Singapore opens consultation on renewables, raises cap to 600MWp

Monday, 10.28.2013 - 13:28 (PV-Tech)

Singapore’s government is to hold a public consultation on improving the regulatory framework for intermittent generation sources, such as solar energy. Read more

SRI Radio Systems to begin manufacturing of Eguana's Bi-Direx PV storage inverters in Germany

Monday, 10.28.2013 - 8:45 (Solarserver)

Eguana Technologies Ltd. (Calgary, Canada), formerly known as Sustainable Energy Technologies, has entered into an agreement for SRI Radio Systems GmbH (Durach, Germany) to manufacture its Bi-Direx energy storage inverters in Germany. Under the agreement, SRI will make the inverters in its factory in Durach, Bavaria. Bi-Direx inverters provide power conversion functionality and smart grid connectivity for Prosol Invest GmbH's Sonnenbatterie solar photovoltaic (PV) energy storage systems. Read more

CPUC renews funding for residential solar PV rebates in San Diego, California

Monday, 10.28.2013 - 14:51 (Solarserver)

The California Center for Sustainable Energy (CCSE, San Diego, CA, U.S.) successfully petitioned the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to modify the allocation of funds in the local California Solar Initiative (CSI) program budget to shift money in the non-residential solar photovoltaic (PV) project budget to be available for homeowners. The CPUC gave final approval to the modification on October 23rd, 2013, and selected CCSE to run the CSI in San Diego, making it the only non-utility administrator in the program. Read more

NRG Energy completes first solar PV installations on Levi’s Stadium in San Francisco, California

Monday, 10.28.2013 - 14:46 (Solarserver)

NRG Energy, Inc. (Princeton, New Jersey, U.S.) and the NFL team San Francisco 49ers on October 24th, 2013, announced the completion of phase one of solar photovoltaic (PV) installations at Levi’s Stadium, the future home of the 49ers. The 49 solar PV frames installed are part of the stadium’s NRG Solar Terrace on the West side of the venue. They cover nearly 890 square-metres of the suite roof with a total of 544 SunPower E20 Series solar PV panels, with an efficiency of 20%. Read more

NPD Solarbuzz: P-type multicrystalline silicon to represent over 60% of solar PV produced in 2014

Monday, 10.28.2013 - 14:43 (Solarserver)

NDP Solarbuzz (Santa Clara, California, U.S.) has predicted that p-type multicrystalline silicon cells will be used in 62% of the solar photovoltaic (PV) modules produced in 2014. Read more

meeco services Pakistan, industry partners founded OurSun Solar Power Ltd. in Lahore

Monday, 10.28.2013 - 14:41 (Solarserver)

meeco AG (Zug, Switzerland), through its subsidiary meeco Services Pakistan officially created OurSun Solar Power Ltd. in Lahore, a new company for promoting solar photovoltaic (PV) power in Pakistan. The company was founded by Nadeem Babar, founder and managing partner of Orient Power (Karachi, Pakistan), Adnan Asdar, founder and managing partner shareholder of Multinet Pakistan Pvt. Ltd. (Karachi, Pakistan), with Amer Ashfaq and Saad Zafar, Directors and Co-Shareholders of meeco Services Pakistan. Read more

Solar Frontier to supply CIS PV panels for net-zero energy house by Sekisui Heim in Japan

Monday, 10.28.2013 - 14:37 (Solarserver)

Solar Frontier KK (Tokyo, Japan) will supply its CIS solar photovoltaic (PV) modules for Sekisui Heim’s (Osaka, Japan) new housing product. “Smart Power Station” is a “net-zero energy house” combining energy-saving and energy-generation features that consumes net-zero energy from the grid. Read more

Are Utilities Missing an Opportunity to Finance Solar and Storage?

Monday, 10.28.2013 - 14:25 (Renewable Energy World)

It's an exciting time for the solar industry. Deployment is up sharply — photovoltaics (PV) alone have seen 73 percent annual growth, on average, from 2000 through 2012, and costs are down dramatically over that same period. And now, storage technologies are poised for similar growth and cost-reduction trajectories as many new competitors enter the market. Lux Research, for example, projects that storage technologies integrated with solar will grow from a market of less than $100 million in 2013 to close to $2 billion by 2018. Read more

Solar boosts DuPont earnings as company eyes Indian PV market

Monday, 10.28.2013 - 14:04 (PV-Tech)

A 42% increase in the sale of metal pastes and other materials used in solar panels has contributed to improved earnings for chemical giant DuPont. Read more

Solar Frontier supplies 86 MW of solar PV modules for Japanese projects

Monday, 10.28.2013 - 13:46 (Solarserver)

Solar Frontier K.K. (Tokyo) has supplied engineering firm Chiyoda Corp. (Yokohama, Japan) with 86 MW of its copper indium gallium diselenide (CIS or CIGS) thin-film solar photovoltaic (PV) modules for 18 projects across Japan. Read more

India’s Madyha Pradesh targets 1,200MW of solar by 2015

Monday, 10.28.2013 - 12:59 (PV-Tech)

The Indian state of Madyha Pradesh has set a new solar target for 1,400MW of solar by 2015. Read more

India’s Madhya Pradesh targets 1,200MW of solar by 2015

Monday, 10.28.2013 - 12:59 (PV-Tech)

The Indian state of Madhya Pradesh has set a new solar target for 1,400MW of solar by 2015. Read more

Struggling LDK Solar delays interest repayments for second time

Monday, 10.28.2013 - 12:18 (PV-Tech)

