Satcon Technology introduces PowerGate Plus H-Type smart inverter line

Thursday, 7.12.2012 - 20:15 (PV-Tech)

Satcon Technology debuted its PowerGate Plus H-Type product line, a new addition to the company?s utility-ready solution portfolio. The PowerGate Plus H-Type inverter was developed over the past year, specifically to address the demand from Hawaiian utilities for increased inverter control. Satcon noted that its smart inverters are now generally available in three power rating of 100kW, 135kW and 250kW with both standard and tropical environment package options. Read more

Kyocera installs 209kW PV system in the Marshall Islands

Thursday, 7.12.2012 - 18:15 (PV-Tech)

Kyocera has installed the largest PV system in Majuro, in the Marshall Islands, the company has announced. The 208.98kW PV installation has been installed at Majuro Hospital in collaboration with the Marubeni Corporation and Wakachiku Construction. Read more

Intersolar NA: Solexel introduces new ultra-thin solar cell

Thursday, 7.12.2012 - 12:15 (PV-Tech)

Solexel has launched its new silicon solar cell at Intersolar, the company has announced. Mehrdad Moleshi, Solexel?s president, introduced the disruptive ultra-thin PV cell, which is manufactured from trichlorosilane gas. Read more

SPARQ Systems releases smart grid-ready PV micro-inverter

Thursday, 7.12.2012 - 9:09 (Solarserver)

On July 10th, 2012, SPARQ Systems (Kingston, Ontario, Canada) announced that it has released its advanced smart grid-ready micro-inverter. The micro-inverter is auto-configurable to any jurisdiction and is compatible with both 50 Hz and 60 Hz power frequencies, the company states. Read more

Intersolar India highlights the potential of the rapidly growing Indian solar market, presents technical solutions

Thursday, 7.12.2012 - 22:44 (Solarserver)

India is one of the fastest growing solar markets worldwide. This development is driven by policies introduced by the Indian government which over the coming years wants to turn India into one of the most important ?solar states?. This is the environment in which the international solar industry is meeting for the fourth year running at India's largest exhibition and conference for the solar industry, Intersolar India, from November 6th ? 8th, 2012. Read more

Capital Dynamics raises US$282 million for US solar fund

Thursday, 7.12.2012 - 22:13 (PV-Tech)

Capital Dynamics, a Swiss asset manager, has raised US$282 million for its US solar project fund. Over 15 institutional investors, individuals and family offices in the US, UK, Australia, Germany, South Korea and Japan have contributed to the fund. Read more

City of Atwater, CA breaks ground on 1.1 MW PV plant; Project developed through Siemens Solar Power Purchase Agreement

Thursday, 7.12.2012 - 22:06 (Solarserver)

On July 11th, the city of Atwater, CA, U.S. - home to over 28,000 people - broke ground on a 1.1 megawatt (MW) solar photovoltaic (PV) power system adjacent to the city?s new wastewater treatment plant. To be owned and operated by Siemens Industry, Inc., the new solar PV array will enable the city of Atwater to purchase electricity under a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) at a fixed and discounted rate without any capital investment. Read more

Chimes International, Bithenergy and WGES activate new solar system in Baltimore

Thursday, 7.12.2012 - 22:00 (PV-Tech)

Chimes International was joined by state and local officials, as well as representatives from Gas Energy Services (WGES) and Bithenergy as it commemorated its new rooftop PV system at the Terry Allen Perl Centre. The 259kW system uses 1,079 panels and was made possible through a combined effort between Chimes, WGES and Bithenergy. Read more

CFV solar test laboratories awarded ISO-17025 accreditation

Thursday, 7.12.2012 - 21:30 (Solarserver)

On July 10th, 2012, CFV Solar Test Laboratory (CFV, Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S.) announced that its photovoltaic (PV) module testing facilities has received the highly coveted International Organization for Standardization's ISO/IEC17025 certification. CFV received their certification from the American Association for Laboratory Accreditation (A2LA), a nonprofit, non-governmental, public service membership society. Read more

1366 Technologies and SoloPower gear up in order to receive financing from US DOE

Thursday, 7.12.2012 - 21:15 (PV-Tech)

The US Energy Department?s (DOE) loan-guarantee is walking a fine line these days, which cannot make life any easier for 1366 Technologies and SoloPower as they prepare to receive funding from the same DOE guarantee that failed solar companies Solyndra and Abound Solar partook in. A report by Bloomberg noted that both 1366 Technologies and SoloPower qualified for guarantees last year and are currently working to meet milestone in order to gain access to the credit. Read more

REC Solar, IKEA team up for 1,189kW system on Tampa, Florida store

Thursday, 7.12.2012 - 20:15 (PV-Tech)

