Ofgem confirms Novermber FiT rates

Friday, 8.31.2012 - 17:00 (Solarpowerportal)

Ofgem has confirmed the feed-in tariff rates for solar photovoltaic technology from November 1, 2012 to January 31, 2013 Read more

Suntech sales increase 15% to US$471 million but makes big revision to full-year guidance

Friday, 8.31.2012 - 16:15 (PV-Tech)

Due to the ongoing saga over its claims of fraud regarding its involvement in GSF, Suntech Power Holding released only preliminary financial results for the second quarter of 2012. The company said that PV product shipments surpassed previous guidance of a 20% increase to approximately a 33% improvement over the prior quarter. Revenue was reported to be US$471 million, up 15%, while the company posted a negative gross margin of 10%, primarily due to a -cash inventory provision of US$76 million. Read more

Dow unveils new encapsulant technologies for PV panels

Friday, 8.31.2012 - 9:30 (Solarserver)

On August 29th, 2012, Dow Chemical Co. (Midland, Michigan) announced that it has introduced new polyolefin-based technologies including ENLIGHTTM Polyolefin Back Encapsulant Composite Films and ENLIGHT Polyolefin Encapsulant Films. ENLIGHTTM films use patent-pending technology to create a single structure that provides "2-in-1" functionality, serving as both the back encapsulant and backsheet for solar photovoltaic (PV) panels. Read more

PV System Values: Solar Energy Needs Electrical Storage Now

Friday, 8.31.2012 - 18:50 (Renewable Energy World)

Dramatic cost reduction in photovoltaics (PV), combined with lower electrical storage costs from batteries for the automotive industry, are creating new business opportunities for grid-tied PV systems that include energy storage. This article addresses the technical and economical justification for electrical storage with PV and what it means for the PV industry. Read more

Rural Island Power: Solar Computer Lab and Long-distance WiFi Installed at Remote School

Friday, 8.31.2012 - 18:00 (Renewable Energy World)

An innovative, solar-powered turnkey Computer-Lab-in-a-Box and a long-distance, solar-powered wireless internet connection were set up at a primary school on the island of Udot within Chuuk, one of the Federated States of Micronesia, in early August 2012. The system was installed by members of the Pacific Island Schools Connectivity, Education, and Read more

Tata BP Solar India renamed Tata Power Solar Systems as new CEO joins

Friday, 8.31.2012 - 16:15 (PV-Tech)

India?s third largest PV module manufacturer Tata BP Solar India has been rebranded as Tata Power Solar Systems Limiter and has become a wholly-owned subsidiary of its parent company Tata Power. Read more

First Solar Ahead of Schedule at Agua Caliente, Halts Deliveries, Installation

Friday, 8.31.2012 - 15:15 (Renewable Energy World)

First Solar Inc., the biggest U.S. solar manufacturer, halted panel deliveries to the world's largest photovoltaic power plant, which it's building in Arizona, because construction is ahead of schedule and the company must slow down to meet contractual milestones. Read more

Italian Solar Generation Surpasses Wind for First Time

Friday, 8.31.2012 - 15:00 (Renewable Energy World)

As Italian solar photovoltaic (solar PV) development continues its furious pace, data has emerged that solar out produced the country's wind turbines in 2011. Read more

BYD enters Brazilian market with 21kW rooftop installation

Friday, 8.31.2012 - 14:13 (PV-Tech)

China-based BYD has connected its first rooftop solar project in Brazil. The PV system has been installed on the rooftop of the Brazilian Concessionária Ecorodovias highway toll station and has a capacity of 21kW. Read more

Dunkermotoren develops tracking motors for CSP plants

Friday, 8.31.2012 - 14:07 (Solarserver)

On August 29th, 2012, Dunkermotoren USA Inc. (Elgin, Illinois) announced that it has developed new bifurcated Wormetary solar tracking motors. The new gear-motors are designed to meet the concentrating solar power (CSP) applications' requirements, while offering several unique benefits, Dunkermotoren emphasizes. Read more

Canadian Solar supplies more than 8 MW PV modules to groSolar

Friday, 8.31.2012 - 13:58 (Solarserver)

On August 29th, 2012, Canadian Solar Inc. (Guelph, Canada) announced that it has supplied more than 8 megawatts (MW) of solar photovoltaic (PV) modules to the U.S. solar power installer and distributor groSolar (White River Junction, Vermont, U.S.) for three utility and commercial PV projects. First project system is a 6 MW plant currently under construction in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. The plant will supply around 7.5 million kilowatt hours (kWh) of solar power per year under a 15-year power purchase agreement (PPA). When completed, it will be the largest solar installation in the state of Pennsylvania. Read more

TrendForce: No end in sight for solar wafer-maker's trouble

Friday, 8.31.2012 - 13:55 (Solarserver)

On August 29th, 2012, EnergyTrend, a research division of TrendForce, reported that 2012 is expected to be a difficult year for solar wafer producers as no signs of rebound are in sight. Wafer Manufacturers are experiencing mediocre market condition where purchase orders plunge, which caused suppliers? inventory levels to rise continuously. Related manufacturers noted that the bleak market outlook results in the persisting price downtrend as the solar industry believes prices have not hit the rock bottom yet, according to EnergyTrend. Read more

Swiss Sawmill goes carbon neutral thanks to large rooftop PV installation of Honey modules by Trina Solar

Friday, 8.31.2012 - 13:48 (Solarserver)

