IHS: PV installations worldwide to hit 45GW in 2014

Wednesday, 10.2.2013 - 18:41 (PV-Tech)

Market research firm IHS has predicted that the number of solar photovoltaic (PV) installations worldwide will rise at the fastest rate in three years in 2014, marking the end of a two-year slowdown for the industry. Read more

IHS: PV installations worldwide to hit 41GW in 2014

Wednesday, 10.2.2013 - 18:41 (PV-Tech)

Market research firm IHS has predicted that the number of solar photovoltaic (PV) installations worldwide will rise at the fastest rate in three years in 2014, marking the end of a two-year slowdown for the industry. Read more

Building Integrated Photovoltaics: Heliatek and AGC to combine organic solar films with glass to produce solar power

Wednesday, 10.2.2013 - 16:04 (Solarserver)

Heliatek GmbH (Dresden, Germany) has signed a joint development agreement with AGC Glass Europe (Brussels, Belgium), European branch of AGC (Alpharetta, GA, U.S.), to focus on researching and developing the integration of glass and organic solar photovoltaic (OPV) films, targeting the delivery of integrated solutions for the glass envelope of buildings. Innovative Building Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV) will further help architects to design energy harvesting, zero emission buildings, including solar windows, to meet worldwide directives to reduce carbon emissions. Read more

China cuts VAT in half for solar photovoltaic producers

Wednesday, 10.2.2013 - 9:09 (Solarserver)

China's State Council has ordered a 50% reduction in Value Added Taxes (VAT) for solar photovoltaic (PV) manufacturers, to last through the end of 2015. According to a notice by the nation's Ministry of Finance, the tax reduction began on October 1st, 2013. The nation currently has a VAT of 17% for the sale of goods and services, but a number of other items are excluded from the VAT. Read more

Germany's BDEW, ZVEI call for move away from feed-in tariffs

Wednesday, 10.2.2013 - 9:04 (Solarserver)

Germany's Federal Association of Energy and Water Industries (BDEW) and Central Association of the Electrical Engineering and Electronics Industry (ZVEI) have proposed a move away from the nation's system of feed-in tariffs, with BDEW issuing a detailed policy proposal. These are the latest organizations to weigh in on reform of the feed-in tariff law, following proposals by the nation's Monopolies Commission and the German Federation of Industry to move to a new policy model shortly before the German federal election on September 22nd, 2013. Read more

Concentrating solar power: Publisher invests USD 300 million in Solana solar CSP project

Wednesday, 10.2.2013 - 23:48 (Solarserver)

Liberty Interactive Corp. (Englewood, Colorado, U.S.) has invested USD 300 million in the holding company for Abengoa SA's (Seville, Spain) Solana concentrating solar power (CSP) plant. At 280 MW, Solana is one of the first large CSP plants to be built in the United States in decades, and is the first solar plant in the nation to incorporate thermal energy storage. Read more

EU PVSEC: DEK Solar, Masdar and Upsolar among award winners

Wednesday, 10.2.2013 - 18:15 (PV-Tech)

DEK Solar, Masdar and Upsolar were among the winners at the Solar Industry Awards 2013. Read more

Canadian Solar Solutions sells two power plants to TransCanada

Wednesday, 10.2.2013 - 17:35 (PV-Tech)

Canadian Solar Solutions, subsidiary of module manufacturer Canadian Solar has completed and sold two solar plants to TransCanada. Read more

Washington DC Council approves clean energy act to help go solar

Wednesday, 10.2.2013 - 16:18 (Solarserver)

The DC Council of Washington on October 1st, 2013, unanimously approved the Community Renewables Energy Act, which establishes a new program to help District families, schools and businesses to go solar for the first time. The program will be available to all DC energy customers, and will allow them to sign up for up to 100% local renewable energy for their home or business. Advocates applauded the Council members for giving DC residents more ways to help deliver local jobs and reduce energy costs. Read more

ET Solar, Sunelectra Global commission 4.2 MW PV plant in Ukraine financed by EBRD

Wednesday, 10.2.2013 - 16:13 (Solarserver)

ET Solar Group Corp. (Nanjing, China) on September 18th, 2013, announced that it has completed construction of a 4.2 MW solar photovoltaic (PV) power plant in Teplodar, Odessa region (Ukraine) in partnership with Sunelectra Global, an international company active in emerging renewable energy markets. The project is one of the largest operational PV plants in the region, it covers 7 hectares and uses more than 17,000 PV modules by ET Solar. ET Solutions AG, a subsidiary of ET Solar Group, provided engineering, procurement and construction (EPC), and operations & maintenance services. Read more