Cash-strapped Chinese manufacturer LDK Solar has won a second reprieve from noteholders on repaying interest on its bonds first due two months ago. Read more

BLM says Colorado land will still be offered for solar after failed bid

Monday, 10.28.2013 - 12:14 (PV-Tech)

US federal agency the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has said it will keep open land designated for solar projects for future development despite its failed bid last week. Read more

Solar Frontier completes 86MW of orders from Chiyoda Corporation

Monday, 10.28.2013 - 11:38 (PV-Tech)

Thin-film manufacturer Solar Frontier has now supplied 86MW of modules to engineering firm Chiyoda Corporation. Read more

Viessmann buys French industrial solar thermal maker SAED

Monday, 10.28.2013 - 9:40 (Solarserver)

The French subsidiary of the Viessmann Group (Allendorf (Eder), Germany) has bought Sophia Antipolis Energie Développement (SAED, Valbonne, France), following the company's entry in to insolvency in April 2013. Viessmann Faulquemont will take over the company's production equipment, intellectual property and employees in exchange for an undisclosed payment, according to Solar Thermal World. Read more

REC Solar begins trading on Oslo, First North exchanges

Monday, 10.28.2013 - 9:21 (Solarserver)

Stock of REC Solar ASA (Singapore) began trading on both the Oslo Stock Exchange and in the Norwegian-currency segment of the First North (Stockholm) stock exchange on October 25th, 2013. The listing on the Oslo Exchange completes the company's offering of 40 million new shares, which netted REC Solar roughly USD 140 million. Shares on the Oslo exchange are traded under the symbol RECSOL, and shares on the First North under RECSOLo. Read more

Intevac announces order for PVD system from solar PV cell maker

Monday, 10.28.2013 - 9:17 (Solarserver)

Intevac Inc. (Santa Clara, California, U.S.) has received an order for a high-throughput physical vapor deposition (PVD) system to be deployed by an un-named solar photovoltaic (PV) cell manufacturer. Intevac expects to deliver the system in mid-2014. “We look forward to working with this new Tier One solar cell manufacturing customer,” commented Intevac President and CEO Wendell Blonigan. Read more

Hawaiian Electric Company appeals regulators to build 15 MW solar PV plant, chooses SolarCity

Monday, 10.28.2013 - 8:57 (Solarserver)

Hawaiian Electric Company (HECO, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.) has filed a request with state regulators to build a 15 MW solar photovoltaic (PV) project co-located with an oil-fired power plant that it owns on the island of Oahu. The filing asks for exemption to competitive bidding processes for projects larger than 5 MW, and HECO has chosen SolarCity Corp. (San Mateo, California, U.S.) to build the plant. HECO notes that the waiver will allow it to deploy the plant more quickly, and also that its plan allows the use of federal tax credits which may be reduced or eliminated. Read more

Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif looks into setting up solar PV plants during China visit

Monday, 10.28.2013 - 8:51 (Solarserver)

Punjab (Pakistan) Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif investigated the possibility of setting up solar photovoltaic (PV) plants on a recent two-day trip to China, according to his official Facebook page. CM Sharif visited PV plants in Xinjiang and PV and transformer factories in various parts of China, including a Tebian Electric Apparatus (TBEA, Changji, China) facility. TBEA will become the largest PV engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor in China in 2013, according to NPD Solarbuzz (Santa Clara, California, U.S.). Read more

US Homeowners Want Solar, Find Two New Reports

Monday, 10.28.2013 - 7:02 (Renewable Energy World)

Two new reports attest to the popularity of solar among homeowners across the U.S. While the two reports come from very different sources — The Center for American Progress (CAP) is a progressive advocacy organization and Market Strategies advises 20 of the U.S.’s largest utilities — their conclusions are roughly the same: U.S. homeowners are inter Read more

South Africa Utility to Expand Biogas Plant for Power

Monday, 10.28.2013 - 15:11 (Renewable Energy World)

Johannesburg Water SOC Ltd., which provides sanitation to South Africa’s biggest city, plans to expand power capacity from a biogas plant almost fourfold, cutting reliance on electricity from the state utility. Read more

Cape Wind Offshore Plant Sees Legal Hurdles Resolved by Year-End

Monday, 10.28.2013 - 15:06 (Renewable Energy World)

Cape Wind Associates LLC, the developer seeking to build the first U.S. offshore wind farm, expects to resolve by year-end the last lawsuits delaying the project, clearing the way for construction to begin before a key tax credit expires this year. Read more

I’ll fight like a tiger to defend green levies: Davey

Monday, 10.28.2013 - 15:26 (Solarpowerportal)

In an interview with the Guardian on Friday, secretary for energy and climate change and liberal democrat MP, Ed Davey vowed to defend Green Levies. Read more

Sunny Climate for Solar Income Up North

Monday, 10.28.2013 - 15:17 (Renewable Energy World)

In a rational world, the sunniest places would have the warmest reception for solar technology and investment. While solar is having its day in the sun in Hawaii, state incentives make the economics of photovolatics equally attractive in Vermont, a state not known for its sunny skies. And while California is famous for its rapid deployment of solar, the economics are at least as good in Washington state, New York, New Hampshire, and chilly Maine. Read more

The Official Explanation for the German Energy Transition

Monday, 10.28.2013 - 14:37 (Renewable Energy World)

In a recent posting, John Farrell of the Institute for Local Self Reliance lays out three clear drivers for why Germans are going renewable at all costs.  He lauds their focus on bills (rather than rates), a clear long term energy policy, and the widespread participation in the energy economy facilitated by feed-in tariffs. Another side of the coin Read more