Yingli becomes world's largest PV module maker in 2012 with estimated 2.2 GW shipped

Tuesday, 1.8.2013 - 16:17 (Solarserver)

Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Ltd. (Baoding, China) has announced that due to greater than anticipated solar photovoltaic (PV) module shipments in the fourth quarter of 2012, it expects to beat its previous guidance and having shipped more than 2.2 GW of PV modules in 2012. This would be more than 15% higher than the guidance of either First Solar Inc. (Tempe, Arizona, US) or Suntech Power Holding Company Ltd. (Wuxi, China), and make Yingli the world's largest supplier of PV modules in 2012. Read more

Bernreuter Research: PV installation growth in 2013 to support polysilicon price rises

Tuesday, 1.8.2013 - 16:07 (PV-Tech)

Market research firm, Bernreuter Research is forecasting PV installations could reach 36GW in 2013, driving renewed polysilicon demand that is expected to push spot prices to around US$25/kg by the end of 2013. Read more

University of San Diego graduate installs 6 kW PV system in South Sudan

Tuesday, 1.8.2013 - 14:50 (Solarserver)

On January 3rd, 2013, University of San Diego announced that its engineering graduate Mou Riiny has installed a six kilowatt (kW) solar photovoltaic (PV) array at a village in South Sudan. Riiny is one of the "Lost Boys of Sudan" who resettled in Boston, Massachusetts, before attending USD to study electrical engineering. Read more

France to double annual PV goals, feed-in tariff targets

Tuesday, 1.8.2013 - 9:57 (Solarserver)

France's Minister of Sustainable Development has announced a package of "emergency" measures for the nation's solar photovoltaic (PV) industry, including doubling France's feed-in tariff goal for PV plants smaller than 100 kW to 400 MW annually. Feed-in tariff rates will be increased 5% for simple rooftop PV installations, and a bonus of up to 10% will be included for EU-made modules. These measures and changes to the tender system are intended to achieve a PV market of at least 1 GW annually, double the prior target. Read more

Financing complete for largest solar powered US military community

Tuesday, 1.8.2013 - 19:01 (PV-Tech)

True Green Capital Management and financier CIT Group have announced the closing of a US$35 million contract for the construction of a 12.3MW solar installation at a US military housing base. Read more

First Solar hires ex-nuclear professional for project development role

Tuesday, 1.8.2013 - 18:36 (PV-Tech)

First Solar has hired former nuclear professional Tim Rebhorn for the newly created position of Senior Vice President, Project Development. Read more

NPD Solarbuzz: China?s closed downstream solar market set to open

Tuesday, 1.8.2013 - 17:44 (PV-Tech)

Foreign PV module manufacturers may not get a look-in on the closed Chinese downstream market but balance-of-system suppliers could find the market lucrative, according to a report from NPD Solarbuzz. Read more

Solarbuzz: Chinese PV balance-of-systems market to reach USD 3.1 billion in 2013

Tuesday, 1.8.2013 - 17:30 (Solarserver)

NPD Solarbuzz has released a report which finds that the balance-of-systems market in China for solar photovoltaic (PV) plants will reach USD 3.1 billion in 2013, and 4.0 billion in 2017. "China Balance of Systems Market Report" identifies inverters as the largest portion of this market, to total USD 800 million in by 2017, with power ratings above 250 kW expected to account for more than 50% of sales. Read more

Germany added record solar capacity in 2012 but expects quieter 2013

Tuesday, 1.8.2013 - 17:09 (PV-Tech)

Germany saw a record level of over 7GW of new solar capacity installed in 2012, but is likely to see much more modest growth in 2013. Read more

France Doubles Solar Energy Target, Seeks to Promote European Equipment

Tuesday, 1.8.2013 - 17:05 (Renewable Energy World)

France has doubled its target for new solar projects to at least 1,000 megawatts in 2013, helping spur use of European equipment, Energy Minister Delphine Batho said. Read more

China pumps additional subsidies into solar projects

Tuesday, 1.8.2013 - 17:04 (PV-Tech)

