9REN installs 600-kW PV plant on Canary Island, Spain

Thursday, 1.24.2013 - 21:25 (Solarserver)

On January 21st, 2013, 9REN Group (Milan, Italy) announced that it has installed a 600 kilowatt (kW) solar photovoltaic (PV) power plant on the Canary Island Tenerife, Spain. The rooftop PV system includes 2,526 REC-brand PV panels and 42 Danfoss inverters. It is estimated to generate an estimated 1,036,991 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of solar power a year. Read more

Los Angeles City Council defeats motion to stop feed-in tariff program

Thursday, 1.24.2013 - 12:13 (Solarserver)

Los Angeles will begin accepting applications for its CLEAN LA feed-in tariff program on February 1st, 2013, after the defeat of an attempt by three Los Angeles City Council members to send the program back to committee. On January 16th, 2013, Councilmembers Jan Perry, Bernard Parks and Mitchell Englander put forward a motion to conduct another review of the program, however the motion was voted down 12-1 during the council's January 22nd, 2013, meeting. Read more

Volkswagen inaugurates 9.5 MW PV plant in Tennessee

Thursday, 1.24.2013 - 9:46 (Solarserver)

On January 23rd, 2013 Volkswagen (Wolfsburg, Germany) has inaugurated a 9.5 MW solar photovoltaic (PV) plant at its manufacturing facility in the US state of Tennessee, as the largest PV plant in the state. The Volkswagen Chattanooga Solar Park comprises 33,600 JA Solar multicrystalline silicon PV modules on an area of 13 hectares. Developer Silicon Ranch Corporation (Nashville, Tennessee, US) will sell the electricity generated to Volkswagen under a 20-year power purchase agreement. Read more

SolarWorld expects to make major financial restructuring to avoid going concern issues

Thursday, 1.24.2013 - 22:01 (PV-Tech)

In a less than transparent statement, SolarWorld said it had employed ?external experts? to review its business and financial plans in light of two bonds due repayment, putting the firm under a ?going concern? position. Read more

Canadian Solar unveils Residential AC PV system

Thursday, 1.24.2013 - 21:11 (Solarserver)

On January 22nd, 2013, Canadian Solar (Toronto, Canada) announced that it has introduced next generation ?Residential AC system?, which combines a 250 watt (W) solar photovoltaic (PV) module and a micro-inverter. Read more

Mage Solar Engineering to refocus on commercial self-consumption PV projects

Thursday, 1.24.2013 - 18:21 (PV-Tech)

Mage Solar Engineering, a subsidiary of Mage Solar AG, is to focus on the complete design and installation of PV systems for industrial, commercial and service enterprises and communities in the future instead of its previous focus on building solar parks. Read more

Bosch warns of ?1 billion losses in solar business for 2012

Thursday, 1.24.2013 - 18:05 (PV-Tech)

Preliminary financial figures from Bosch Group indicated that the company made almost a ?1 billion loss from its photovoltaic business operations in 2012. Read more

Juwi, Shizen form JV to develop Japanese solar, wind projects

Thursday, 1.24.2013 - 16:01 (Solarserver)

Juwi AG (Wörrstadt, Germany) has announced a joint venture with Shizen Energy (Tokyo, Japan) to develop solar and wind projects in Japan, including both ground-mounted and rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) plants. Juwi Shizen Energy (Tokyo, Japan) has a project pipeline of 120 MW in 2013 and aims to install 1 GW of renewable energy projects by 2017. The JV commissioned a 1 MW PV plant on the island of Kyushu as its first project in December 2012. Read more

When Will a Solar Company Guerilla Market Like this Bank?

