Waxman promotes Mark Powell to National Sales Director

Friday, 3.9.2012 - 13:55 (Solarpowerportal)

Waxman Energy, a specialist in the design and distribution of solar photovoltaic systems, has promoted Mark Powell to the role of National Sales Director. Read more

Heliotrop announces bids for over 70 MW of French projects using its CPV technology

Friday, 3.9.2012 - 12:16 (Solarserver)

On March 7th, 2012 Heliotrop SAS (Paris, France) announced that its clients have submitted bids for more than 70 MW of solar energy projects in France using its concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) products, in a recent call for tenders through the French Energy Regulatory Commission. These plans include more than 20 MW of the company's 1024-sun CPV units. Heliotrop states that most of the projects are hybrid plants employing both PV and CPV technologies. Read more

CIGS PV producer MiaSole secures USD 55 million in funding

Friday, 3.9.2012 - 12:00 (Solarserver)

On March 7th, 2012 MiaSole Inc. (Santa Clara, California, U.S.) announced that it has secured an additional USD 55 million in funding, which it will use to support future growth. The company notes that it has increased its copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) solar photovoltaic (PV) module efficiencies 30% from 2011 to 2012, and states that it is focused on transforming its technological developments into commercial deployment of its product. Read more

First CASM supporter comes out of the closet

Friday, 3.9.2012 - 9:16 (PV-Tech)

Milwaukee-based high-efficiency monocrystalline PV module manufacturer, Helios Solar Works is the first founding member of the Coalition for American Solar Manufacturing (CASM), outside SolarWorld to declare itself a supporter of actions that will lead to duties being applied to solar cells and modules from China. Seven firms with manufacturing operations in the US were said to have formed CASM and petitioned US agencies to investigate module dumping allegations, though until now, only SolarWorld, which has led the campaign had declared involvement. Read more

PV roof by FATH Solar supplies Zinedine Zidane's football center in southern France with solar power

Friday, 3.9.2012 - 18:51 (Solarserver)

Solar Quest, French partner of FATH Solar GmbH (Spalt, Germany), has installed a 1.833-square-foot solar photovoltaic (PV) roof with a capacity of approx. 200 kilowatts (kWp). The "Z5-center" was opened in June, 2011 in Aix-en-Provence by French football legend and owner Zinedine Zidane. The game played in the center is dubbed "Futsal", a fast-paced football version with 5 players in each team. Read more

Upsolar?s modules receive salt and ammonia certification from BV LCIE China

Friday, 3.9.2012 - 18:05 (PV-Tech)

PV module manufacturer Upsolar has furthered its global reach by acquiring certification to verify that its modules can withstand salt mist and ammonia exposure. The certification, bestowed by conformity assessment laboratory Bureau Veritas (BV) LCIE China, verifies that the company?s modules will continue to yield high performance in coastal and agricultural areas. Read more

Panasonic donates 2.000 solar LED lanterns to NGOs in Cambodia

Friday, 3.9.2012 - 17:05 (Solarserver)

On March 7th, 2012, Panasonic Corp. (Osaka, Japan) announced that it has donated 2.000 solar LED lanterns to 15 NPOs and NGOs working toward the solution of various social issues in Cambodia. The donation was conducted with a special ceremony at the Sofitel Phnom Penh Phokeethra Hotel on March 6th. Read more

KYOCERA supplies solar PV modules for England?s first "zero carbon church"

Friday, 3.9.2012 - 16:58 (Solarserver)

On March 8th, 2012 Kyocera Corporation (Kyoto, Japan/ Neuss, Germany) announced that the company has supplied its solar modules for a flagship project for renovating old buildings using solar energy at the roughly 900-year-old St. Michael and All Angels Church in Withington, England. The country's first "zero carbon church" has a solar power generating system using Kyocera PV modules which supplies CO2-neutral electricity, as well as a biomass-powered boiler system providing environmentally friendly heat. Read more

SunPower partners with GRID Alternatives to provide solar panels for low-income housing

Friday, 3.9.2012 - 16:50 (Solarserver)

