Price Pressures Squeeze Solar Inverter Shipment Outlook

Wednesday, 10.16.2013 - 20:47 (Renewable Energy World)

Larger inverter suppliers, especially those targeting utility-scale business, are increasingly feeling the burden of the supply chain's pricing pressures to lower costs, which will negate growth on the demand side. Read more

SPI 2013: Renusol America to unveil simple trapezoidal sheet metal PV mounting system

Wednesday, 10.16.2013 - 19:56 (PV-Tech)

Renusol America will be unveiling its new ‘Renusol MS’ system at Solar Power International 2013. Read more

SPI 2013: Motech displaying 20.5% monocrystalline ‘Sirius’ cell

Wednesday, 10.16.2013 - 19:04 (PV-Tech)

Motech Industries will be showcasing a new ‘Sirius’ cell at Solar Power International. Read more

Recom announces women in solar scholarship following sexism claims

Wednesday, 10.16.2013 - 18:50 (PV-Tech)

Greece-based solar module manufacturer, Recom, previously accused of sexism in its marketing campaigns, has announced a scholarship for women working in solar. Read more

SolarFields UK aims to install a million solar panels by 2018

Wednesday, 10.16.2013 - 17:48 (Solarpowerportal)

SolarFields UK has the lofty ambition of becoming the UK’s largest investment opportunity in solar energy. Read more

Solar Power International 2013 preview

Wednesday, 10.16.2013 - 17:34 (PV-Tech)

The US market is continuing to be a major hub for solar PV installations. According to GTM Research, cumulative PV capacity will surpass 10GW by the end of 2013. Read more

5YJ launches London-based solar co-op

Wednesday, 10.16.2013 - 17:15 (Solarpowerportal)

5YJ Co-operative, a new London-based solar co-operative has announced that it will begin issuing shares. Read more

First Solar lands 250MW McCoy PV project in California

Wednesday, 10.16.2013 - 16:15 (PV-Tech)

Thin-film PV manufacturer and project developer First Solar is to construct a 250MW solar power plant in Riverside County, California, for a subsidiary of NextEra Energy Resources. Read more

1366 One Step Closer to Opening US Solar PV Wafer Facility

Wednesday, 10.16.2013 - 16:07 (Renewable Energy World)

Solar silicon wafer innovator 1366 Technologies has landed new funding led by newest partner Tokayama, and is ready to scale up to a 250-MW production line ahead of an anticipated upswing in demand. Read more

First Solar to build 250 MW-AC McCoy Solar Energy Project in Southern California

Wednesday, 10.16.2013 - 15:29 (Solarserver)

First Solar Inc. (Tempe, Arizona, U.S.) has announced that it will construct a 250 MW-AC solar photovoltaic (PV) plant on public land in Southern California for a subsidiary of NextEra Energy Resources LLC (Juno Beach, Florida, U.S.). Read more

Toshiba completes car sharing system utilizing solar power in Lyon, France

Wednesday, 10.16.2013 - 15:21 (Solarserver)

Toshiba Corporation (Tokyo, Japan) and Toshiba Solutions Corporation announced completion construction of a car sharing system for the Lyon Confluence Smart Community Demonstration Project. Thirty E-vehicles will be supported by plug-in recharge stations, and three quick solar photovoltaic (PV) charging systems. The system implements Toshiba’s solar-power based electronic vehicle charge management system. It entered commercial operation on October 14th, 2013, and will run until December 2015 operated by Proxiway, a wholly owned subsidiary of Transdev (Issy-les-Moulineaux, France). Read more

Owens Corning, NYSERDA and Constellation power up largest solar PV installation under New York’s Sun Initiative

Wednesday, 10.16.2013 - 15:17 (Solarserver)

Owens Corning (Toledo, Ohio, U.S.), the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and Constellation Energy Resources, LLC (Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.) on October 15th, 2013, celebrated the completion of a 2.7 megawatt (DC) solar photovoltaic (PV) project at Owens Corning's thermal and acoustical insulation plant in Feura Bush, NY. The PV plant is the largest project to date under Governor Andrew M. Cuomo's NY-Sun PV initiative, and is designed to supply approximately 6% of the plant's annual electricity needs. Read more

