private school in the US state of Nevada, Faith Lutheran Middle School & High School, has unveiled a 1.1MW PV array which is said to represent the state?s largest solar project at a school. Read more

JinkoSolar secures US$1 billion, five-year finance deal from China Development Bank

Friday, 12.7.2012 - 15:52 (PV-Tech)

China Development Bank is to support PV module manufacturer, JinkoSolar with a US$1 billion, five-year financing deal. Read more

Jordan announces first renewables FiT

Friday, 12.7.2012 - 15:37 (PV-Tech)

The Electricity Regulatory Commission (ERC) in Jordan has announced the country?s first feed-in tariff (FiT) progamme, awarding solar PV 120 fils (US$0.17) and solar 135 fils (US$0.19) for systems not exceeding 500MW. This is higher than FiTs for all other renewables. Read more

Solar Power Moves Forward in Haiti, Creativity Flows

Friday, 12.7.2012 - 14:43 (Renewable Energy World)

NRG Energy, Inc. has announced the completion of its "The Sun Lights the Way" project in the Boucan Carre region of Haiti. The program entailed the installation of solar electric systems at 20 schools, a fish farm and a drip irrigation system supporting agricultural production throughout Haiti's Central Plateau region, through collaboration with th Read more

Greenpower Capital and Wirsol Solar create JV for large-scale Japanese PV projects

Friday, 12.7.2012 - 14:39 (PV-Tech)

US renewable energy firm Greenpower Capital and Wirsol Solar, an international PV developer based in Germany, have established a joint venture which focuses on financing and building solar projects in Japan which have a capacity of 10MW or more. Read more

U.S. adds 1.03 GW of utility-scale solar PV in Jan-Oct 2012

Friday, 12.7.2012 - 12:56 (Solarserver)

According to the latest monthly report by the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the nation added 1.03 GW of new solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity in 167 utility-scale PV plants in the first ten months of 2012. FERC's October 2012 "Energy Infrastructure Update" shows that this represented 6.8% of all new electricity generation capacity added during the 10-month period, with new wind adding another 36%. This represents a 71% increase over the 602 MW added in 200 new PV plants in the first ten months of 2011. Read more

DLL to finance USD 52.5 million in distributed SunEdison solar PV projects

Friday, 12.7.2012 - 9:41 (Solarserver)

De Lage Landen Financial Services Inc. (DLL, Wayne, Pennsylvania, US) has committed to invest USD 52.5 million in a sale-leaseback fund to finance solar photovoltaic (PV) projects developed by SunEdison LLC (Beltsville, Maryland, US) in the United States. DLL will provide financing through long-term lease agreements with a SunEdison project subsidiary which monetizes the tax benefits and cash flows from customer power purchase agreements. SunEdison states that this will support its growing portfolio of distributed generation PV projects. Read more

Chilean universities form solar energy research center

Friday, 12.7.2012 - 9:34 (Solarserver)

The University of Chile (Santiago, Chile) has jointed with five other Chilean universities and Fundación Chile to propose the creation of the Chilean Solar Energy Research Center (SERC-Chile), which will include an emphasis on developing the potential of the nation's Atacama Desert. The USD 808 million project has a duration of five years, which can be expanded to ten years. The Center has already engaged thirty researchers, who will conduct six lines of research, including applications for the nation's mining industry. Read more

Powering Up with Centralized Biodigesters for Dairy Farms

Friday, 12.7.2012 - 15:09 (Renewable Energy World)

About 1,900 dairy farms dot the landscape in California, with millions of cows producing both milk and manure. The California Energy Commission wants to help milk that manure for all the power it can provide! In fact biodigesters, which produce gas from manure, offer a number of potential benefits: They generate energy, decrease greenhouse gases, reduce odors, improve water and air quality, and provide additional financial security for dairy farmers. Read more

Power-One debuts high efficiency power supply back-up units

Friday, 12.7.2012 - 19:41 (PV-Tech)

Power-One, a renewable energy and energy-efficient power conversion and power management solutions provider, released a 450W and 700W high efficiency power supply/batter back-up unit for next generation, high efficiency servers and data centres. Read more

Seminole Financial Services adds two more renewable energy projects to portfolio

Friday, 12.7.2012 - 18:40 (PV-Tech)

Seminole Financial Services, a financier of renewable energy construction, closed on two renewable energy projects with Enfinity America in late November. Read more

Koch Brothers Fund Bogus Studies to Kill Renewable Energy

Friday, 12.7.2012 - 17:13 (Renewable Energy World)

You can say one thing about the Koch brothers: They don't let the facts get in their way. Of course I'm talking about Charles G. and David H. Koch, the billionaire owners of Koch Industries, the oil, coal and natural gas conglomerate that's been dubbed the "kingpin of climate science denial." Read more

RES investors unite to combat Greek renewables tax

Friday, 12.7.2012 - 16:31 (PV-Tech)

Law firm Metaxas and Associates will be representing several foreign and Greek renewable energy sources (RES) investors in a bid to lodge a complaint with the European Commission on the retroactive taxation on RES, recently imposed by the Greek Ministry of Environment, Energy and Climate Change. Read more

Using Public Relations to Fight Climate Change and Build a New Energy System

Friday, 12.7.2012 - 16:21 (Renewable Energy World)

Called the "Robin Hood of public relations" by The National Journal, and named "one of the 100 most influential PR people of the 20th Century" by PR Week, David Fenton has for over three decades worked to create public relations campaigns for the environment, public health, international development, and human rights. His firm, FENTON, now has 80 employees, all working to accelerate progress through powerful issue campaigns. Read more

Order Focus: ReneSola to supply 4.3MW of PV modules to E.ON in Italy

Friday, 12.7.2012 - 16:14 (PV-Tech)

A PV power plant project being in built by E.ON Climate & Renewables in Italy will use ReneSola?s 245W multicrystalline solar modules for the 4.3MW plant. Read more

What if You Can't Afford LEDs?

Friday, 12.7.2012 - 15:00 (Renewable Energy World)

Advanced lighting has brought us not only energy savings, but also a slew of new screw-in-a-light bulb jokes. For LEDs, it usually goes something like this: How many people does it take to screw in a LED light? One. And a roomful of deep wallets to pay for it. To be fair, the cost of LEDs (light-emitting diodes) has been falling dramatically and is Read more

Renewable energy companies call for ?deal on the day? ban

Friday, 12.7.2012 - 12:04 (Solarpowerportal)

Dorset-based solar installer, H2 Eco, has partnered with YouGen and 30 other renewable energy installers to call on government to ban the high-pressure selling tactic of offering heavily discounted offers if the consumer signs on the day, the so-called ?deal on the day?. Read more