Thursday, 1.24.2013 - 15:00 (Renewable Energy World)

Here?s another example of a non-solar company taking a small guerrilla marketing risk and getting a 9-million viewer pay-off on YouTube. Nine million people watching a five minute video made by an international bank that few Americans had ever heard of?until now. Industry pros often tell me that it?s the installers that choose solar PV panels, and Read more

Solar Costs to Fall as REITs Emerge as Source of Funding

Thursday, 1.24.2013 - 15:00 (Renewable Energy World)

A San Francisco startup may win approval as soon as this month to become the first firm allowed to raise money for solar-power projects as a REIT, the financing vehicle used in $637 billion of U.S. property ventures. Read more

Storage system ?important innovation? for solar, says Duke Energy

Thursday, 1.24.2013 - 13:56 (PV-Tech)

American developer Duke Energy Renewables has hailed as an ?important innovation? for renewables the completion of a 36MW battery storage project at one of its Texas wind farms. Read more

Solar losses drag down Siemens profits

Thursday, 1.24.2013 - 13:15 (PV-Tech)

German industrial giant Siemens has reported a 12% slump in profits for the fourth quarter of 2012, driven in part by a ?150 million (US$200 million) loss at its solar panel business. Read more

Project Focus: VW opens 9.5MW solar plant at Tennessee factory

Thursday, 1.24.2013 - 13:10 (PV-Tech)

Car manufacturer Volkswagen has opened what it says is the largest solar installation in Tennessee, USA, to provide power to its Chattanooga factory. Read more

India to announce 4.4GW of solar projects in 2013

Thursday, 1.24.2013 - 12:48 (PV-Tech)

The Indian government has allocated 4.4GW of new solar projects for 2013, although only 350MW is expected to be online by the end of this year, according to consultants Bridge to India. Read more

LDK Solar to sell USD 31.1 million in stock to Fulai Investments

Thursday, 1.24.2013 - 12:08 (Solarserver)

On January 21st, 2013, Fulai Investments Ltd. (British Virgin Islands) agreed to purchase USD 31.1 million in newly issued shares from LDK Solar Company Ltd. (Xinyu City, China). Both parties expect to fulfill closing conditions in order to complete the transaction prior to February 28th, 2013. LDK states that it will use the proceeds for general corporate purposes in its operations. Read more

Juwi building 48 MW of solar PV plants in Thailand, 26 MW in India

Thursday, 1.24.2013 - 9:51 (Solarserver)

Juwi AG (Wörrstadt, Germany) has begun construction work on five solar photovoltaic (PV) plants totaling 48 MW in northern Thailand. Juwi has incorporated flood protection measures into the designs of the plants, which are located in areas that flooded in 2011. The company also announced that it is building 26 MW of PV plants in India with partner Green Infra Ltd. (New Delhi, India). Read more

ET Solar to launch 1,000V-DC PV modules at PV America East

Thursday, 1.24.2013 - 9:42 (Solarserver)

ET Solar Group Corporation (Nanjing, China), has announced that it will introduce solar photovoltaic (PV) modules certified to 1,000V-DC at the PV America East trade show on February 5th-7th, 2013 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Both ET Solar's 60-cell and 72-cell multicrystalline PV modules have received Underwriters Laboratories (Northbrook, Illinois, US) certification by Electrical Testing Laboratories Inc. Read more

Scotland Bank May Lend $631 Million to Clean Power, Focusing on Biomass

Thursday, 1.24.2013 - 17:40 (Renewable Energy World)

Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, Britain's biggest government-owned lender, may channel as much as 400 million pounds ($631 million) into clean energy this year with a focus on biomass. Read more

Two European Projects Launched to Improve Wind Turbines

Thursday, 1.24.2013 - 19:06 (Renewable Energy World)

Two multiyear projects now being undertaken in Europe aim to improve the technology behind wind power generation: one seeks more efficient and cheaper ways to make the blades, and another wants to swap in a new generator to make the turbines smaller and lighter, and able to be scaled up in power output. Read more

Why E-Tricity is standing up against DECC ?bullies?

Thursday, 1.24.2013 - 17:25 (PV-Tech)

News that 17 solar companies are chasing the UK?s Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) for £140 million worth of damages has polarised opinion in the solar industry. Read more

Why E-Tricity is standing up against DECC ?bullies?

