New small business fund from US DOE to award US small businesses with US$102M in grant money

Friday, 6.29.2012 - 21:15 (PV-Tech)

Steven Chu, US Energy Secretary, advised that the Department of Energy (DOE) would be providing funding to 104 small businesses across the nation in grants that total more than US$102 million. The companies were chosen since they proved to have promising technologies with a strong potential for commercialization and job creation. Read more

Microgrids 2.0: New Technologies Require a Second Look at an Old Concept

Friday, 6.29.2012 - 17:31 (Renewable Energy World)

Talk about the importance of microgrids has reached a fever pitch in recent years. Many have discussed the need for industrial campuses, military bases, universities, and many other critical loads to operate when isolated from the utility grid ? or, in other words, as a microgrid. Is this some fancy new smart grid concept? Hardly. A microgrid is es Read more

IKEA commissions 1 MW PV plant in Florida as 18th completed PV array

Friday, 6.29.2012 - 17:01 (Solarserver)

On June 27th, 2012, home furnishings retailer IKEA announced that it has officially plugged-in the solar photovoltaic (PV) system installed at its store in Orlando, Florida, U.S. The 120,900-square-foot photovoltaic (PV) array, a 967 kilowatt (kWp) system, consists of 4,115 panels. Read more

Schletter to open new service center in Connecticut

Friday, 6.29.2012 - 16:49 (Solarserver)

On June 27th, 2012, Schletter Inc. (Tucson, AZ, U.S.), manufacturer of solar photovoltaic (PV) mounting systems, announced that it plans to open a customer service facility in Hartford, Connecticut, U.S. The new location will house technical sales personnel, a full showroom and training facility, and will stock commonly used solar mounting components for distribution, the company states. Read more

Emerson to supply inverters for 70 MW of California PV plants

Friday, 6.29.2012 - 16:34 (Solarserver)

On June 28th, 2012 Emerson Electric Company (St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.) announced that it will supply a subsidiary of Quanta Services Inc. (Houston, Texas, U.S.) with inverters for two solar photovoltaic (PV) plants in California totaling 70 megawatt (MW). The 50 MW and 20 MW plants are located 96 km southeast of Fresno, California. Quanta expects to complete the first PV plant by the end of the year and the second plant in October 2012. Read more

TrendForce: High-efficiency multi-crystalline wafers a threat to p-type mono-crystalline wafer market

Friday, 6.29.2012 - 13:06 (Solarserver)

TrendForce (Taipei City, Taiwan) has released a new analysis which finds that while demand is recovering for solar photovoltaic (PV) products in the second half of 2012, prices have yet to strongly rebound. TrendForce has also found that the price to performance ratio for high-performance multi-crystalline silicon wafers has surpassed that of traditional p-type mono-crystalline silicon wafers. Read more

CASE accuses CASM of ?fear-mongering? over Chinese countervailing duties

Friday, 6.29.2012 - 11:15 (PV-Tech)

The Department of Commerce issued a post-initial analysis memorandum in the countervailing duty (CVD) investigation of solar cells from China on June 25. The memorandum identified several additional subsidy programs that were preliminarily deemed to be countervailable. However, no additional estimated countervailing duties, i.e., ?cash deposits?, will be collected at the border based on this analysis. Read more

SMA to showcase new utility-scale, micro PV inverters at ISNA

Friday, 6.29.2012 - 1:36 (Solarserver)

On June 26th, 2012, SMA America LLC (Rocklin, Calif., U.S.) announced that it will show various residential, off-grid and utility-scale solutions at this year's Intersolar North America (ISNA) conference, which will be held from July 9th, 2012, through July 12th, 2012, in San Francisco, California. SMA will also sponsor two events during the conference and participate in a panel discussion. Read more

Motech inverters certified for UK PV market

Friday, 6.29.2012 - 1:26 (Solarserver)

On June 26th, 2012, Motech Industries Inc. (Taipei, Taiwan) announced that it has obtained the certificate of compliance with the Engineering Recommendation (ER) G59/2 for its photovoltaic (PV) inverters for the United Kingdom solar market. Read more