China?s Ministry of Finance, the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Board have announced solar projects eligible for additional subsidies unveiled last year. Read more

Solarbuzz: Chinese PV balance-of-systems market to reach 3.1 billion in 2013

Tuesday, 1.8.2013 - 16:13 (Solarserver)

NPD Solarbuzz has released a report which finds that the balance-of-systems market in China for solar photovoltaic (PV) plants will reach USD 3.1 billion in 2013, and 4.0 billion in 2017. "China Balance of Systems Market Report" identifies inverters as the largest portion of this market, to total USD 800 million in by 2017, with power ratings above 250 kW expected to account for more than 50% of sales. Read more

Manufacturers considering solar to beat rising energy prices

Tuesday, 1.8.2013 - 16:01 (Solarpowerportal)

High tech manufacturers in the UK are considering investing in their own renewable power supplies, particularly solar, to shield themselves from future energy price increases. Read more

Inspira Martifer Solar inks deal for its first Indian rooftop PV project

Tuesday, 1.8.2013 - 15:16 (PV-Tech)

Inspira Martifer Solar, a specialist in turnkey EPC solutions, has made its first venture into the Indian rooftop PV market by signing an EPC contract with Mapro Foods. Read more

First Solar, Intermolecular Pushing Thin-film Solar PV Materials R&D

Tuesday, 1.8.2013 - 15:16 (Renewable Energy World)

First Solar is arguably the leader in thin-film solar photovoltaics (PV). It's relentlessly inched up conversion efficiencies of its cadmium-telluride (CdTe) technology, while chipping away at manufacturing costs (now at $0.67, reported in November). Read more

Alta Devices unveils solar charging mats for military, remote and automotive applications

Tuesday, 1.8.2013 - 14:45 (Solarserver)

On January 4th, 2013, Alta Devices (Sunnyvale, California, U.S.) announced that it has introduced a new solar photovoltaic (PV) charging mat design. The company emphasizes that the world's lightest and highest energy density, flexible military charging mat weighs just 4 ounces. Its dimensions are slightly larger than a sheet of paper, and it can provide significant solar power to a soldier in the field without the need for an alternative fuel source. Read more

Mexico?s largest PV installation comes online to serve as ?test site?

Tuesday, 1.8.2013 - 14:02 (PV-Tech)

The 5MW Cerro Prieto solar project ? which is said to represent Mexico?s largest PV installation to date ? has completed and become operational. Read more

France doubles 2013 solar target to 1GW

Tuesday, 1.8.2013 - 13:53 (PV-Tech)

The French government has released details of emergency measures to encourage US$2.6 billion worth of investment in the country?s ailing solar industry. Read more

Yingli Green becomes largest solar company; exceeds 2012 module shipment guidance of 2.2GW

Tuesday, 1.8.2013 - 11:46 (PV-Tech)

Yingli Green has preliminary surpassed Suntech Power Holdings as the largest PV company in the world, based on revised full-year module shipment guidance. Read more

Record breaking: Solar Frontier pushes CIS thin-film efficiency to 19.7%

Tuesday, 1.8.2013 - 11:33 (PV-Tech)

Solar Frontier has broken the record for CIS thin-film solar cell conversion efficiency using a sputtering and selenization process. The current CIS efficiency record at 20.3% was set with the co-evaporation processes. Read more

GlobalData consultant warns European energy consumers: Invest in solar PV or pay the price

Tuesday, 1.8.2013 - 11:31 (Solarserver)

With European domestic gas prices expected to climb by another 10% in 2013, a senior energy consultant from research and consulting firm GlobalData (London, U.K.) has issued advice to energy consumers across the continent: spend on solar photovoltaics (PV) now or lose money in the long term. Read more

JNNSM phase 2 includes a goal to bring solar water heating applications to rural areas (Indiabizclub)

Tuesday, 1.8.2013 - 11:23 (Solarserver)

Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Ltd. (Baoding, China) has announced that subsidiary Tianjin Yingli has made progress with a new multicrystalline ingot casting process based on gas refrigeration. This technology was developed in partnership with Zhejiang Jingsheng Mechanical & Electrical Company Ltd. (Shangyu, China). Yingli reports that solar photovoltaic (PV) cells made using wafers from one of the improved multicrystalline ingots have reached a best average efficiency of 17.75%. Read more

8 million square meter solar thermal goal in India's National Solar Mission Phase 2

Tuesday, 1.8.2013 - 11:05 (Solarserver)

Solar Thermal World has published its analysis of the India's plans for Phase 2 of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM), noting that the policy aims to support the installation of roughly 8 million square meters of collector area through March 2017. Phase 2 includes an aim to bring solar heating technology to rural areas, from its present concentration in cities. The Indian government has already chosen 58 rural communities to develop as solar cities, with an emphasis on solar thermal technology. Read more

Mosaic launches "crowdsourcing" program for US solar PV projects

Tuesday, 1.8.2013 - 9:48 (Solarserver)

On January 7th, 2013 Mosaic (Oakland, California, US) opened a program for direct investment in solar photovoltaic (PV) projects to US investors and residents of California and New York, beginning with two projects on low-income apartments in California. Mosaic states that these initial investments offer a% annual return, net of servicing fees, with terms of roughly nine years. Read more

Mega-Solar Matchmaking in California

Tuesday, 1.8.2013 - 6:01 (Renewable Energy World)

Flexing its billion-dollar muscles once again in the renewable energy space, MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company (famously backed by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc.) is buying two co-located solar projects in California from SunPower, billed as the world's largest permitted solar PV power development. The deal for Antelope Valley Solar Projects (AVSP), totaling approximately 579 megawatts (AC) combined generation capacity, is for an unspecified amount between $2-$2.5 billion. Read more

French Wind Power Covers Record 10 Percent of Demand

Tuesday, 1.8.2013 - 21:19 (Renewable Energy World)

Right at the end of last year, on 29 December, wind power in France covered a record 10% of the country?s electricity demand, the French blog ?habitat durable? reported. France?s wind power fleet reached a power production equivalent to 5,982 MW ? the same level as six nuclear reactors. During the month of December in general, wind energy met 4% of Read more

Recurrent Energy brings 38MW PV project online

Tuesday, 1.8.2013 - 16:52 (PV-Tech)

PV project developer Recurrent Energy has announced that its 38MW solar project in Sacramento, California has commenced commercial operation. Read more

Energy Trends that Matter for Investors

Tuesday, 1.8.2013 - 14:45 (Renewable Energy World)

The US is by far the world's greatest user of energy per capita in the world. Each American uses about 87,000 kilowatt-hours per year ? that is twice as much as the European Union (EU), the next closest consumer! Understanding energy trends in this country is extremely important for investors who want to understand how the energy landscape will look 10, 20 or 30 years from now. Read more

India Waste Manager Seeks $200 Million IPO to Finance Waste-to-Energy Plant

Tuesday, 1.8.2013 - 14:11 (Renewable Energy World)

Ramky Enviro Engineers Ltd., an Indian waste management company, plans to raise $200 million in the nation's first initial share sale to finance a power plant fueled by urban refuse. Read more

Advanced Energy signs sales and service distribution partnerships with two Taiwanese companies

Tuesday, 1.8.2013 - 13:05 (Solarserver)

On January 3rd, 2013, Advanced Energy Industries Inc. (Fort Collins, Colorado, U.S.) announced that it has formed sales and service distribution partnerships with two Taiwan-based companies. The new partners, Scientech Corp. and Collaborated Service Solution Inc., will provide product and service sales and support for Advanced Energy?s products in the Taiwan market. Read more

Powerway to deliver speech on distributed PV power plants in Beijing

Tuesday, 1.8.2013 - 13:00 (Solarserver)

On January 7th, 2013, Powerway Renewable Energy Co. Ltd. (Foshan City, China) announced that it has been invited to deliver the keynote speech on distributed power plant operation and maintenance at a forum organized by the China Investment Association (CIA) and the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) in Beijing, China. Read more