IKEA recently brought its 22nd solar project online at its Tampa, Florida store. Developed, designed and installed by REC Solar, the 1,189kW system uses 4,956 PV panels and is built across 148,800 square feet of the store?s rooftop space. The companies expect for the array to produce around 1,792,300kWh of electricity per year. Read more

Spanish-British collaboration leads to 5MW solar park in Cornwall

Thursday, 7.12.2012 - 15:35 (Solarpowerportal)

Spanish solar company, Solaer, has completed its first major project in the UK. Solaer worked together with its long-standing partner, Conergy, to complete the 5MW project, located in the village of Eastcott near Bude in Cornwall. Read more

Protecting Cleantech Software

Thursday, 7.12.2012 - 15:00 (Renewable Energy World)

Implementation and functionality of most new technology now depends on software. Software for renewable energy technology, often referred to as 'CleanTech', is no exception to this rule. For example, a consumer considering participation in a feed-in tariff (FiT) scheme will want to know if their property is in fact suitable for solar generation before committing time and money. Consumer software products have been developed to simulate location-specific suitability. One application, for example, allows users to locate their home on Google Maps, insert symbols representing the envisaged location of the panels and additional data such as the pitch of their roof and suspected Read more

First Annual Intersolar Award for solar projects honors groundbreaking solar thermal and PV installations in North America

Thursday, 7.12.2012 - 12:43 (Solarserver)

Intersolar North America, the premier solar industry exhibition and conference in North America for solar professionals to exchange information and develop business opportunities in the U.S. solar market, on July 11th, 2012 named the winners of the first annual Intersolar Award for solar projects in North America. The companies and their projects were honored during a special ceremony on the Intersolar North America exhibition floor on July 10th in San Francisco. This year's award winners are Enerworks Inc.?s Oxford Gardens Solar Project, Vanir Energy, LLC?s William G. White Jr., Family YMCA and ESA Renewables, LLC?s Martins Creek Elementary School Solar PV Project. Read more

Maryland Governor O'Malley, First Solar and FirstEnergy celebrated groundbreaking on state's largest solar PV Project

Thursday, 7.12.2012 - 12:35 (Solarserver)

Joined by local elected officials and representatives from First Solar (Tempe, Ariz., U.S.) and FirstEnergy (Akron, Ohio, U.S.) Governor Martin O'Malley today broke ground on a new, 160 acre solar farm project located on the grounds of the Maryland Correctional Institution (MCI) in Hagerstown. Once built, the Maryland Solar project will have a generation capacity of 20 megawatts (MW) - enough to power approximately 2,700 Maryland homes, displacing approximately 23,000 metric tons of CO2 annually - the equivalent of taking 4,400 cars off the road each year. Read more

Swiss asset manager Capital Dynamics successfully closes global USD 282 million Solar Energy Fund, focusing on commercial-scale PV projects in the U.S.

Thursday, 7.12.2012 - 12:25 (Solarserver)

Capital Dynamics (Zug, Switzerland), a global private asset manager, on July 10th, 2012 announced the successful final closing of its US Solar Energy Fund, an investment program targeting direct investment in solar energy projects across the United States. The final closing of Capital Dynamics? US Solar Energy Fund ends a successful fundraising with a total of USD 282 million in committed capital from over 15 global institutional clients from the U.S., U.K., Australia, Germany, Korea and Japan; plus high net worth individuals and family offices. Read more

Pike Research joins Navigant

Thursday, 7.12.2012 - 12:16 (Solarserver)

Pike Research LLC (Boulder, Colorado, U.S.) during Intersolar North America announced that it has joined Navigant, a specialized, global expert services firm with a highly respected Energy practice that includes more than 300 energy professionals. Navigant is headquartered in Chicago, IL, U.S., with more than 2,500 employees worldwide. Read more

SEIA and SEMI enter partnership to promote solar energy

Thursday, 7.12.2012 - 12:05 (PV-Tech)

Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI) and the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) have entered a partnership, it has been announced. The two associations intend to work together to expand the US solar market and to support their common members. SEIA and SEMI agreed to collaborate in events, communication, promotion activities and policy. Read more

SARH greens 180 Staffordshire homes with solar panel project

Thursday, 7.12.2012 - 11:39 (Solarpowerportal)

Staffordshire-based housing association, Stafford and Rural Homes (SARH), has announced an ambitious solar project that will see 180 of its bungalows receive solar arrays., Stafford and Rural Homes (SARH), has announced an ambitious solar project that will see 180 of its bungalows receive solar arrays. Read more

Solexel unstealths with 19.33% efficient ultra-thin c-Si PV cell

Thursday, 7.12.2012 - 9:29 (Solarserver)

