Order Focus: Satcon chosen to supply 5MW of inverters for PV project

Tuesday, 6.19.2012 - 20:20 (PV-Tech)

Satcon Technology advised that it will be providing 5MW of its Equinox solar inverter to Southern Sky Renewable Energy and Gemma Renewable Power. The technology will help power what is being hailed as the largest ground-mounted PV installation on a landfill in Massachusetts. Connection of the PV project is anticipated to occur in the first half of 2012. Read more

CASM accuses Chinese manufacturers of conspiring to ?commit offence or to defraud the United States?

Tuesday, 6.19.2012 - 19:06 (PV-Tech)

The dust is yet to settle on tariff determinations against Chinese manufacturers, but the Coalition for American Solar Manufacturing (CASM) has released a statement warning of a ?conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud the United States?. According to CASM, Chinese solar cell and panel exporters are reportedly planning to evade antidumping/countervailing orders. It asserts that this will not be effective, could be illegal and may expose US importers, in addition to Chinese exporters, to liability under US law, including significant financial penalties and criminal prosecution. Read more

CASM accuses Chinese manufacturers of conspiring to ?commit offense or to defraud the United States?

Tuesday, 6.19.2012 - 19:06 (PV-Tech)

The dust is yet to settle on tariff determinations against Chinese manufacturers, but the Coalition for American Solar Manufacturing (CASM) has released a statement warning of a ?conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud the United States?. According to CASM, Chinese solar cell and panel exporters are reportedly planning to evade antidumping/countervailing orders. It asserts that this will not be effective, could be illegal and may expose US importers, in addition to Chinese exporters, to liability under US law, including significant financial penalties and criminal prosecution. Read more

Conergy installs 500kW PV system on Gran Canaria

Tuesday, 6.19.2012 - 12:00 (PV-Tech)

Conergy has completed a 500kW PV plant in the town of Agüimes on the island of Gran Canaria, the company has announced. The company installed 2,200 PH modules in an area of approximately 9,300m² and will provide maintenance as well as operation of the system. This is the second PV system in the small town of Agüimes, the first one being a 1.7MW rooftop installation on top of a coffee roasters?, installed in 2011 and the largest rooftop system in the Canary Islands. Read more

Solon builds 1.15MW PV system for Tanque Verde Unified School District in Arizona

Tuesday, 6.19.2012 - 11:07 (PV-Tech)

Solon Corporation has agreed to build a 1.15MW PV system for the Tanque Verde Unified School District (TVUSD) in Tucson, Arizona, the company has announced. The system will be installed across the four campuses of Tanque Verde High School and Elementary School, the Emily Gray Junior High School and the Agua Caliente Elementary School. Solon Corporation will design and construct the system and maintain its operation once completed; the energy generated will we sold to TVUSD under a 25-year PPA. The project is expected to commence operation in early 2013. Read more

SABIC presents polycarbonate BIPV module

Tuesday, 6.19.2012 - 9:47 (Solarserver)

SABIC Innovative Plastics (Pittsfield, Massachusetts, U.S.) has presented a polycarbonate building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) module for roofing, cladding and glazing at the Intersolar Europe Trade Show in Munich. Polycarbonate is a strong, highly durable plastic with a wide temperature range, and better light transmission characteristics than many kinds of glass. The company presented its Lexan BIPV modules as part of its portfolio of specialty thermoplastics to support solar applications. Read more

SunEdison, El Paso Electric celebrate 12MW Las Cruces solar farm

Tuesday, 6.19.2012 - 21:34 (PV-Tech)

An inauguration ceremony was recently held for the 12MW Las Cruces Centennial Solar Farm and was attended by SunEdison and El Paso Electric (EPE) officials, as well as Las Cruces Mayor, Ken Miyagishima. The New Mexico solar farm, which was activated in May and is located near Las Cruces International Airport, uses over 48,000 of SunEdison?s Silvantis P280 PV modules to produce solar energy. Read more

3M completes manufacturing expansion of solar film at Missouri plant

Tuesday, 6.19.2012 - 21:19 (PV-Tech)

3M advised that it had completed its manufacturing expansion for its Ultra Barrier Solar Film, on-time, in Columbia, Missouri, allowing the company to help support the increasing demand for high efficiency flexible PV modules. 3M?s Ultra Barrier Solar Film acts as a replacement for glass and is said to provide high light transmission, excellent moisture barrier performance and weatherability. Read more

Lisa Bodensteiner appointed as SunPower?s new executive VP, general counsel

Tuesday, 6.19.2012 - 20:33 (PV-Tech)