Trina Solar Limited (Changzhou, China) on August 30th, 2012 announced the completion of the first large-scale rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) system in Switzerland to use the Company's high-performance Honey modules. The PV array, deployed on the roofs of Saegewerke Christen AG's production and storage buildings in Luthern in the canton of Lucerne, has an installed capacity of 900 kilowatt (kWp) and produces up to 6,000 kWh of solar power per day. This makes the company the first self-sufficient and carbon neutral sawmill in Switzerland. Read more

Solar companies take DECC back to the High Court over compensation claims

Friday, 8.31.2012 - 12:26 (Solarpowerportal)

The three solar companies who issued DECC with a pre-action ?letter before claim? requesting £2.2 million in damages following ?unlawful and unfair? cuts to the feed-in tariff have been forced to turn to the High Court to settle its dispute. Read more

Gehrlicher Solar connects 35 MWp PV plant on former military airport Perleberg, Germany to the grid

Friday, 8.31.2012 - 9:41 (Solarserver)

Gehrlicher Solar AG (Munich, Germany) completed its Perleberg solar park in record time after just two and a half months of construction. Technical commissioning of the ground-mounted solar photovoltaic (PV) plant was completed on time on June 30. The solar power system with 35 MWp nominal capacity is located halfway between Hamburg and Berlin. It is expected to produce about 33 million kilowatt hours of environmentally friendly solar power annually, an amount sufficient to cover the needs of around 9,300 three-person households. Read more

Pike Research: U.S. thermal energy storage market totals USD 268 million; world market to grow substantially through 2020

Friday, 8.31.2012 - 9:36 (Solarserver)

Thermal energy storage (TES) is an often unrecognized but important component of the developing market for energy storage systems, Pike Research (Boulder, Colorado, U.S.) emphasizes in a press release. Most often used to provide cooling capacity for commercial buildings, TES systems are also increasingly seen as an effective means of shifting electricity use from daytime peak periods into less expensive periods of the day or at night, saving money and increasing overall system efficiency. Newer forms of TES, including molten salt storage, may be used with concentrating solar power (CSP) generation facilities to store energy collected in daylight hours for later use. Pike Read more

Bioethanol or Biodiesel: Europe Hesitates over Indirect Impact of Green Fuel

Friday, 8.31.2012 - 15:00 (Renewable Energy World)

For years Europe has encouraged motorists to use diesel over petrol in its efforts to cut carbon dioxide emissions. Now, as the focus switches to introducing renewable fuels, it is proving far easier to produce clean bioethanol to replace petrol than clean biodiesel, leaving Europe's renewable fuel targets looking vulnerable. Read more

U.S. Geothermal Energy Potential is Heating Up

Friday, 8.31.2012 - 15:00 (Renewable Energy World)

Geothermal energy in the United States has the potential to have an installed capacity of 100,000 megawatts (MW) within the next 50 years, according to a report published by an interdisciplinary panel lead by MIT. That's the total peak energy consumption of France. Given that potential, will we see geothermal energy become a greater part of our power mix? Read more

Yingli Green posts US$90.2 million net loss; lowers full-year shipment guidance

Friday, 8.31.2012 - 20:53 (PV-Tech)

More losses were reported by Yingli Green, despite module shipment volumes increasing by 13.7%, to a new historical high on sales of US$488.5 million dollars, down from over US$500 million in the prior quarter. Declining ASPs were behind the losses that climbed to US$90.2 million in the second quarter. The company revised down its PV module shipment target to be in the range of 2.1GW-2.2GW, representing an increase of up to 37.2% year over but significantly down from previous guidance of shipments reaching as much as 2.5GW. Read more

Lark Energy adds another 30MW to its pipeline

Friday, 8.31.2012 - 17:15 (PV-Tech)

Lark Energy, a PV installer based in Lincolnshire, UK, has confirmed that it will submit an application to build a 30MW solar farm at Ellough airfield in Suffolk, UK. This proposal follows similar plans for a 30MW park at Stradishall Airfield in Suffolk and a 30MW park at Wymesford Airfield in Leicestershire, which were announced in February and June, respectively. Read more

Free Market Hypocrisy: Why Do We Hold Renewables to Different Standards than Fossil Fuels and Nuclear?

Friday, 8.31.2012 - 15:00 (Renewable Energy World)

Now that renewables are receiving some of the same incentives that fossil fuels have enjoyed for nearly one hundred years, we're suddenly being inundated with calls for a purely "free-market" approach to energy development from politicians on the right and companies concerned about the growth of clean energy. Read more

Lark Energy confirms another 30MW application

Friday, 8.31.2012 - 14:49 (Solarpowerportal)

Lincolnshire-based solar installer Lark Energy has announced plans to install a 30MW solar park on the site of Ellough Airfield in Suffolk. The move follows similar applications for 30MW parks at Stradishall Airfield in Suffolk and Wymesford Airfield in Leicestershire. Read more

itek Energy, RA Power & Light set goal to develop 20 MW of PV in Washington State

Friday, 8.31.2012 - 14:02 (Solarserver)

On August 29th, 2012, itek Energy Inc. (Bellingham, Washington) announced it has teamed up with RA POWER & LIGHT LLC (Seattle, Washington) to develop 20 megawatt (MW) of commercial solar photovoltaic (PV) projects in Washington State. The companies signed an agreement to help industries such as data centers, manufacturing, cold storage and food & beverage processors reduce operations costs through distributed power generation. Read more

DECC consults on ?in-use? factors for ECO

Friday, 8.31.2012 - 11:36 (Solarpowerportal)

DECC has released on consultation on the implementation of ?in-use? factors for the ECO scheme after agreeing on implementing them in the Green Deal. Read more

Last Day to Nominate ? Submit Your Nomination for the 2012 Project of the Year Awards!

Friday, 8.31.2012 - 6:01 (Renewable Energy World)

http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/awards/2012 Read more