OutBack Power unveils grid-interactive inverters, chargers for energy storage and utility independence

Tuesday, 10.22.2013 - 16:04 (Solarserver)

OutBack Power Technologies, Inc. (Arlington, WA, U.S.) on October 21st, 2013, announced the grid-interactive Radian Series GS4048A and the GS3548E inverter/chargers. The new devices give qualified installers the ability to suit residential, industrial and commercial off-grid and grid connected solar photovoltaic (PV) applications in North, South and Central America, as well as in the Caribbean and in Japan. Read more

SPI 2013: Solectria Renewables XTM inverters meet smart grid needs of PV power plants

Tuesday, 10.22.2013 - 15:37 (PV-Tech)

Solectria Renewables has launched its SGI 500XTM and SGI 750XTM range of external transformer, 1000VDC inverters for utility-scale PV power plants at Solar Power International 2013. Read more

EnergyTrend: Popularity of monocrystalline solar cells increasing

Tuesday, 10.22.2013 - 14:47 (PV-Tech)

Demand for monocrystalline solar cells demand is increasing as PV rooftop markets switch to self-consumption, according to EnergyTrend, a research division of TrendForce. Read more

SPI 2013 AEG Power Solutions and skytron supply 5.8MW PV project in Texas

Tuesday, 10.22.2013 - 14:15 (PV-Tech)

Inverter manufacturer AEG Power Solutions and its subsidiary skytron energy, a monitoring and control systems manufacturer, have announced the completion of a 5.8 MW commercial PV installation for PPA Partners in Yuma, Arizona. Read more

Troubles resurface at centrotherm photovoltaics

Tuesday, 10.22.2013 - 12:52 (PV-Tech)

Beleaguered PV equipment supplier, centrotherm photovoltaics, has given a cryptic account of deterioration in revenue expectations over the next two years, having recently reviewed its order backlog. Read more

IHS: South Africa, Israel and Saudi Arabia key PV markets in the Middle East and Africa

Tuesday, 10.22.2013 - 8:58 (Solarserver)

South Africa is out-pacing Israel the leading solar photovoltaic (PV) market in the Middle East and Africa, according to a new white paper from IHS Inc. (Englewood, Colorado, U.S.). The paper finds that once the 796 MW of solar photovoltaic (PV) projects under construction in South Africa come online in 2013 and 2014, the nation will have the largest PV capacity in region. It also notes that with its plans to install 16 GW of PV by 2032, Saudi Arabia is emerging as an important market, but notes that timeframes are uncertain. Read more

Enphase begins shipping fourth-generation micro-inverter system in North America

Tuesday, 10.22.2013 - 8:45 (Solarserver)

Enphase Energy Inc. (Petaluma, California, U.S.) has begun shipping the fourth generation of its micro-inverter system, which includes the M250 micro-inverter and its Enlighten software platform, throughout North America. Enphase says the M250 micro-inverter offers a higher output power, increased efficiency and an integrated ground feature, and enhancements have additionally been made to its Enlighten software platform. Read more

SPI 2013: Hanwha Q CELLS makes major move on US commercial market

Tuesday, 10.22.2013 - 23:57 (PV-Tech)

Hanwha Q CELLS USA is establishing a new commercial division to support what it expects to be a booming market in the US, after lagging behind both the utility-scale and residential solar markets. Read more

SPI 2013: HDPV Alliance attracts Bonfiglioli to support BOS cost reductions

Tuesday, 10.22.2013 - 22:57 (PV-Tech)

Displaying its utility-scale central PV inverters at Solar Power International 2013, Bonfiglioli with 1.8GW installed is taking another leadership role in joining the HDPV Alliance. Read more

French solar PV peaks in July at 502 GWH, shows an average CUF of 13.8% in 2012

Tuesday, 10.22.2013 - 19:37 (Solarserver)