SunPower has hired Lisa Bodensteiner as its new executive vice president and general counsel, effective June 25. She joins SunPower from First Solar where she was general counsel, project development since 2009. Bodensteiner previously worked at OptiSolar as executive vice president, general counsel and secretary. Read more

Seminole Financial Services provides US$1.8 million for North Carolina PV project

Tuesday, 6.19.2012 - 18:54 (PV-Tech)

Seminole Financial Services is providing permanent financing amounting to US$1.8 million for a ground mounted PV project in North Carolina. Neuse River solar farm is the largest PV project located in Raleigh, NC, on government ground with a size of 1.3MW. In September 2011, Seminole already provided construction financing of US$4.3 million for Southern Energy Management to install and construct the plant, which is operated by NxGen. Seminole closed the lending deal for Neuse River Solar Farm is in April this year, one of five project deals in Q1 of 2012. Read more

NovaSolar files for bankruptcy

Tuesday, 6.19.2012 - 18:08 (PV-Tech)

Thin-film manufacturer NovaSolar has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. That?s not unusual, a number of companies have gone bankrupt in the last months. NovaSolar, though, is the US arm of Chinese NovaStar, a company that was created with the remaining assets from bankrupt OptiSolar three years ago. Read more

Toshiba Mitsubishi-Electric Industrial Systems Corp. launches SOLAR WARE inverters

Tuesday, 6.19.2012 - 17:52 (PV-Tech)

Toshiba Mitsubishi-Electric Industrial Systems Corporation (TMEIC) has announced the launch of SOLAR WARE inverters offering multiple utility-scale configurations. The company claims the SOLAR WARE footprint is up to half the size of its competition, with easy maintenance access engineered into its compact design. Read more

Brattle Group finds NASA solar and meteorological data services to be worth hundreds of millions, benefits to renewable

Tuesday, 6.19.2012 - 17:46 (Solarserver)

The study ?Estimating the Socioeconomic Value of Satellite-Derived Solar & Meteorological Data: A Case Study and Discussion of Tradeoffs? finds the economic value of the datasets to be between USD 79 million and USD 790 million worldwide, with higher ranges possible. The report, which was prepared for the NASA Applied Science Program, is presented at a workshop hosted by IEEE's Committee on Earth Observation. Read more

IKEA partners with Hanergy to use solar power on stores, distribution centers in China

Tuesday, 6.19.2012 - 17:39 (Solarserver)

On June 12th, 2012, IKEA Group announced that it will partner with Hanergy (Beijing, China) to install solar photovoltaic (PV) panels on IKEA-owned buildings in China. Once complete, the solar panels will provide both 10-15% of all electricity needed to run IKEA stores and 100% of the electricity needs of IKEA distribution centers in China, saving around 6,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) each year. Read more

Canadian Solar PV modules secure top PTC ratings

Tuesday, 6.19.2012 - 17:33 (Solarserver)

On June 15th, 2012, Canadian Solar Inc. (Ontario, Canada) announced that its photovoltaic (PV) modules have scored top position in the PVUSA Test Conditions (PTC) Ratings. More than 9,000 modules have been rated under the California Energy Commission's Solar Electric Incentive program. Canadian Solar modules continue to rank among the top for PTC efficiency ratings. Read more

AuSES demands ?Same Price for Solar?

Tuesday, 6.19.2012 - 16:35 (PV-Tech)

The Australian Solar Industry has today called on the federal coalition government of Australia to back a national ?Same Price for Solar? campaign. ?Australia?s solar industry would welcome a consistent national approach to solar and clean energy programs,? said John Grimes, chief executive of the AuSES. ?The solar industry has been hamstrung by different support schemes in different states and territories, administered independently and not coordinated with the Australian government. Read more

Canadian Solar acquires 122MW of US PV projects

Tuesday, 6.19.2012 - 15:32 (PV-Tech)

Canadian Solar has become involved in PV projects totaling 122MW in the US. The involvement comes in the form of either acquisitions or joint ventures of projects. The company is participating in the construction of 11 US PV projects in sizes from 2MW to 29MW, the last of these projects to be completed in 2014. Canadian Solar has previously announced that it will broaden its Canadian portfolio with approximately 340Mw of projects in Ontario and has already completed three of those projects. The company is now looking to expand its project development to the US market. Read more

Activ Solar completes 21 MWp PV plant in Odessa, Ukraine

Tuesday, 6.19.2012 - 15:29 (Solarserver)