New Report Shows Top U.S. Companies Investing Big In Solar

Wednesday, 10.16.2013 - 15:17 (Renewable Energy World)

As the world’s largest retailer and biggest private employer, Walmart commands attention from Wall Street to Main Street.  But it’s not what’s happening inside Walmart stores making news this week — it’s what’s happening on top of them. The annual Solar Means Business Report, which identifies major commercial solar projects and ranks America’s top Read more

KosiFrankensolar commissions first PV system built with CSUN modules made in Turkey

Wednesday, 10.16.2013 - 15:13 (Solarserver)

In Istanbul, KosiFrankensolar has installed the first solar photovoltaic (PV) array with modules produced at the Turkish factory of China Sunergy Co., Ltd. (CSUN, Nanjing, China). The PV system has a capacity of 66 Kilowatt (kW) and produces solar power for a school. Read more

IHS: Global solar PV inverter revenues to fall 9% in 2013, as shipments increase

Wednesday, 10.16.2013 - 15:03 (Solarserver)

IHS Inc. (Englewood, Colorado, U.S.) warns that global revenues for solar photovoltaic (PV) inverters will fall 9% in 2013 to USD 6.4 billion, despite a 7% increase in units shipped. This represents a downgrading from its previous forecast of a 5% revenue decline. Read more

SolarMax and Solen Energy UK agree distribution deal at Solar Energy UK

Wednesday, 10.16.2013 - 13:51 (Solarpowerportal)

Swiss inverter manufacturer Sputnik Engineering, makers of the SolarMax range, agreed a distribution deal with PV wholesaler Solen Energy UK on the show floor of Solar Energy UK. Read more

IHS: Solar inverter shipments up 7% in 2013 but revenues to fall 9%

Wednesday, 10.16.2013 - 13:48 (PV-Tech)

Market research firm, IHS, has lowered its revenue forecast for solar inverters in 2013, due to higher than expected pressure on unit prices. Read more

Thailand to transfer quota to rooftop if farms not operational

Wednesday, 10.16.2013 - 13:26 (PV-Tech)

Thailand may look to rooftop installations to fulfill government quotas should solar farms fail to complete commercial operation by December 2013. Read more

Toyota, Apple and Intel among big business in US embracing solar

Wednesday, 10.16.2013 - 13:26 (PV-Tech)

Car manufacturers and high-tech firms Apple and Intel are among the most noticeable additions to the Solar Energy Industries Association’s (SEIA) list of commercial PV customers. Read more

SPI 2013: Bentek Solar to unveil new utility-scale BOS equipment in Chicago

Wednesday, 10.16.2013 - 13:22 (PV-Tech)

Balance of system manufacturer, Bentek Solar, is to showcase its latest products for utility-scale solar projects at Solar Power International in Chicago next week. Read more

Solar Frontier Italy deal seeks to capitalise on self-consumption trend

Wednesday, 10.16.2013 - 12:52 (PV-Tech)

Japanese thin-film manufacturer Solar Frontier is to introduce its SolarSets range of standardised PV systems to the Italian residential market after agreeing a distribution deal with P.M. Service. Read more

PV pipeline continues to grow in Chile with further 108MW

Wednesday, 10.16.2013 - 11:15 (PV-Tech)

The environmental evaluation service in Chile (SEA) has received two solar project applications for approval totalling 108MW. Read more

Valentin EnergieSoftware presents new design and simulation programs for PV systems and battery storage

Wednesday, 10.16.2013 - 11:02 (Solarserver)

Dr. Valentin EnergieSoftware GmbH (Berlin, Germany) in September 2013 has released PV*SOL 6.0 advanced, a simulation program to forecast self-consumption of solar power and simulate battery storage systems in grid-parallel operation realistically. Unlike the previous program PV*SOL Pro, the new software can now import load profiles measured in one or 15 minute steps. Furthermore, the program calculates the string line losses and AC and DC wiring losses per inverter. The new version 5.5 of the solar thermal program T*SOL Pro provides a calculation of yield for the use of solar thermal collectors. Read more

Northeastern U.S. solar markets continue decline in September 2013

Wednesday, 10.16.2013 - 9:20 (Solarserver)

