UAE's Microsol Buying Solon's Assets

Tuesday, 3.6.2012 - 20:12 (Renewable Energy World)

In the latest chapter for consolidation in the solar industry, Solon has agreed to be bought by Microsol, a solar cell manufacturer based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), for an undisclosed amount. Read more

Natcore opens R&D facility in New York state

Tuesday, 3.6.2012 - 17:05 (Solarserver)

On March 2nd, 2012 Natcore Technology Inc. (Red Bank, New Jersey, U.S.) held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the opening of a research and development (R&D) center in Eastman Kodak Company's (Rochester, New York, U.S.) Eastman Business Park in Rochester. The new center will focus on the development of applications using the company's liquid phase deposition (LPD) technology. This will include the development of manufacturing processes for various solar photovoltaic (PV) cell designs, including flexible PV cells, high-efficiency tandem PV cells and black silicon PV cells. Read more

Satcon to supply 16 MW of PowerGate Plus inverters for New Jersey PV plant

Tuesday, 3.6.2012 - 15:15 (Solarserver)

On March 6th, 2012 Satcon Technology Corporation (Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.) announced that it has been selected by Unity Electric LLC (East Rutherford, New Jersey, U.S.) to supply 16 MW of its PowerGate Plus solutions for a solar photovoltaic (PV) plant in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Unity will deploy 32 PowerGate Plus 500kW inverters at the plant, which is currently under construction in Tinton Falls, New Jersey. When completed, the facility will be among the largest PV plants in the nation's Northeast. Read more

The company reported sales of approximately US$34.4 million

Tuesday, 3.6.2012 - 15:01 (PV-Tech)

Having failed to meet polysilcion supply contracts with Suntech Power, first established in June, 2007 and amended in June 2010, Hoku has agreed to significantly change the nature of its contracts with the worlds leading PV manufacturer. Read more

Suntech reduces polysilicon purchase quantities and prices with Hoku

Tuesday, 3.6.2012 - 15:01 (PV-Tech)

Having failed to meet polysilcion supply contracts with Suntech Power, first established in June, 2007 and amended in June 2010, Hoku has agreed to significantly change the nature of its contracts with the worlds leading PV manufacturer. Read more

BlueChip receives system impact study for 100 MW Sorrento PV plant in Florida

Tuesday, 3.6.2012 - 12:39 (Solarserver)

On February 29th, 2012 BlueChip Energy LLC (Lake Mary, Florida, U.S.) announced that Progress Energy has supplied it with a completed system impact study for BlueChip's 100 MW Sorrento solar photovoltaic (PV) plant. The study indicates that the plant should pose no power system instability issues on the local grid, or impacts on the U.S. state of Florida's ability to import electricity. The study results are pending review by the Florida Reliability Coordinating Council, Seminole Electric Cooperative Inc. (Tampa, Florida, U.S.), SECO Energy (Ocala, Florida, U.S.) and the Orlando Utilities Commission (Orlando, Florida, U.S.). BlueChip is currently constructing the plant, and Read more

Minnesota Power raises maximum PV rebates to USD 20,000

Tuesday, 3.6.2012 - 12:18 (Solarserver)

On February 21st, 2012, Minnesota Power (Duluth, Minnesota, U.S.) announced that it is offering a solar rebate of USD 2,000 per kilowatt (kW) for grid-connected solar photovoltaic (PV) systems under its "SolarSense" program. Minnesota Power offers the rebate with a maximum award of USD 20,000 per customer or 60% of the installed costs. The company?s newly updated solar rebate program is available to its residential, commercial and industrial customers that receive retail electric service. Read more

Q-Cells posts ?846 million loss for 2011 on revenue of ?1,023 million

Tuesday, 3.6.2012 - 10:10 (PV-Tech)

Impairment charges due to price declines and expected challenging market conditions in 2012 weighed in Q-Cells preliminary fourth quarter and full-year results. The company reported a fourth quarter EBIT loss of approximately ?355 million and a full-year 2011 loss of ?846 million. Fourth quarter revenue was ?353 million, up significantly from ?299 million in the third quarter. Revenue for the year reached ?1,023 million .Q-Cells said that it began 2012 with an increase in cash and cash equivalents that totalled approximately ?305 million, due to a reduction in net working capital. Read more