On July 11th, 2012 at the Intersolar North America conference in San Francisco Solexel Inc. (Milpitas, California, U.S.) Founder, Executive Chairman and Chief Technology Officer Dr. Mehrdad Moslehi unveiled his company's thin crystalline silicon (c-Si) technology. Solexel produces crystalline silicon cells using an epitaxial growth technique on silicon substrates. The company reports that it has achieved 19.33% cell efficiency with internal measurements, and has plans to begin high-volume production in 2014. Read more

TrendForce: As PV market emphasizes on price-performance ratio, demand warms for standard solar products

Thursday, 7.12.2012 - 9:24 (Solarserver)

According to TrendForce (Taipei City, Taiwan) the solar photovoltaic (PV) market is making a transition from an emphasis on high efficiency to products with higher price-performance ratio. Solar cell and module makers indicate that clients are mainly showing demand for standard, as opposed to high-efficiency, products, resulting in a marked demand increase for multi-Si wafer products with 16.8-17% efficiency. Read more

CyboEnergy presents PV mini-inverter at Intersolar North America

Thursday, 7.12.2012 - 9:16 (Solarserver)

CyboEnergy (Rancho Cordova, California) displays its solar photovoltaic (PV) mini-inverter, dubbed CyboInverter, at Intersolar North America in San Francisco, Calif. CyboInverter is a patent-pending grid-interactive mini-inverter with a low per watt price like a central inverter, but all the features and benefits of a micro-inverter, CyboEnergy emphasizes in a press release. Read more

Major solar energy research institutes from Germany, Japan and the U.S. signed MOU at ISNA

Thursday, 7.12.2012 - 9:13 (Solarserver)

As part of the opening session of Intersolar North America in San Francisco U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE)?s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) Director Dan Arvizu signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Germany?s Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems; and Japan?s Research Center for Photovoltaic Technologies, a research unit of the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology. Read more

Offshore Wind Farms in US Waters Would Generate Both US and Foreign Maritime Jobs

Thursday, 7.12.2012 - 12:09 (Renewable Energy World)

With no offshore wind energy farms yet built off U.S. coastlines, various states over the last few years have proposed offshore wind energy legislation as a future investment in renewable energy as well as a vehicle for American job creation. The immediate future of U.S. offshore wind farms may depend on whether Congress renews certain tax credit and federal loan guarantee programs. In the event that offshore wind farms move forward, it is likely that both U.S. maritime and foreign maritime workers will be involved in construction and maintenance. Read more

Wind Turbines Waste Much Less Energy than Fossil Fuels

Thursday, 7.12.2012 - 10:27 (Renewable Energy World)

Wind energy opponents who say that producing electricity using the power of the wind is not efficient would do well to take a look at a new graphic published on the Guardian?s data blog using UK Government data. ?Up in smoke: how energy efficient is electricity produced in the UK?? shows that thermal sources of electricity ? gas, coal, nuclear, was Read more

SunSi Energies increases TPE equity state to nearly 45%

Thursday, 7.12.2012 - 20:15 (PV-Tech)

Earlier this year, SunSi Energies advised that it had signed a binding letter of intent to acquire a 51% controlling interest in TransPacific Energy. Today, the company revealed that it has increased its equity stake in TPE to nearly 45% and plans to gain the additional equity necessary to reach 51% by the end of the month. Read more

Spanish government ?discriminates? against renewables

Thursday, 7.12.2012 - 20:14 (PV-Tech)

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy Brey has come to blows with a group of 11 international infrastructure funds, including those managed by HSBC and Deutsche Bank. The prime minister has pledged to Parliament to tax utilities in an attempt to raise sorely needed cash from renewable energy to curb ?25 billion of debt. The financial institutions are threatening cutting investment and taking legal action if reforms are tougher on renewables than traditional energy sources, throwing further companies into bankruptcy. Read more

IDB Approves $250M for Electricity Sector in Costa Rica

Thursday, 7.12.2012 - 17:07 (Renewable Energy World)

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) announced it had approved $250 million in financing for Costa Rica's electricity sector. Nearly $98 million will go to the Reventazón Hydroelectric Project, and the remainder will go toward investments in improving state power company ICE's electricity generation, transmission, and distribution capacities. IDB aims to improve the quality of energy and improve coverage in rural areas, according to press. Read more

Crowdsourcing, Limited Partnerships and Other Tools for Financing our Clean-Energy Future

Thursday, 7.12.2012 - 16:55 (Renewable Energy World)

At Clean Edge, we spend a great deal of time looking at innovative policy, business, and financing models that can support the broad and steady growth of solar, wind, energy efficiency, green buildings, and other clean-tech sectors. And in many ways, we believe it's no longer really an issue of technology development. Costs continue to come down across the clean-tech value chain while the industry, along with the products it offers, expands and matures. Read more