On June 19th, 2012 Activ Solar GmbH (Vienna, Austria) announced that it has finished the first 21.18 MWp phase of a solar photovoltaic (PV) plant in the Odessa region of Ukraine. The second and final phase of the Starokazache Power Station will add another 21.77 MWp, to bring the plant to 42.95 MWp. Activ Solar expects to complete this second phase in July 2012. Read more

Canadian Solar to supply 17 MW of modules for rooftop PV plants in Ontario

Tuesday, 6.19.2012 - 15:18 (Solarserver)

On June 18th, 2012 Canadian Solar Inc. (Guelph, Canada) announced that it will supply 17 MW of its CS6P solar photovoltaic (PV) modules to Potentia Solar Inc. (Toronto, Canada) for use in rooftop PV plants in the Canadian province of Ontario. Potentia will use the PV modules for more than 100 plants on commercial, industrial and residential buildings. Canadian Solar will deliver the modules on a per-project basis, and all projects are scheduled for completion in 2013. Read more

The Interview: Improving Solar's Image

Tuesday, 6.19.2012 - 15:00 (Renewable Energy World)

REW interviewed Charles Kim, president of Hanwha SolarOne, for his insight on how solar can outshine its competitors. Read more

First Solar to speed-up implantation of CdTe cell efficiency gains

Tuesday, 6.19.2012 - 14:55 (PV-Tech)

Under intense pressure to remain the low-cost leader, First Solar is taking a leaf from the semiconductor industry by teaming up with materials specialists Intermolecular to fast-track R&D research in materials and processes to shorten the time-to-market for higher efficiency CdTe-based, thin-film PV modules. Taking record cell and module efficiencies from the lab to the fab has proved to be a perennial problem for all types of PV technology. Read more

Conergy reduces consumer confusion with new Solar Returns Tracker

Tuesday, 6.19.2012 - 13:26 (Solarpowerportal)

In a bid to counteract the current consumer confusion surrounding the UK solar industry Conergy has launched a tracker system which highlights the long-term financial returns still available when installing solar panels. Read more

The Life and Death of a Solar Press Release

Tuesday, 6.19.2012 - 13:00 (Renewable Energy World)

There?s an art to writing press releases, but that art is separate from getting them actually picked up and acted upon by reporters and editors. I?ll get into what makes a well-written solar press release in a bit, but regardless of how well your release is written, you still may get coverage for the following reasons: You have a relationship with Read more

New Energy and NREL improve manufacturing process of SolarWondow prototype

Tuesday, 6.19.2012 - 12:20 (PV-Tech)

New Energy has announced that it has, in collaboration with NREL (National Renewable Energy Laboratory), improved the manufacturing process for its SolarWindow, which is in development. The company has developed a manufacturing process that allows the use of low-cost materials to decrease production cost as well as an increase in movement of electrons within the solar cells. Further, the improvement includes processing of cells at lower temperatures. Read more

World?s largest exhibition for the solar industry packs a punch with topics grid integration and electricity storage; Intersolar Europe 2012 closed on Friday, June 15

Tuesday, 6.19.2012 - 12:19 (Solarserver)

Approximately 66,000 visitors and 1,909 exhibitors from 160 and 49 countries respectively were represented at the exhibition from June 13th-15th, making this year?s Intersolar Europe even more international than last year?s event. Against a background of ongoing consolidation in several sectors of the solar industry, the organizers were able to report a positive outcome to the exhibition. Both visitors and companies within the industry showed particular satisfaction with the thematic and technological focus of the event. Read more

SDG&E puts Sunrise Powerlink high-voltage transmission line into service

Tuesday, 6.19.2012 - 12:00 (Solarserver)

On June 18th, 2012, San Diego Gas & Electric Company (SDG&E, San Diego, California, U.S.) announced that it has completed and energized a 188 kilometer high-voltage transmission project to bring electricity from wind and solar plants in the Imperial Valley to San Diego, California. The 500,000-volt Sunrise Powerlink costs nearly USD 1.9 billion and involved a 5-year environmental review and permitting process, as well as 18 months of construction. The project will initially be capable of bringing 800 MW of additional electricity to San Diego, and eventually up to 1 GW. Read more

TGC Renewables expands UK operations

Tuesday, 6.19.2012 - 11:15 (Solarpowerportal)

Solar and wind projects developer TGC Renewables is set to open a London-based office where the company will be able to work directly with private equity, banks and pension funds. The new office will add to TGC?s existing Bristol and Glasgow operations. Read more

U.S. DOE awards Soitec USD 25 million to support CPV manufacturing

Tuesday, 6.19.2012 - 9:53 (Solarserver)