Panasonic begins construction of 300 MW HIT PV factory in Malaysia

Tuesday, 3.6.2012 - 8:58 (Solarserver)

On March 4th, 2012 Panasonic Corporation (Kadoma, Japan) initiated construction on a new vertically integrated factory in Malaysia which will produce silicon wafers, solar photovoltaic (PV) cells and the company's heterojunction with intrinsic thin-layer (HIT) PV modules. The company marked the occasion with a ground-breaking ceremony, and Panasonic subsidiary Panasonic Energy Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. (Kulim Hi-Tech Park, Malaysia) exchanged a land lease agreement for the site with the government of the state of Kedah, Malaysia. Panasonic expects the facility to begin producing HIT PV modules by December 2012. Read more

SMA expects sales to decline 21% in 2012; global PV market could contract

Tuesday, 3.6.2012 - 8:54 (Solarserver)

On March 2nd, 2012 SMA Solar Technology AG (Niestetal, Germany) issued a statement predicting that its 2012 sales will decline to between EUR 1.2 and 1.5 billion (USD 1.6 to 2.0 billion), the result of limited market growth caused by "massive" cuts to solar photovoltaic (PV) subsidies. SMA also forecasts an EBIT margin between 5% and 10% for the year. The company expects a particularly strong impact from "radical" feed-in tariff reductions underway in Germany, and lower demand for medium- and large-scale PV plants. Read more

Thin-Film Solar PV Suppliers Unite Under "PVThin" Banner

Tuesday, 3.6.2012 - 22:22 (Renewable Energy World)

A half-dozen makers of thin-film solar PV technologies are joining forces to promote the technology's "social, economic and environmental benefits." Read more

Trina Solar opens new sales and project development offices in China

Tuesday, 3.6.2012 - 21:17 (PV-Tech)

Trina Solar has expanded its presence in China with the opening of two new sales and project development offices in Chengdu and Urumqi. The company noted that it opened its new offices in Western China in order to be in the same region as China National Development and Reform Commission?s PV plants that it plans to develop in the Chengdu and Urumqi areas. Read more

Schott Solar, Canopy complete 2.2MW solar plant in central Corsica

Tuesday, 3.6.2012 - 20:34 (PV-Tech)

Schott Solar and Canopy advised that their 2.2MW Ucciani solar park had been completed. The solar park uses nearly 10,000 Schott PV modules from the company?s Perform Poly series and is connected to the national grid, providing around 2.86GWh of solar energy. Read more

Order Focus: SolarMax provides inverters for 20MW German power plant

Tuesday, 3.6.2012 - 20:19 (PV-Tech)

The 20MW Elsterheide solar park in Hoyerswerda, Germany is in full operation, sporting 3, 330kW SolarMax 330TS-SV inverters, 18 string inverter stations, and 86,960 monocrystalline solar modules from Sunowe. Commissioned in January, and delivering energy to the German national grid since January, the Elsterheide solar park is said to be the largest project for SolarMax to date. Read more

Premier Power begins construction on 16.2MW Bulgarian solar project

Tuesday, 3.6.2012 - 19:43 (PV-Tech)

Premier Power Renewable Energy advised that construction on its 16.2MWp Zdravetz utility-scale solar plant in Bulgaria has begun with completion expected during Q2 2012. The company originally entered into an agreement, along with its JV with Plaan Czech, in September 2011 to build the solar plants in Bulgaria. The project is being installed on land that was once a coal mine and will receive around US$0.30 for every kWh generated over the next 20 years from the energy administration. Read more

Order Focus: Satcon to supply 16MW of PowerGate solution to New Jersey solar farm

Tuesday, 3.6.2012 - 19:25 (PV-Tech)

Unity Electric tapped Satcon Technology to provide 16MW of its PowerGate Plus solutions for a utility-scale solar farm in Tinton Falls, New Jersey. Thirty two PowerGate Plus 500kW solutions are set to be delivered for the project, which upon completion will be one of the largest solar installations in the Northeast. Construction is in progress for the New Jersey solar farm. Read more

Dr. Jan Withag resigns position as chairman of Solar Millennium?s board

Tuesday, 3.6.2012 - 18:09 (PV-Tech)