On March 7th, 2012, SunPower Corp. (San Jose, California, U.S.), a manufacturer of high efficiency solar cells, solar panels and solar photovoltaic (PV) systems, announced that it has teamed up with GRID Alternatives, a Bay Area-based non-profit solar installer, to provide solar panels for low-income housing in 2012. Read more

Salamon Group completes acquisition of ARISE Assets

Friday, 3.9.2012 - 16:43 (Solarserver)

On March 5th, 2012, Salamon Group Inc. (Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.) announced that its Sunlogics Power Fund Management Inc. subsidiary has completed the court-approved acquisition of the assets of PV producer ARISE Technologies Corp. (Ontario, Canada) on March 2nd, 2012. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Salamon CEO Michael Matvieshen stated: "This is another significant step in the development of our company. Arise's solar system business generated over USD 4 million in revenue last year, and the first quarter revenues are expected to exceed all of last year's total revenues, with expectation of USD 16 million in revenue for 2012." Read more

MIT student wins USD 30.000 for project to reduce the cost of solar energy

Friday, 3.9.2012 - 16:35 (Solarserver)

On March 7th, 2012, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have awarded the USD 30.000 Lemelson-MIT Collegiate Student Prize to Miles C. Barr for his innovative solar technologies and creativity. Barr?s most recent inventive breakthrough is a pioneering approach to fabricating solar cells on a variety of everyday surfaces. Read more

Perhaps the Opportunity for California Solar PV Installers? is Solar Hot Water

Friday, 3.9.2012 - 15:00 (Renewable Energy World)

A recent check of the California Solar Initiative’s database reveals that there are currently 2,244 rebate-eligible solar PV installers in California. And on the solar hot water side? Only 374! That lack of competition for solar water heating services in a huge state like California is startling. Despite the recent — and generous &mdas Read more

JinkoSolar passes US$1 billion revenue milestone as margins vanish

Friday, 3.9.2012 - 14:16 (PV-Tech)

Vertically integrated PV manufacturer, JinkoSolar met revised revenue guidance and beat shipment forecasts for 2011. The company posted full-year revenue of US$1.2 billion, the first time the fast-growing supplier has exceeded the US$1 billion milestone, an increase of 58.7% compared to 2010. Product shipments which included wafers, cells and modules reached 950.5MW, a new record and an increase of 97.9% from 2010 levels. Solar module shipments were 760.8 MW, up 183.2%, compared to the prior year. Net loss in the fourth was US$58.3 million. Read more

Pythagoras Solar announces its contribution to the Fraunhofer?s Building Technology Showcase

Friday, 3.9.2012 - 13:46 (PV-Tech)

Pythagoras Solar announced today that it will be participating in the first Fraunhofer Center for Sustainable Energy (CSE) Building Technology Showcase. Said showcase, the first of its kind and designed to demonstrate sustainable building technologies, is located in a research and demonstration site located in a building in Boston?s Innovation District. Pythagoras is among the partners contributing a total of US$2.7 million to building energy technologies and services to the new ?living laboratory.? Read more

Premier Solar closes US$27.6 million deal with Chaori Solar for US solar plants

Friday, 3.9.2012 - 12:36 (PV-Tech)

Premier Power Renewable Energy announced that they have finalized a US$27.6 million agreement with the US subsidiary of Shanghai Solar Energy Science and Technology, Chaori Solar US, to build a number of utility-scale solar power plants in the United States. Read more

Manz Solar segment sales increase 10% in 2011

Friday, 3.9.2012 - 12:11 (Solarserver)

On March 8th, 2012 Manz AG (Reutlingen, Germany) released preliminary financial figures for 2011, reporting a 10% increase in its Solar segment sales to EUR 72.6 million, and a near-tripling of revenues to EUR 9.5 million in its New Business division, which is focused on lithium-ion battery manufacturing. Across all of its divisions, Manz reported a 33% increase in revenues to EUR 240 million, largely driven by its flat screen and touch panel business. Manz also achieved an increase in its operating margin to 1.2%. Read more

Petra Solar wins U.S. General Services Administration contract

Friday, 3.9.2012 - 12:06 (Solarserver)