Renewable Energy Consultant Bernard Chabot has conducted a new study of solar photovoltaic (PV) production in France in 2012, finding that production peaked in July at 502 Gigawatt-hours (GWh). France reached 3.51 GW of installed PV at the end of 2012. The nation's PV plants produced 3.78 GW on mainland France and Corsica, to meet 0.8% of the nation's electricity demand. Read more

Solar PV.TV, White Gorilla Media and Technica Communications offer cross media promotion for green energy companies

Tuesday, 10.22.2013 - 15:58 (Solarserver)

SolarPV.TV (Brussels, Belgium) and White Gorilla Media (San Diego; Calif.) have joined forces with cleantech PR and social media firm Technica Communications (Cupertino, Calif.) to offer turnkey promotional solutions to solar and other cleantech companies around the world. Read more

EDF Renewable Energy closes financing on 5.96 MWp Lepomis Solar PV project

Tuesday, 10.22.2013 - 15:54 (Solarserver)

EDF Renewable Energy (Paris, France) on October 21st, 2013 announced the close of the Membership Interest Purchase and Sale Agreement (MIPSA), and start of construction for the Lepomis Solar Project. EDF Renewable Energy and the investment advisory company Sage Stone LLC (Mercer Island, WA, USA) signed the MIPSA in July 2013. The 5.96 MWp ground-mount fixed tilt solar photovoltaic (PV) project is located in Plymouth, Massachusetts, and will generate solar power to be delivered to the Town of Wareham, Massachusetts under a long-term Power Purchase Agreement (PPA), pursuant to the State’s Virtual Net Metering Credits Program. Read more

Russian city Orsk to gain 25MW solar power plant

Tuesday, 10.22.2013 - 14:27 (PV-Tech)

Russia’s largest private power supply company, Integrated Energy Systems Holding (IES), is to build a 25MW solar power plant in Orsk. Read more

REC announces results for REC Solar share bidding

Tuesday, 10.22.2013 - 12:51 (PV-Tech)

The Renewable Energy Company ASA has announced the results of its public share offering for its new division, REC Solar. Read more

SolarCity raises US$396.6 million to fuel expansion

Tuesday, 10.22.2013 - 12:39 (PV-Tech)

SolarCity’s stock and convertible note offering has closed with the company raising US$396.6 million. Read more

SPI 2013: US solar industry must silence its enemies, says SEIA chief

Tuesday, 10.22.2013 - 12:31 (PV-Tech)

The head of the US’s solar trade body has called on the industry to unite against efforts to disrupt the country’s deployment of solar technology. Read more

French solar PV peakes in July at 502 GWH, shows an average CUF of 13.8% in 2012

Tuesday, 10.22.2013 - 10:17 (Solarserver)

Renewable Energy Consultant Bernard Chabot has conducted a new study of solar photovoltaic (PV) production in France in 2012, finding that production peaked in July at 502 Gigawatt-hours (GWh). France reached 3.51 GW of installed PV at the end of 2012. The nation's PV plants produced 3.78 GW on mainland France and Corsica, to meet 0.8% of the nation's electricity demand. Read more

Panasonic to display bifacial HIT solar PV modules at Solar Power International

Tuesday, 10.22.2013 - 10:08 (Solarserver)

Panasonic Corp.'s (Osaka, Japan) North American subsidiary has announced that it will display the company's new HIT Double bifacial solar photovoltaic (PV) module at the Solar Power International trade show in Chicago, through October 24th, 2013. Panasonic North America will also display standard HIT PV modules. HIT is a high-efficiency design that incorporates a single crystalline silicon wafers between thin amorphous silicon layers, allowing for electricity generation from both sides of the HIT PV cells. Read more

Dubai Switches on First Solar Plant to Diversify Energy Mix

Tuesday, 10.22.2013 - 8:57 (Renewable Energy World)

Dubai switched on its first solar plant and plans to build a second, bigger sun-powered one to diversify energy supply in the United Arab Emirates, an OPEC member with 6 percent of global oil reserves. Read more