Dr. Jan Withag, chairman of Solar Millennium?s management board, announced his resignation from all his offices taking effect on March 8. His announcement comes a week after insolvency proceedings for Solar Millennium AG commenced, overseen by the local Court of Fürth. Read more

Halifax prepares to launch pilot program to install up to 1,000 residential solar water heaters

Tuesday, 3.6.2012 - 17:13 (Solarserver)

The Halifax (Canada) Regional Municipality (HRM) Council is preparing to launch a pilot program to install up to 1,000 residential solar thermal water heaters. The USD 5 million proposed pilot program, Community Solar Program, aims to encourage individual homeowners to install solar collectors for heating domestic hot water. The program will be financed through property tax bills. Read more

AllEarth reaches 1,000th solar tracker installed

Tuesday, 3.6.2012 - 16:55 (Solarserver)

On March 2nd, 2012 AllEarth Renewables Inc. (Williston, Vermont, U.S.) announced that its 1,000th AllSun Tracker was installed as part of a 143 kW solar photovoltaic (PV) plant at Middlebury College (Middlebury, Vermont, U.S.). The company states that in the previous two years, its AllSun Trackers have been used in more Vermont PV plants than any other technology, totaling nearly 4.9 MW of residential and small commercial systems to date in the region. AllEarth has also established a dealer installer program for the distribution of its tracker systems. Read more

Getec joins forces with Q-Cells to build 28MWp solar power plant

Tuesday, 3.6.2012 - 16:01 (PV-Tech)

Q-Cells and Getec have begun construction of a 28MWp photovoltaic power plant in Amsdorf near Halle, Saxony-Anhalt. The site is approximately 55 hectares in size and Q-Cells will supply about 123,000 of its polycrystalline modules which will be in place by April 2012. The official sod-turning ceremony took place in early March with the premier of the state of Saxony-Anhalt, Reiner Haselhoff, in attendance. Read more

Protest in Germany: "Protect Solar Jobs!"

Tuesday, 3.6.2012 - 15:40 (Renewable Energy World)

"We are the energy transition!" read one of the many placards hoisted in the air at the Germany-wide "Stop the Solar Energy Exit" demonstration at Berlin's Brandenburg Gate on Monday. According to the event's organizers, 11,000 people were on hand for the protest against the Merkel government's energy policies. Read more

Google's Trend Manager Reveals Why Videos Go Viral: Can Solar Use the Formula?

Tuesday, 3.6.2012 - 15:00 (Renewable Energy World)

  Why do videos go viral? It’s an excellent question, and a recent video presentation by Kevin Allocca, Google’s Trend Manager, reveals some insights that may help solar companies produce their own viral videos. I recently wrote a post about why people generally share things on the internet, so I won’t repeat myself here. Read more

Mapping Solar Grid Parity

Tuesday, 3.6.2012 - 15:00 (Renewable Energy World)

Within a decade, 100 million Americans could get cheaper electricity from rooftop solar – without subsidies – than is provided by their utility.  This finding from a new report from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance — Rooftop Revolution: Changing Everything with Cost-Effective Local Solar — inspired our po Read more

More than 11,000 rally against German "solar phase-out", PV FiT cuts

Tuesday, 3.6.2012 - 14:58 (Solarserver)

On March 5th, 2012 around 11,000 people protested in Berlin against the German government's plans to radically cut feed-in tariffs (FiTs) for solar photovoltaic (PV) generation, according to the German Solar Industry Association (BSW-Solar). BSW-Solar emphasizes that this was a striking signal to the German federal government to abandon radical FiT cuts. Read more

BHEL sets new solar plant commissioning record with 13MW in pipeline for India

Tuesday, 3.6.2012 - 14:19 (PV-Tech)

Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has revealed that it has commissioned a total of 13MW of grid-connected solar power plants throughout India for the current financial year. All of the projects that make up this 13MW total have been commissioned on an EPC basis, and include a 3MW plant in Raichur, Karnataka; a 5MW plant in Rajasthan; two 2MW plants in Maharashtra and over 1MW in the Lakshadweep Islands. Read more

Sales continue to climb at Neo Solar Power

Tuesday, 3.6.2012 - 14:05 (PV-Tech)

The recovery in solar cell shipments continued into February for Taiwan-based crystalline solar cell producer, Neo Solar Power (NSP). The company reported sales of approximately US$34.4 million, compared to US$22 million (NT$850 million) in January and up from NT$663 million in December, 2010 when sales hit a two-year record low. Read more

