Fraunhofer CSP confirms that Q-Cells modules provide unending PID protection

Friday, 6.8.2012 - 19:02 (PV-Tech)

Q-Cells has claimed that as part of a cross-sectional study with the Fraunhofer Centre for Silicon PV(CSP) in Halle, Germany, its solar modules reliably prevent the risk of solar module output loss due to potential induced degradation (PID), keeping their full output. Read more

Sarah Kurtz, NREL physicist, wins 2012 Cherry Award

Friday, 6.8.2012 - 18:20 (PV-Tech)

The Cherry Award was presented this past week to Sarah Kurtz, a physicist from the US Department of Energy?s (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Awarded to Kurtz at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) conference, the award recognized her leadership in launching super-efficient multi-junction solar cells. Read more

Suntech PV modules power 571 kW PV array at Asian Development Bank HQ in Manila

Friday, 6.8.2012 - 17:43 (Solarserver)

On June 6th, 2012, Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd. (Wuxi, China) announced that it has completed a 571 kilowatt (kW) rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) plant on the Asian Development Bank's (ADB) headquarters in Manila, Philippines. Suntech teamed up with Propmech Corp., an engineering, procurement and construction (EPS) firm, to install the PV array, which is equipped with high-quality solar modules from Suntech. Read more

MENA to save USD 300 million to 1 billion with Smart Grid

Friday, 6.8.2012 - 17:36 (Solarserver)

Northeast Group LLC (Washington, D.C., U.S) has a released a new study on smart grid development in the Middle East & North Africa (MENA) region. According to the study, the MENA region is in the early stages of its smart grid development but stands to realize strong benefits, including minimum savings of USD 300 million to USD 1 billion per year for Gulf countries. Read more

KYOCERA grows ?Green Curtains? of foliage to help meet new energy reduction targets in Japan

Friday, 6.8.2012 - 17:24 (Solarserver)

As part of its long-standing environmental protection activities, the Kyocera Group (Kyoto, Japan) is planting ?Green Curtains? across Japan to help meet regional energy reduction targets following the shutdown of all nuclear reactors after the March 2011 earthquake, the company reports in a press release. Read more

Order Focus: Solon to ship 7.5MW of modules to supply Greek plants

Friday, 6.8.2012 - 16:52 (PV-Tech)

Arxikon, the Greece-based project developer, has requested a shipment of 7.5MW of Solon?s PV modules for installation in various solar projects in the northern Greek cities of Kavala, Xanthi, Kastoria and Drama. The order will see around 30,000 of Solon?s Black 220/16 and 230/07 modules supplied for the projects that are scheduled for grid connection in July and August. Read more

TrendForce notes rise in Taiwanese wafer and cell prices as orders increase

Friday, 6.8.2012 - 9:11 (Solarserver)

On June 6th, 2012 TrendForce Corporation (Taipei City, Taiwan) released a new analysis which finds that prices for Chinese solar photovoltaic (PV) wafers and cells continue to fall, while prices of Taiwanese wafers and cells increase. The company states that Chinese silicon wafer manufacturers have already quoted prices below USD 1.05 per piece, but that such prices are limited to domestic orders. TrendForce also states that some wafer suppliers are using low pricing strategies to get rid of competitors sooner, while others are reducing prices to secure cash, but that Chinese manufacturers have yet to sharply reduce prices. Read more

Zhongli Talesun to develop 900 MW of PV in Qinghai Province, China

Friday, 6.8.2012 - 9:05 (Solarserver)

Zhongli Talesun has announced that it has signed an agreement with the government of China's Qinghai Province to develop 150 MW of solar photovoltaic (PV) plants every year for six years. The implementation of these sub-projects will require annual approval by Qinghai's Development and Reform Commission. The individual project stages will also be subject to ongoing modifications to local feed-in tariffs. Read more

Advanced Energy commissions new inverter at solar project in New Jersey

Friday, 6.8.2012 - 18:33 (PV-Tech)

Advanced Energy Industries? new AE 500 inverter has been commissioned at one of 13 projects at Toms River Regional School District in Ocean County, New Jersey. The projects, totallingMW, are being developed by American Clean Energy (ACE). The AE 500 transformer-based central inverter is said to increase energy harvest and quicken payback with a 97% weighted CEC efficiency rating, wide DC operating range, fast convergence MPPT and full power production at 55°C. Read more

IBM partners with CUNY to study, establish solar adoption in New York City

Friday, 6.8.2012 - 18:08 (PV-Tech)