Thursday, 1.24.2013 - 15:58 (Solarpowerportal)

News that 17 solar companies are chasing the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) for £140 million worth of damages has polarised opinion in the UK solar industry. Simon Gillett, Chief Executive of E-Tricity, one of the named claimants, explained to Solar Power Portal why his company is taking DECC back to the High Court. Read more

Ormat Sees $230 Million Charge as Geothermal Plant Disappoints

Thursday, 1.24.2013 - 17:37 (Renewable Energy World)

Ormat Technologies Inc., a U.S. developer of geothermal energy, will record a charge of as much as $230 million because its North Brawley plant is producing about half as much power as expected. Read more

Energy Efficiency, Geothermal Heat Pumps and "Negawatts"

Thursday, 1.24.2013 - 15:00 (Renewable Energy World)

A recent study by Ceres ? "Practicing Risk-Aware Electricity Regulation: What Every State Regulator Needs to Know" ? concluded that the least cost and least risk for future energy resources is energy efficiency. Indeed, the lowest cost unit of energy is one that is not used. Read more

Center for American Progress: Renewable energy standards policies advance renewables, despite right-wing attacks

Thursday, 1.24.2013 - 21:23 (Solarserver)

Despite conservative attacks, states' adoption of renewable energy standards, which require electric utility companies to produce a portion of their electricity from wind, solar, and other renewable sources, has considerably driven clean energy advances in recent years, according to a Center for American Progress blog post. Though Congress has failed to enact a nationwide standards, policy makers at the state level have enthusiastically filled the void, with 29 states and the District of Columbia adopting mandatory targets for renewable energy production and another eight states setting renewable energy goals. Read more

Jamaica receives 85 expressions of interest for 115-MW renewable energy tender

Thursday, 1.24.2013 - 21:16 (Solarserver)

In response to a request for the procurement of 115 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy generation capacity, Jamaica's Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) announced that it has received 85 expressions of interest. The 115 MW are required to be commissioned by 2015 in order to meet the Government of Jamaica's (GOJ) target to increase the amount of electricity generated from renewable energy sources. Read more

UK and Ireland Sign Pact on Renewable Energy Trading

Thursday, 1.24.2013 - 19:50 (Renewable Energy World)

The UK and Ireland today pledged to work together to secure economic benefits for both countries through renewable energy trading. Read more

Photon Energy Investments to develop 100MW of PV projects in US and Canada

Thursday, 1.24.2013 - 18:38 (PV-Tech)

Photon Energy Investments, a subsidiary of Photon Energy Group is expanding its PV project development business into the US and Canadian markets in 2013. Read more

Strategic Investor Hanwha Group Pours $30M More into OneRoof Energy

Thursday, 1.24.2013 - 17:49 (Renewable Energy World)

OneRoof Energy announced today that South Korea's Hanwha Group invested an additional $30 million in its company to help OneRoof expand into new markets, develop new proprietary technologies and strengthen dealer support. Hanwha Group was among the first investors of OneRoof Energy's Series A funding in 2011. Read more

Frost & Sullivan: Gulf Cooperation Council region holds 25 GW of renewable energy potential by 2020

Thursday, 1.24.2013 - 16:06 (Solarserver)

Frost & Sullivan (Mountain View, California, US) has released a new white paper which estimates a 25 MW renewable energy potential in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region up to 2020. "The Future for 'Green' in the GCC's Energy Sector" focuses on the potential for renewables and smart grids in the GCC, noting that even the region's significant fossil fuel resources will not be able to meet escalating demand. Read more

Shizen Energy and juwi set up Japanese JV

Thursday, 1.24.2013 - 14:13 (PV-Tech)

Shizen Energy, a Japanese renewable energy project developer, and German PV developer juwi have established a new joint venture company called juwi Shizen Energy. Read more

juwi expands PV footprint in Thailand and India

Thursday, 1.24.2013 - 13:18 (PV-Tech)

German renewable energy specialist juwi has started to construct five PV plants in Thailand with a total capacity of 48MW. Read more

Astonfield?s Ameet Shah joins US renewable energy advisory committee

Thursday, 1.24.2013 - 11:56 (PV-Tech)

Astonfield Renewable Resources, a provider of renewable energy in emerging markets, has announced that its Co-Chairman Ameet Shah is to take on a key advisory role to the US government. Read more