Edwards announces new range of load-lock vacuum pumps for flat panel display and solar photovoltaic manufacturing

Friday, 6.29.2012 - 1:22 (Solarserver)

On June 26th, 2012, Edwards (Crawley, England, U.K.), a manufacturer of vacuum products and abatement systems, announced that it has introduced the new iXL250Q and iXL750Q dry pumps. The new pumps, with the addition of the already-existing iXL500Q pump, cover the entire range of pump down requirements encountered in the flat panel display (FPD) and solar manufacturing market sector, from the smaller load-locks at Generation 4 right up to the largest at Generation 8 or 10, the company states. Read more

Georgia Power, SD&D partner for development of 19MW of solar projects throughout the state

Friday, 6.29.2012 - 21:46 (PV-Tech)

Georgia Power and Solar Design & Development (SD&D) have announced a partnership that will see the two companies? develop and install solar projects throughout Georgia totaling 19MW. This represents Georgia Power?s first retail utility-scale solar power development and, upon completion, is anticipated to more than double the state?s solar production. Read more

TGC Renewables to develop 8MW solar park in the UK

Friday, 6.29.2012 - 19:49 (PV-Tech)

TGC Renewables has received planning approval for its 8MW solar park, which will be built on a farm site near South Brent in South Devon, UK. Solar Power Portal notes that the project will receive support from the Renewable Obligation Certificate (ROC) and will be installed over five interconnected fields. The solar project will generate electricity using over 27,000 PV panels. Read more

Two Closures Illustrate the Need to Chart a New Course for Solar

Friday, 6.29.2012 - 18:56 (Renewable Energy World)

Thursday's back-to-back closure announcements came out of Colorado and Germany. The reverberations, though, will be felt heavily in places like Albuquerque, N.M., and Tipton, Ind. That's where hundreds of manufacturing jobs will be lost, and where hundreds more will never be made. Read more

Sky Solar to invest US$900 million into Chilean market

Friday, 6.29.2012 - 18:06 (PV-Tech)

Sky Solar will be used as a vehicle to help form a strategic partnership for bilateral free trade between China and Chile. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and his entourage attended a banquet hosted by President of Chile Sebastian Pinera in the capital, Santiago. CEO Amy Zhang attended on behalf of Sky Solar. Read more

Verengo Solar expands call center operations to Phoenix, announces creation of 100 new jobs

Friday, 6.29.2012 - 16:30 (Solarserver)

On June 27th, 2012, Verengo Solar (Torrance, California, U.S.) announced that it has moved its call center operation from Mesa to Phoenix, citing a need for more space. "The move is both strategic and economic, considering our current aggressive hiring rate," stated Dave Schotz, vice president (VP) call center operations for Verengo. Read more

Solarcentury joins forces with ProxEnergy to expand into Benelux

Friday, 6.29.2012 - 16:15 (PV-Tech)

A month after the appointment of Frans Van den Heuvel as Solarcentury?s CEO, the company has announced its expansion into Benelux through a partnership with Van den Heuvel?s former company ProxEnergy. Read more

Technology veteran Georges Antoun named as First Solar COO

Friday, 6.29.2012 - 16:15 (PV-Tech)

First Solar has named Georges Antoun, former Ericsson and Cisco executive, as COO for the CdTe thin-film manufacturer and project developer. In this role, which has not existed in the company since George ?Chip? Hambro?s occupation of the role in 2007, Antoun will be responsible for manufacturing, R&D, quality and product management. Read more

Intersolar EU: Kaco partners with Panasonic for energy storage and management system

Friday, 6.29.2012 - 16:15 (PV-Tech)

With shipping due to commence in autumn 2012, Kaco New Energy used Intersolar Europe a fortnight ago as a platform to launch its new energy storage and management system, Powador-gridsave. Read more

NRG-backed Sunora: A Different Kind of Solar Construction Firm?