STA: Solar beats nuclear power on strike price alone

Tuesday, 10.22.2013 - 8:53 (Solarserver)

The Solar Trade Association (STA, Milton Keynes, U.K.) has predicted that electricity from solar photovoltaic (PV) generation will be much cheaper than electricity from nuclear generation well before a new nuclear power plant is commissioned in 2023. The UK government announced a commercial agreement on key terms of a contract for a new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point C in Somerset, England on October 21st, 2013. The strike price for the plant is set at GBP 0.0925 (USD 0.149) per kWh, over 35 years, while STA forecasts that the strike price for solar PV will be at GBP 0.086 (USD 0.139) in 2019/2020, based on a 15-year contract. Read more

New Government Programs Target Biofuels Support in US, Canada

Tuesday, 10.22.2013 - 9:58 (Renewable Energy World)

One of the all-time best Reaganisms was: “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the government and I’m here to help.” It’s right up there with “a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we’ll ever see on this earth.” Read more

Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan Reinvestigate Nile Hydropower Project Impact

Tuesday, 10.22.2013 - 10:06 (Renewable Energy World)

Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt agreed to examine the regional impact of a $4.2 billion dam being built on a Nile river tributary in Ethiopia after experts said earlier studies were inconclusive. Read more

An Open Frontier: The Untapped Potential of South American Geothermal

Tuesday, 10.22.2013 - 10:39 (Renewable Energy World)

The ring of fire is a geologic region that extends in a horseshoe shape from the bottom tip of South America, up along the Pacific coast through North America, and looping back through Asia and down to New Zealand. It's lined with more than 400 volcanoes, and as the Johnny Cash song goes, it "burns, burns, burns," which also means it's a geothermal dream zone. Read more

SPI 2013: LG Electronics continues global roll-out of ‘MonoX NeON’ module

Tuesday, 10.22.2013 - 23:15 (PV-Tech)

Momentum continues to build for LG Electronics’ most important solar module product roll-out since the company’s involvement in the PV industry. Read more

AEG Power Solutions, skytron energy commission 5.8 MWp PV plant in Yuma, Arizona

Tuesday, 10.22.2013 - 16:10 (Solarserver)

AEG Power Solutions (Zwanenburg, The Netherlands) and its subsidiary skytron energy GmbH (Berlin, Germany) on October 21st, 2013, announced the deployment of a 5.8 MWp commercial solar photovoltaic (PV) installation for PPA Partners (Morgan Hill, California, U.S.) in Yuma, Arizona, USA. The highly customized PV plant in Yuma covers four individual sites, each divided into multiple sub-sites, and a mix of rooftop, ground, and carport installations. PPA Partners has now over 50 MW of solar PV projects under development. Read more

Lightsource Renewable Energy in £4.4 million refinancing deal with Santander

Tuesday, 10.22.2013 - 13:46 (Solarpowerportal)

Lightsource Renewable Energy has announced a £4.4 million refinancing deal with Santander fro the 5MW Park Wall solar farm in Somerset. Read more

Caroline Lucas: Coalition locking Britain into costly nuclear future

Tuesday, 10.22.2013 - 13:15 (Solarpowerportal)

Green MP Caroline Lucas wrote to The Guardian today to express her concerns with the deal signed between the UK government and EDF. Read more

Chilean Presidential Candidate Bachelet considers reform of electricity bidding system

Tuesday, 10.22.2013 - 10:04 (Solarserver)

An advisor to Chilean Presidential Candidate Michele Bachelet has revealed more details of the candidate's energy plan, which includes improving access for “non-conventional” renewable energy in the bidding process. This includes potentially removing a clause in bidding systems to supply distribution companies that specifically bars variable energy sources including wind and solar. Bachelet's energy advisor Eduardo Bitran talked about these and other details at a presidential energy forum, as reported by the Chilean Association of Renewable Energies (ACERA). Read more