PV in Israel: JA Solar supplies 5 MW of modules to Ralco Energy

Wednesday, 10.2.2013 - 16:08 (Solarserver)

JA Solar Holdings Co., Ltd. (Shanghai, China) on October 1st, 2013, announced that it has supplied 5 MW of its high-efficiency 270 W mono-crystalline solar photovoltaic (PV) modules to Ralco Energy, Ltd., a subsidiary of Ralco Group (Azur, Israel) for a ground-mounted PV project in Israel. Read more

USD 600 million in U.S. Army contracts to include solar thermal, solar PV technologies

Wednesday, 10.2.2013 - 16:06 (Solarserver)

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has awarded contacts with a total value of USD 600 million to 11 companies to provide design/build support for energy and energy conservation projects globally, including solar photovoltaic (PV) solar water heating and other solar thermal systems. Read more

US Army Moves Toward Solar Energy to Save Lives

Wednesday, 10.2.2013 - 15:44 (Renewable Energy World)

The U.S. Army is spending billions of dollars shifting toward solar energy, recycled water and better- insulated tents. The effort isn’t about saving the Earth. Read more

JRC finds continued global solar PV industry growth, despite difficulties

Wednesday, 10.2.2013 - 15:26 (Solarserver)

The European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) has published its annual report on the status of the global solar photovoltaic (PV) industry, estimating that the industry grew 10% in 2012 to produce roughly 38.5 GW of solar photovoltaic (PV) cells. “PV Status Report 2013” expects another “modest” increase in global production in 2013, the industry has seen a compound annual growth rate of roughly 55% over the last decade, making PV one of the fastest growing industries in the world. Read more

SEUK: Solmetric to launch new PV analyser at Solar Energy UK

Wednesday, 10.2.2013 - 14:51 (Solarpowerportal)

Solmetric Corporation will launch its new 1,000 volt PV Analyser at Solar Energy UK next week in Birmingham. Read more

EU PVSEC: Peter Fath to head RENA solar operation

Wednesday, 10.2.2013 - 14:01 (PV-Tech)

Peter Fath has been appointed as the new managing director of the solar division of German equipment supplier RENA. Read more

Grid costs no barrier to EU solar expansion, says report

Wednesday, 10.2.2013 - 13:50 (PV-Tech)

The cost of grid connections should not be an obstacle to large-scale expansion of solar energy in Europe, according to a new report developed by Imperial College London. Read more

Greg Barker to launch Solar Energy UK in Birmingham

Wednesday, 10.2.2013 - 13:15 (Solarpowerportal)

The energy and climate change minister Greg Barker will open this year’s Solar Energy UK event at the NEC Birmingham on 8-10 October. Read more

Hanwha SolarOne provides modules to citizen-funded solar project in Germany

Wednesday, 10.2.2013 - 13:15 (PV-Tech)

Hanwha SolarOne has supplied 8.2MW of solar modules to a citizen-funded solar project in Germany. Read more

BayWa r.e. starts construction of 19.5MW solar farm in Suffolk

Wednesday, 10.2.2013 - 12:15 (PV-Tech)

BayWa r.e. renewable energy GmbH has begun construction of a 19.5MW solar farm at the disused Parham Airfield in Great Glemham, Suffolk in the south of England. Read more

JA Solar supplies 5MW project in Israel

Wednesday, 10.2.2013 - 11:56 (PV-Tech)

Module manufacturer JA Solar has won a contract to supply panels for a 5MW project in Israel. Read more

BayWa r.e. starts construction of 19.5MW solar farm in Suffolk

Wednesday, 10.2.2013 - 11:51 (Solarpowerportal)

BayWa r.e. renewable energy GmbH has begun construction of a 19.5MW solar farm at the disused Parham Airfield in Great Glemham, Suffolk. Read more

Arizona Regulators Recommend Rejecting Cut to APS’s Solar Rates

Wednesday, 10.2.2013 - 10:57 (Renewable Energy World)

Arizona regulatory staff recommended rejecting a proposal to reduce the price the state’s largest utility must pay for solar power produced by its customers. Read more