Friday, 6.29.2012 - 15:35 (Renewable Energy World)

Can pre-assembling solar panels with racking systems inside a factory rather than at the job site make a big difference in reducing the cost of a solar power project? Sunora Energy Solutions, a joint venture between NRG Energy and GCL-Poly Energy thinks so, and the company just opened a factory it believes will help to set itself apart from other solar power plant builders. Read more

Solar shakeout: Schott Solar announces surprise exit from c-Si manufacturing

Friday, 6.29.2012 - 13:59 (PV-Tech)

Continuing market constraints and unattainable cost bases have conspired to force Schott Solar?s management to withdraw from c-Si PV manufacturing completely. Although the company?s thin-film and CSP activities are unaffected by this news, this exit from the c-Si sector will affect around 870 employees as well as its Mainz and Alzenau plants in Germany, Valasske Mezirici in the Czech Republic and Albuquerque in New Mexico. Read more

Advanced Solar Photonics launches custom PV manufacturing division

Friday, 6.29.2012 - 12:59 (Solarserver)

Advanced Solar Photonics (ASP, Lake Mary, Florida, U.S.) has announced the launch of a custom solar photovoltaic (PV) manufacturing division for large-scale PV projects. The company states that this new division will meet a growing need for flexible forms of manufacturing PV modules and ground-mount systems, especially for building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) products. Read more

U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission requires changes to allow integration of more wind, solar

Friday, 6.29.2012 - 12:57 (Solarserver)

The U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has issued a final ruling which it says will promote more efficient operation of the nation's electricity transmission system with increasing integration of wind and solar resources. The FERC ruling will require grid operators to offer the option of scheduling transmission service at 15-minute intervals, as well as requiring wind and solar generators to provide transmission owners with meterological and operational data to support power production forecasting. The rule will take effect 12 months after official government publication. Read more

TGC Renewables secures planning for 8MW park

Friday, 6.29.2012 - 12:23 (Solarpowerportal)

Renewable energy project developer TGC Renewables has secured planning approval for an 8MW solar park to be built in the southwest. Read more

First Solar celebrates installation of the first of 3.8 million modules at AV Solar Ranch One

Friday, 6.29.2012 - 12:15 (PV-Tech)

Having resumed installation at First Solar?s Antelope Valley Solar Ranch One, the company is celebrating the installation of the first of 3.8 million solar modules at the 230MW plant in Los Angeles County. Representatives from the county?s departments of Public Works and Regional Planning joined First Solar senior management and project workers in installing the 2ft by 4ft thin-film PV module, marking the start of module installation, approved on June 21, 2012. Read more

K Road Wants to Modify Calico Solar Project -- Again

Friday, 6.29.2012 - 10:43 (Renewable Energy World)

More than a year after buying a mega, yet-to-be-built project called Calico Solar and asking for regulatory approval to change the scope of the project, K Road Power filed a petition this week to modify the project again. This time, the company doesn't want to use stirling engines and plans to shrink the project's footprint in California's Mojave Desert to minimize its environmental impact. Read more

Concentrating solar power: Abengoa commissions 50 MW plant in Spain

Friday, 6.29.2012 - 8:54 (Solarserver)

Abengoa SA (Seville, Spain) has commissioned the first of two 50 MW concentrating solar power (CSP) plants in the province of Castilla-La Mancha, Spain. The Helios 1 plant PV plant features 360 parabolic trough collectors covering 110 hectares. Spain froze feed-in tariffs for both solar photovoltaic (PV) and CSP generation in January 2012, and thus the plant will not participate in the program. Read more

Abound Solar to file for bankruptcy

Friday, 6.29.2012 - 8:25 (Solarserver)

On June 28th, 2012 Abound Solar (Loveland, Colorado, U.S.) announced that it will file for bankruptcy in the U.S. state of Delaware during the following week, as well as suspending operations and laying off 125 employees. Abound states that it has been in discussions with potential buyers over the last several months, but was unable to come to an agreement on terms with any of these buyers. Earlier in 2012, Abound quit production of its first generation thin film cadmium telluride solar photovoltaic (PV) modules, while working to scale up manufacturing for a 12.5% efficient PV module. Read more

SENER to supply technology for 50 MW CSP plant in South Africa

Friday, 6.29.2012 - 8:17 (Solarserver)