New Jersey's solar market continued its slump in September 2013 as Pennsylvania reported a spike in projects registered for solar renewable energy credits (SRECs), according to SRECTrade's (San Francisco, California, U.S.) September 2013 Markets Report. Projects newly registered to create SRECs in New Jersey fell 43% sequentially to only 7.7 MW, a new low in an ongoing collapse starting in the summer. This was partially offset by 15.6 MW registered in Pennsylvania, however, as some projects were certified in several states registrations in the overall PJM Interconnect region fell to only 12.8 MW in September 2013. Read more

Walmart is largest U.S. commercial solar PV user at 89 MW

Wednesday, 10.16.2013 - 9:04 (Solarserver)

Walmart (Bentonville, Arkansas, U.S.) remains the company that has deployed the most solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity in the United States at 89 MW, according to a report by the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA, Washington D.C.) and Vote Solar Initiative (San Francisco, California, U.S.). Costco (Seattle, Washington, U.S.) and Kohl's (Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, U.S.) came in second and third place by capacity deployed at 47 MW and 44 MW respectively, according to “Solar Means Business”, which was released on October 15th, 2013. Combined, the top 25 companies have deployed more than 400 MW of PV to date, a 33% increase from a year ago. Read more

Texas Gulf Coast Beckons Wind Farms

Wednesday, 10.16.2013 - 15:54 (Renewable Energy World)

Fickle West Texas breezes are pushing wind power generators to the state’s 367-mile coast. Texas pulled ahead last decade in the U.S. race to develop wind power thanks to the hardy gusts sweeping across its vast prairies and energy-friendly landowners. Now it’s seizing the lead in building turbines along its shoreline as developers find the slower but steadier air currents there translate to bigger profits. Read more

Business Process Management In the Evolving Wind Industry

Wednesday, 10.16.2013 - 12:00 (Renewable Energy World)

The wind power space in the United States is an exciting area of the energy sector. Over a span of only two decades, wind has become a serious contributor to the national energy market — growth fueled in part by rapid technological advancement. These advances pose a challenge to operators, who must constantly learn new turbine models, adapt maintenance processes, and develop innovative solutions to new issues. Read more

Ocean Energy Technologies Speeding Towards Commercialization

Wednesday, 10.16.2013 - 12:21 (Renewable Energy World)

The ocean energy sector has been steadily creeping towards commercial reality year after year, with technology test deployments taking place worldwide. After all, the ocean energy market is not an easy place to do business, just building a technology prototype can cost up to $30 million. This year, however, some major project announcements indicate that the industry could be moving to the next level - much faster than anyone had previously predicted. Read more

550GWh EU storage project announced for UK

Wednesday, 10.16.2013 - 12:15 (Solarpowerportal)

The European Commission has announced a list of 140 electricity projects that will be fast tracked and have access to a funding pot of €5.85 billion (US$7.9 billion) including a new UK storage installation and interconnections with Ireland. Read more

skytron energy to strengthen its presence in the USA

Wednesday, 10.16.2013 - 10:55 (Solarserver)

skytron energy GmbH (Berlin, Germany) will showcase monitoring, control and supervision systems for solar photovoltaic (PV) power plants at Solar Power International (SPI) in Chicago, Illinois, USA, from October, 21st to 24th, 2013. Providing a control system that ensures grid stability management of photovoltaic (PV), wind, and hybrid power installations, skytron energy completed 5.8 MWp PV project in Yuma, Arizona. Read more

World Energy Council emphasizes continuing role of fossil fuels

Wednesday, 10.16.2013 - 9:17 (Solarserver)

In advance of the 22nd World Energy Congress in Daegu, South Korea, the World Energy Council (WEC, London) has issued a statement which claims that only expanded fossil fuel extraction and use will be able to satisfy future energy needs, and that CO2 emissions will continue to grow relatively unabated. The organization also emphasizes the rapid change in the energy system, citing the financial crisis, the emergence of unconventional oil and gas and the Fukushima disaster as key factors. It states that governments will miss CO2 targets for 2050 unless significant changes and policy frameworks are adopted. Read more