IHS: Global solar PV installation growth set to hit three-year high in 2014; turning point for Europe

Wednesday, 10.2.2013 - 10:25 (Solarserver)

Global solar photovoltaic (PV) installations are forecast to rise at the fastest pace in three years in 2014, exceeding 40 gigawatts (GW) for this first time and generating installation revenue of more than USD 86 billion, according to IHS Inc. (Englewood, Colorado, US). Annual solar installations are predicted to expand at a rate of 18 percent in 2014, reaching 41 GW and firmly marking the end of the solar industry’s two-year slowdown. Read more

JinkoSolar to supply 20 MW of PV modules to wind/solar PV/energy storage demonstration project in China

Wednesday, 10.2.2013 - 10:22 (Solarserver)

JinkoSolar Holding Company Ltd. (Shanghai) will supply 20 MW of solar photovoltaic (PV) modules to public utility State Grid Corporation of China (Beijing) for the second phase of China's National Wind/PV/Energy Storage and Transmission Joint Demonstration Project. The USD 2 billion project in Hebei Province will be the world's largest facility integrating wind and solar generation with power storage and smart grid technology, and will serve as a platform for research as well as a model for future energy projects. The project will include 500 MW of wind power, 100 MW of solar photovoltaics (PV) and 110 MW of energy storage. Read more

Asia Report: Five Reasons Why China's Solar Demand Could Surprise You

Wednesday, 10.2.2013 - 8:15 (Renewable Energy World)

Analysis of Chinese government policies at several levels suggest Chinese solar market growth could take off in late 2013 after a slow start to the year, as various projects finish their development phase and new incentives kick in. Read more

Mercom Capital: India must get on track with PV auction process

Wednesday, 10.2.2013 - 4:15 (PV-Tech)

Several obstacles to the installation of new solar power generating capacity in India must be overcome if the government’s ambitious renewable energy plans are to stay on track, according to Raj Prabhu, chief executive officer at clean energy consultancy and communications firm Mercom. Read more

A Burning Question: Are Europe's Biomass Imports Sustainable?

Wednesday, 10.2.2013 - 11:01 (Renewable Energy World)

Europe’s debate over the sustainability of its imported biomass feedstock is heating up. Read more

German solar PV and wind energy met more than 1/3 of electricity demand all day Sunday September 29th, 2013

Wednesday, 10.2.2013 - 10:22 (Solarserver)

German solar photovoltaic (PV) and wind generation met 33.5% of the nation's electricity demand over a 24-hour period on Sunday September 29th, 2013, as reported by Renewables International. This is not a record for Germany, which met 46% of its electricity demand with wind and PV on December 31st, 2012. Unlike that record, the majority of electricity on September 29th, 2013 was supplied by PV, not wind. Read more

U.S. DOE announces USD 100 million competition for energy research centers

Wednesday, 10.2.2013 - 18:51 (Solarserver)

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced a competition for USD 100 million in FY 2014 funding for Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRCs), on the evening before the U.S. federal government shut down non-essential functions due to an ongoing conflict over the nation's policies. Read more

The Sequester and Its Impact on US Government Funding for Renewable Energy Projects

Wednesday, 10.2.2013 - 15:25 (Renewable Energy World)

Mandatory spending cuts triggered by the March 1st sequester (automatic spending cuts) in the U.S. are being felt across the renewable energy sector sparking fears that reduced federal investment could curtail research, development and commercialization of new renewable energy technologies. Read more

US Army issues US$600 million in renewable energy contracts

Wednesday, 10.2.2013 - 12:02 (PV-Tech)

The US Army has issued US$600 million of contracts to 11 companies to assist with its clean energy project development. Read more

1.55 GW of large-scale renewable energy projects under construction in 13 Arab nations

Wednesday, 10.2.2013 - 8:56 (Solarserver)

The Regional Center for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (RCREEE, Cairo) finds that more than 15 large-scale renewable energy projects totaling 1.55 GW are under construction in 13 Arab states, in a recently launched report on renewable energy in the region. This is double the region's current renewable energy capacity. RCREEE presented key findings from the two reports that comprise the Arab Future Energy Index (AFEX) at the Beirut Energy Forum on September 26th, 2013. The renewable energy report finds that the Arab region has substantial underutilized renewable energy resources, but that almost all nations in the region have adopted long-term technology-specific renewable Read more