On June 18th, 2012 Soitec SA (Bernin, France) announced that the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has chosen one of its subsidiaries to receive a USD 25 million grant to support the development of a concentrating solar power (CPV) manufacturing facility in San Diego, California. The grant is offered through the DOE's SUNPATH program. In December 2011 Soitec acquired a 16,350 square meter manufacturing facility in San Diego, which it is currently converting to manufacture the fifth generation of its Concentrix CPV modules. Read more

Codelo, Solarpack complete 1 MW PV plant in Chile

Tuesday, 6.19.2012 - 9:49 (Solarserver)

The Corporación Nacional del Cobre de Chile (Codelco, Santiago, Chile) and Solarpack (Getxo, Spain) have completed a 1 MW solar photovoltaic (PV) plant in Northern Chile, the largest completed PV plant in the country. Chilean Energy Minister Jorge Bunster attended the ceremony to mark the completion of the Calama Solar 3 plant, which comprises 4,080 solar photovoltaic (PV) modules on a 6.25 hectare site. The plant supplies electricity to Codelco's copper mining operation in Chuquicamata, Chile. Read more

Turbine Tech Turn Up: Machines for an Evolving Market

Tuesday, 6.19.2012 - 15:00 (Renewable Energy World)

Presenting figures that show the global wind industry will install more than 46 GW of new wind energy capacity in 2012, the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) forecasts that by the end of 2016, total global wind power capacity will be just under 500 GW, with an annual market in that year of about 60 GW*. Read more

GaN Systems completes Series B financing round

Tuesday, 6.19.2012 - 21:03 (PV-Tech)

Six months after GaN Systems closed its Series A financing round, the company has advised that it has now closed its Series B financing round. Led by existing investors Chrysalix Energy Venture Capital and RockPort Capital, the company notes that the financing round is a marker for the achievement of its initial development milestones. Read more

Salamon Group, DayStar Technologies working with Samoan government for renewable energy

Tuesday, 6.19.2012 - 20:48 (PV-Tech)

The Salamon Group and DayStar Technologies are working under a contract with the Samoan government in order to bring renewable energy to the forefront in the island nation. Sunlogics Power, a division of Salamon Group, and DayStar?s Eco Energy Solutions along with the government and Electrical Power Corporation (EPC) have been working to get Samoa?s first private power generating license to start the companies mandate in the country. Read more

Lark Energy reaches 15MW milestone

Tuesday, 6.19.2012 - 17:27 (Solarpowerportal)

Adding to the recent influx of positive solar news Lark Energy has today announced that it has installed a total of 15MW of solar panels across the East of England and East Midlands in a combination of rooftop and solar farm projects. To date the company has installed approximately 65,000 photovoltaic panels which in total generate enough electricity to power 4,000 households. Read more

Japan to resume operations at Ohi nuclear power station

Tuesday, 6.19.2012 - 12:48 (PV-Tech)

Only last month it was reported that Japan had shut down operations at its last nuclear plant, leaving Japan without energy from atomic power for the first time for more than 40 years. Nevertheless, on June 16, the Japanese government approved plans to restart units 3 and 4 of the Ohi nuclear power station (NPS), western Japan, overseen by Kansai Electric Power Co. At the earliest, unit 3 will start power generation on July 4 and reach full power on July 8 and unit 4 will start power generation on July 20 and reach full power on July 24. Read more

26 EU member nations call for increased renewable energy commitments to 2030

Tuesday, 6.19.2012 - 12:30 (Solarserver)

On June 15th, 2012, ministers from 26 EU member nations backed a resolution calling for the European Commission (EC) to create an energy policy strategy framework to 2030, ahead of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) in Rio di Janeiro June 20th-22nd, 2012. Poland was the only nation to not support the proposal, which calls for a greater share or renewable energy in EU consumption to 2030. The EU's statistics office has also released data finding that renewable energy use rose to 12.4% of total energy consumption in 2010. Read more

CPS Energy inaugurates 19.8MW PV project in Texas

Tuesday, 6.19.2012 - 11:39 (PV-Tech)

The William R. Sinkin Centennial Solar Farms 1 and 2 have been inaugurated by a ceremonious ribbon cutting, it has been announced. CPS Energy?s president and CEO Doyle Beneby, along with San Antonio?s Mayor Julián Castro were present at the ceremony. The two projects, constructed by SunEdison, generate a total of 19.8MW and are equipped with 83,034 PV panels on a site of approximately 200 acres, owned by the San Antonio Water System (SAWS). CPS will purchase the energy through a 25-year PPA. Read more