IBM and CUNY Ventures, a City University of New York (CUNY) Economic Development unit, have partnered under the Smart NY program in order to encourage the adoption of solar. The program aims to develop the ability to analyse and understand key solar market indicators that make solar systems more cost competitive by using IBM?s Intelligent Operation Centre (IOC) for Smarter Cities. Read more

Interstate Renewable Energy Council unveils new educational resources for solar training

Friday, 6.8.2012 - 17:20 (Solarserver)

The Interstate Renewable Energy Council Inc. (IREC, Latham, New York, U.S.) has introduced the ?Best Practices Documents?, a compendium of national curriculum models of solar training, education and workforce development curriculum. The new educational resources will help instructors enhance the quality of their existing solar education and training programs. The documents give solar instructors the right tools for the job of training a highly-skilled, globally-competitive solar energy workforce for the 21st Century. Read more

Latest solar installation figures: finally some good news?

Friday, 6.8.2012 - 16:16 (Solarpowerportal)

The latest solar installation figures appear to show that the UK solar market is finally stabilising. After weeks of concern surrounding a significant dip in demand the numbers released today by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) seem to show that the market may be starting to get back on track. Read more

5000 Followers and 16,500 Tweets Later, 9 Solar Marketing Lessons from Twitter

Friday, 6.8.2012 - 15:00 (Renewable Energy World)

Last weekend, I passed the 5,000 Twitter follower mark on Twitter. While that 5,000 number has never been a goal, it?s a great mile marker to look back and reflect on what I?ve learned about Twitter and solar marketing, and why over 5,000 people would ever waste their time following me. The short answer is that I worked hard to ensure that it wasn? Read more

Why the Tariffs on Chinese Solar Panels are Bad for American Business

Friday, 6.8.2012 - 15:00 (Renewable Energy World)

Two weeks ago, the U.S. Department of Commerce sent a clear message to the American renewable energy community: ?We don?t support you.? By levying tariffs ranging from 30-250 percent on all solar panels imported from China, the ruling will constrict the growth of renewable energy here in America; driving up the prices for installers, their customer Read more

5,000 Followers and 16,500 Tweets Later, 9 Solar Marketing Lessons from Twitter

Friday, 6.8.2012 - 15:00 (Renewable Energy World)

Last weekend, I passed the 5,000 follower mark on Twitter. While that 5,000 number has never been a goal, it?s a great mile marker to look back and reflect on what I?ve learned about Twitter and solar marketing, and why over 5,000 people would ever waste their time following me. The short answer is that I worked hard to ensure that it wasn?t a wast Read more

Conergy wins bid to construct 2.2MW of solar parks in Germany

Friday, 6.8.2012 - 13:02 (PV-Tech)

As victor in the recent bidding for the contractor role, Conergy will again team up with Stadtwerke Trier to construct Mehring IV, a 2.2MW project to be based in the greater Trier region of Germany. The 2.2MW will consist of one 1.2MW plant beside federal motorway A1 and another 1MW plant located on former military terrain between Trier and Bitburg. Read more

Black & Veatch: U.S. utilities beginning to embrace renewables

Friday, 6.8.2012 - 12:23 (Solarserver)

On June 4th, 2012 Black & Veatch (Overland Park, Kansas, U.S.) announced a new edition of its annual utility report which finds that the U.S. electric utility industry is changing the way in which it operates, with utility leaders beginning to embrace renewable energy growth. In "Strategic Directions in the U.S. Electric Utility Industry Report", Black & Veatch notes that more than 40% of utility leaders which responded to its survey have begun to modify service models to account for distributed generation, including rooftop solar plants. The report also finds that regulatory concerns remain the prime motivator of utility leaders when making investment decisions. Read more

Canadian Solar, Horizon to build rooftop PV plants in Ontario

Friday, 6.8.2012 - 12:17 (Solarserver)

On June 7th, 2012 Canadian Solar Inc. (Kitchener, Canada) announced that a subsidiary and Horizon Energy Solutions Inc. (Hamilton, Canada) have entered into an agreement to build commercial rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) plants in Ontario, Canada. Canadian Solar Solutions Inc. (Guelph, Canada) expects to begin construction on the first plants through this agreement in July 2012. The plants will participate in Ontario's feed-in tariff program. Read more

Global Solar Energy invites bids for company takeover

Friday, 6.8.2012 - 11:40 (PV-Tech)

Flexible CIGS module manufacturer Global Solar Energy has initiated the steps to bring the company towards a takeover by investors. The company has enlisted the services of FTI Capital Advisors to investigate new investor participation that could see the partial or complete takeover of the company. Read more