SENER Ingenieria y Sistemas SA (Getxo, Spain) has announced that it will supply its SENERtrough parabolic trough technology for a 50 MW concentrating solar power (CSP) plant to be built in South Africa's Northern Cape region. The plant will also feature nine hours of molten salt thermal storage. SENER will join Acciona SA (Alcobendas, Spain), Crowie (South Africa) and TSK (Gijón, Spain) in a consortium to provide engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning services for the Bokpoort CSP plant. SENER estimates that it will take 30 months to build and commission the plant, at a cost of roughly EUR 300 million (USD 373 million). Read more

New York State Encouraging Big Renewables

Friday, 6.29.2012 - 19:50 (Renewable Energy World)

In the future, the state of New York won?t be known only for its world-famous city and picturesque northern landscape, rather it may soon also be known for its renewable energy projects. Two interesting developments this week should start to attract developers of larger solar and wind power projects to various regions in the state.  In April, Gov. Read more

Driving Electric Powered by Solar and Geothermal

Friday, 6.29.2012 - 15:00 (Renewable Energy World)

The new generation of electric vehicles (EVs) have recently been rolling out here in Minnesota. We caught up with early adopter Stuart Rauvola of Stillwater, MN to learn more about his experiences. Joel Haskard: What initially got you interested in owning an electric vehicle? Stuart Rauvola: I received an email from Nissan over two years ago asking Read more

Sparx Group to commence renewable energy fund with initial capital of US$19 million

Friday, 6.29.2012 - 21:15 (PV-Tech)

A report from Bloomberg has confirmed that Japanese asset manager Sparx Group has won a contract from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government to start a fund that will invest in Japan?s renewable energy industry. According to CEO Shuhei Abe, the fund will initially have a capital of US$19 million (1.5 billion yen), expected to be provided by the government as early as October, and will eventually expand to around US$250 million (US$20 billion yen). Read more

Order Focus: Clenergy cinches 40MW project in China

Friday, 6.29.2012 - 20:15 (PV-Tech)

Clenergy will be providing its PV-ezRack SolarTerrace I-B ground mounting system for a 40MW solar power station being developed in Jiayuguan, China by one of the country?s leading utility company?s and a well-known, but unnamed Chinese PV panel manufacturer. Clenergy?s PV-ezRack is the company?s newest product. It features beam and support components, which are standardized and fasteners of the same specification. Read more

Energy Efficiency Without Trying (and With)

Friday, 6.29.2012 - 18:24 (Renewable Energy World)

John Lennon wrote that life is what happens to you while you?re busy making other plans.  Apparently, the same is true of energy efficiency. Energy savings happen when we?re busy doing other things ? Internet-based things specifically. We use email, bank online and download music not to save energy, but to make life easier and more interesting.  En Read more

Japan Renewable Energy Investments May Double as Incentives Start

Friday, 6.29.2012 - 17:45 (Renewable Energy World)

Renewable energy investments in Japan may double as companies from mobile phone provider Softbank Corp. to battery maker GS Yuasa Corp. take advantage of government payment incentives beginning July 1. Read more

UK generates record amount of renewable energy in Q1?12

Friday, 6.29.2012 - 16:37 (Solarpowerportal)

According to Government?s latest Energy Trends and Quarterly Energy Prices report the UK generated a record amount of renewable energy during the first quarter of 2012. More than 11 percent of the country?s electricity generation was attributed to output from solar, wind and renewable heat sources during this period. Read more

Libra Energy increases UK product portfolio

Friday, 6.29.2012 - 15:40 (Solarpowerportal)

Astronergy has signed a distribution deal with Libra Energy B.V. in a bid to increase its product portfolio in European markets. Under the terms of the agreement, Libra will sell Astronergy?s range of PV modules in the UK, Benelux and Greece. Read more

LCPV producer Banyan Energy appoints Rusty Schmit CEO

Friday, 6.29.2012 - 1:30 (Solarserver)

Banyan Energy, Inc., (Berkeley, CA, U.S.) innovator of low concentration photovoltaic (LCPV) systems, on June 27th, 2012 announced the appointment of Rusty Schmit to the role of Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Schmit, a longtime champion of the solar industry, brings over 30 years of solar expertise to the Banyan Energy team. Read more