On March 8th, 2012 Petra Solar Inc. (South Plainfield, New Jersey, U.S.) announced that it has been awarded a contract through the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) which will allow federal agencies to purchase products from the company. Petra Solar states that the Schedule 70 contract continues its expansion into the government and military sectors. The company particularly notes the advantage of its SunWave product for U.S. military applications. Read more

U.S. Senate delays vote on amendment to restore Section 1603 TGP program

Friday, 3.9.2012 - 10:24 (Solarserver)

The U.S. Senate has delayed a vote on an amendment to resurrect the Section 1603 Treasury Grant Program (TGP) until March 13th, 2012. The amendment has been proposed for a transportation bill currently in the U.S. Senate. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-Michigan) introduced the amendment, which would bring back the program and allow solar developers to claim the 30% Solar Investment Tax Credit as a grant. While active, the Section 1603 program was widely viewed as the most important federal policy for the U.S. solar industry. Read more

JinkoSolar reports decline in revenues, shipments in 4Q 2011

Friday, 3.9.2012 - 10:20 (Solarserver)

On March 8th, 2012 JinkoSolar Holding Company Ltd. (Shanghai, China) became the latest PV manufacturer to announce significant losses in its unaudited fourth quarter 2011 results. The company reported a 33% decrease in revenues to USD 190 million, a -26% operating margin and a net loss of USD 58.3 million during the quarter. Despite these disappointing quarterly results, JinkoSolar reported a strong full year 2011, including a near-doubling of solar photovoltaic (PV) product shipments to 950 MW, revenues of USD 1.17 billion, a 4.3% operating margin, and USD 43.4 million net income. Read more

Terna estimates show PV is on the increase in Italy

Friday, 3.9.2012 - 15:51 (PV-Tech)

According electricity grid operator Terna, 2.8% of 86.3% of Italy?s production of electricity for 2011 came from PV solar energy. The remaining 13.7% came from foreign imports. The net national production (289.2 billion kWh) dropped by 0.5% compared to 2010, geothermal production increased (+5.2%), as did wind power (+5.7%) and PV solar power grew by 394% compared to 2010. Read more

Waste Is Energy in California

Friday, 3.9.2012 - 21:14 (Renewable Energy World)

At last month's Renewable Energy World Conference & Expo and Solar POWER-GEN Conference & Exhibition conference attendees visited the Covanta Waste-to-Energy Center in Long Beach, Calif. One of just three waste-to-energy facilities in California, Covanta's Southeast Resource Recovery Facility (SERRF) center burns 1,400 to 1,500 tons of waste each day. In doing so, the facility generates up to 36 MW ? power which is sold to Southern California Edison. Not only does the center provide a sustainable method of disposing of waste for the City of Long Beach, but it also strives to keep its emissions 75 percent lower than EPA's requirements. Read more

Canadian Renewable Energy Makes Big Splash in U.S.

Friday, 3.9.2012 - 15:30 (Renewable Energy World)

With more hydropower than it can use, Canada sells cheap, clean power to U.S. utilities and has been doing so for years. Now, large transmission projects across the Northeast and Midwest will mean more hydro will be used to meet utilities needs. Read more

Trillion Dollar Answer to Bachman's Light Bulb Question

Friday, 3.9.2012 - 15:00 (Renewable Energy World)

US Congresswoman Michele Bachmann often asks why government should tell us which kind of light bulb to choose. Turns out it’s a question with a trillion dollar answer.  We will save $1.1 trillion through 2035 because of existing energy efficiency mandates for light bulbs and appliances, according to a report issued this week by the Read more

Aloha, Clean Energy

Friday, 3.9.2012 - 15:00 (Renewable Energy World)

Hawaii is one of the world's premier travel destinations. However, if visitors look beyond the views of Diamond Head, Waikiki Beach, palm trees and the blue Pacific, they'll see a renewable energy transformation under way that could be a model for others around the world. Read more

Butler Sherbon launch new energy consultancy department

Friday, 3.9.2012 - 10:54 (Solarpowerportal)

Cotswold property specialists, Butler Sherbon, are launching a new energy consultancy service for homes, businesses, farmers and land owners, called Butler Sherbon Energy. Read more