Canadian Solar and Horizon Energy enter EPC agreement despite Ontario FiT cuts

Friday, 6.8.2012 - 11:19 (PV-Tech)

Solar manufacturer Canadian Solar has announced that its subsidiary, Canadian Solar Solutions and Horizon Energy Solutions has entered into an engineering, procurement and construction agreement. The group has proposed the construction of commercial rooftop solar facilities. The initial projects under this agreement are expected to commence by July 2012 under Ontario?s feed-in-tariff program. Read more

SolarEdge to offer "smart" modules at Intersolar Europe

Friday, 6.8.2012 - 8:57 (Solarserver)

SolarEdge Technologies Ltd. (Hod Hasharon, Israel) has announced that it will offer "smart" solar photovoltaic (PV) modules in cooperation with industry-leading module manufacturers at the Intersolar Europe trade show in Munich, June 13th-15th, 2012. These modules will include embedded SolarEdge PV monitoring electronics and power optimization, including its IndOP technology. SolarEdge will showcase PV modules from JA Solar, Yingli Green Energy, LDK Solar, Upsolar, Phono Solar and Tianwei New Energy at the trade show. Read more

Perception vs Reality: The Eight Most Common Biofuels Myths

Friday, 6.8.2012 - 17:08 (Renewable Energy World)

The EU and the United States are preparing for what appears to be an extended debate on the merits and structure of biofuels mandates. Especially in the US, where the Renewable Fuel Standard is coming under blistering attack from the coalition of oil, food and environmental groups that successfully sold the myth of "food vs fuel". Read more

China Sunergy promotes QSAR modules in Thailand

Friday, 6.8.2012 - 18:45 (PV-Tech)

Coinciding with this year?s International Exhibition of Environmental Protection and Pollution Control Technology event, China Sunergy took the opportunity to promote its high-efficiency QSAR modules in Bangkok, Thailand. The company?s event introduced the QSAR modules to Thailand Provincial Electric Authority officials, local banks, customers and investors, such as Bangchak Petroleum Public, Ratchaburi Electricity Generating Holding Public and IRPC Public. Read more

Environmental Entrepreneurs releases new clean energy jobs report for the U.S.

Friday, 6.8.2012 - 17:40 (Solarserver)

Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2), a national community of individual business leaders advocating for good environmental policy while building economic prosperity, has released a new report on clean energy jobs in U.S. E2 reported 137 clean energy job announcements that could create 46,000 jobs in 42 states. Read more

Advanced Energy completes USD 75 million share repurchase program

Friday, 6.8.2012 - 17:15 (Solarserver)

On June 5th, 2012, Advanced Energy Industries Inc. (Fort Collins, Colorado, U.S.) announced that it has completed its USD 75 million share repurchase program. Under the program, the company purchased 6.4 million shares at an average price of USD 11.72 per share. The program was initiated in November 2011. Read more

Standing Firm on Clean Energy in the Political 'Silly Season'

Friday, 6.8.2012 - 15:59 (Renewable Energy World)

To those of us in the industry, clean-tech deployment in the U.S. is still a long way from what it could or should be. But as was seen in last week's release of Clean Edge's 2012 State Clean Energy Index, there are plenty of signs of positive momentum, especially in light of how far the industry has come from a nascent, specialized niche a decade ago. Consider the following findings from the Index, our third annual ranking of all 50 states in clean-energy leadership in technology, policy, and capital: Read more

Billion-dollar Corporations Prioritize Energy Mix Strategy

Friday, 6.8.2012 - 15:00 (Renewable Energy World)

The largest global corporations are meeting the transition to a low-carbon and resource-efficient economy with proactive energy strategies involving the C-suite level. Read more

Sunovia Energy Technologies? plans to rebrand with appointment of marketing director

Friday, 6.8.2012 - 12:47 (PV-Tech)

With a new marketing communications, public relations and advertising expert, it could be assumed that Sarasota-based Sunovia Energy Technologies could be taking steps to rebrand itself. Jon Di Gesu has been appointed head of marketing and will direct the company?s branding and positioning efforts to support its growing global sales force and customer base. Read more

Sunovia Energy Technologies plans to rebrand with appointment of marketing director

Friday, 6.8.2012 - 12:47 (PV-Tech)

With a new marketing communications, public relations and advertising expert, it could be assumed that Sarasota-based Sunovia Energy Technologies could be taking steps to rebrand itself. Jon Di Gesu has been appointed head of marketing and will direct the company?s branding and positioning efforts to support its growing global sales force and customer base. Read more