First Solar spearheads CdTe thin-film charm offensive with rivals

Tuesday, 3.6.2012 - 13:00 (PV-Tech)

A new trade organization, established by First Solar and rival CdTe thin film module producers and suppliers has been formed to promote and educate on the technology?s attributes. Established as a non-profit organization under Belgian law, PVthin founding members included Abound Solar, Arendi, Calyxo, First Solar, GE Energy and 5N Plus. The first President of the PVThin is Andreas Wade, Director Sustainable Development at First Solar. Read more

Innotech Solar completes 4.3 MW greenhouse PV project in Spain

Tuesday, 3.6.2012 - 12:33 (Solarserver)

Innotech Solar ASA (Narvik, Norway), Jendra Power AG (Zurich, Switzerland) and Energie Wasser Bern (Bern, Switzerland) have completed a 4.3 MW solar photovoltaic (PV) plant on a series of greenhouses near Granada, Spain. The plant is comprised of Innotech PV modules, made from cells initially rejected following manufacturing, and repaired by Innotech using a laser-assisted process. Jendra Power commissioned the 62,000 square meter PV plant on February 24th, 2012. Read more

Brian the robotic falcon keeps seagulls away from science centre?s solar

Tuesday, 3.6.2012 - 12:12 (Solarpowerportal)

A robotic falcon called Brian is keeping a beady eye over a new solar array at At-Bristol. The mechanical falcon has been charged with keeping seagulls away from the 50kWp array, to stop them from fouling the surface of the panels. Read more

NRG to install 3 MW PV system, wind turbines on Eagles stadium

Tuesday, 3.6.2012 - 17:22 (Solarserver)

On March 1st, 2012, NRG Energy Inc. (Princeton, New Jersey, U.S.) announced that it has been selected by Philadelphia Eagles to complete renewable project at for the Eagles? home at Lincoln Financial Field. NRG will design, build and operate a unique, integrated sustainable energy solution including solar photovoltaic (PV) panels and micro wind-turbines that together will provide annually about six times the power used during all Eagles home games. Read more

Dia Bras sells hydropower assets in Peru to Volcan

Tuesday, 3.6.2012 - 23:27 (Renewable Energy World)

Read more

Dia Bras Sells Hydropower Assets in Peru to Volcan

Tuesday, 3.6.2012 - 23:27 (Renewable Energy World)

Canadian mining company Dia Bras Exploration Inc. has completed the sale of its hydroelectric assets to Volcan Compania Minera S.A.A. via its Peruvian subsidiary Sociedad Minera Corona S.A. Read more

Chile Considers Bill to Boost Renewable Energy

Tuesday, 3.6.2012 - 20:10 (Renewable Energy World)

High costs of energy due to a severe drought that has severely impaired hydro power plants coupled with restrictions in the capacity of transmission systems has once again put renewable energy in the sight of authorities as a way to decrease reliance of hydro and coal-based electricity. Read more

Energy Innovations? CPV factory assets and equipment to be auctioned off

Tuesday, 3.6.2012 - 16:47 (PV-Tech)

Former CPV system manufacturer Energy Innovations will have its assets auctioned off by Heritage Global Partners as an Assignment for the Benefit of Creditors. The company was a Poway, California-based HCPV company until insolvency proceedings in the form of liquidation of assets were initiated by its creditors. Read more

Renewable Electricity Standards Have No Statistically Significant Impact on Rates

Tuesday, 3.6.2012 - 15:00 (Renewable Energy World)

There's a thriving cottage industry devoted to debunking Robert Bryce of the Manhattan Institute. Last October, Bryce said be believed a still-unproven experiment with neutrinos called our entire scientific understanding of global warming into question. Read more

Barker says Green Deal will take energy efficiency from ?boring to bling?

Tuesday, 3.6.2012 - 13:28 (Solarpowerportal)

The Climate Change and Energy Minister, Greg Barker spoke of his wish to upgrade Britain’s leaky housing stock by using the Coalition’s Green Deal to enhance properties “kerb appeal” by transforming “energy efficiency from the image of dirty, dusty loft insulation to cosy living rooms and beautiful houses. From loft to living room and boring to bling.” Read more