Suntech accepts US$492 million bid from Shunfeng

Wednesday, 11.13.2013 - 12:15 (PV-Tech)

The RMB3 billion (US$492 million) bid from Shunfeng Photovoltaic International for Suntech’s manufacturing arm has been accepted by the administrator of the flailing firm. Read more

Hundreds attend pro-solar rally in Arizona

Wednesday, 11.13.2013 - 19:25 (PV-Tech)

Hundreds of pro-solar advocates have reportedly turned out at a rally outside the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) as two days of public hearings began today on the issue of net metering in Arizona. Read more

Flour completes 125 MW-AC AVSE II solar PV plant in Arizona

Wednesday, 11.13.2013 - 16:44 (Solarserver)

Fluor Corp. (Irving, Texas) has achieved “substantial completion” of a 125 MW-AC solar photovoltaic (PV) plant in the U.S. state of Arizona. The company serves as engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor for the Arlington Valley Solar Energy II (AVSE II) PV project, which was developed by LS Power Group (New York City). Read more

Hanwha SolarOne shifting strategy to higher value markets

Wednesday, 11.13.2013 - 16:28 (PV-Tech)

Hanwha SolarOne is shifting its position in the PV industry in an attempt to improve its business opportunities and financial condition in light of its slow recovery, compared to tier 1 Chinese rivals. Read more

Canadian Solar moves back into the black in Q3 2013 results, reports strong results from project business

Wednesday, 11.13.2013 - 16:01 (Solarserver)

Canadian Solar Inc. (Guelph, Canada) has released results for the third quarter of 2013, reporting a 51% year-over-year increase in revenues to USD 491 million, as well as an 11% operating margin and net income of USD 33.4 million. Read more

80.8MW solar farm proposal adds to Chile’s growing project pipeline

Wednesday, 11.13.2013 - 14:44 (PV-Tech)

Chile’s Environmental Assessment Service has received a proposal for an 80.8MW solar project in the Atacama Region. Read more

Ugandan government signs deal for 500MW of solar power

Wednesday, 11.13.2013 - 14:01 (PV-Tech)

The Ugandan government has signed an MoU to build 500MW of utility-scale solar power. Read more

Strange Bedfellows: Why the Tea Party is Fighting for Solar

Wednesday, 11.13.2013 - 14:00 (Renewable Energy World)

When do Tea Party Republicans stand together with Sierra Club environmentalists? The answer is on their support for solar energy against the monopoly power of traditional utilities in some of the most conservative U.S. states. Read more

First Solar signs PPAs with four California cities for 40MW Kingbird plant

Wednesday, 11.13.2013 - 13:35 (PV-Tech)

US thin-film panel maker and PV project builder, First Solar, has signed power purchase agreements (PPAs) for electricity generated by a planned 40MW project in Kern County, California. Read more

EPC contractor Fluor completes 125MW Arizona PV plant

Wednesday, 11.13.2013 - 12:38 (PV-Tech)

Construction company Fluor Corporation announced the ‘substantial completion’ of Arlington Valley Solar Energy II (AVSEII), a 125MW PV plant in Arizona, USA. Read more

Washington Gas Energy Systems unveils 4 MW solar PV plant in Marshfield, Massachusetts

Wednesday, 11.13.2013 - 12:18 (Solarserver)

The town of Marshfield (Massachusetts, U.S.), on November 12th, 2013, unveiled a 4-megawatt (MW) solar photovoltaic (PV) array in a ribbon cutting ceremony with representatives from Washington Gas Energy Systems, Inc. (McLean, VA, U.S.), AMSOLAR (Meppen, Germany), SunDurance Energy (Edison, NJ, U.S.), and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection. The ground-mounted solar PV array is built on a capped landfill and consists of 13,518 PV panels covering 13 acres of land, and is expected to produce more than 5,000,000-kilowatt hours of solar power each year. Read more

DECC partners with the National Solar Centre for planning roadshows

Wednesday, 11.13.2013 - 12:15 (Solarpowerportal)

The National Solar Centre (NSC) has joined up with the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) to run a series of six roadshows to help explain the new solar planning guidelines to local planning officials. Read more

Good Energy wins planning permission for 28MW solar farm on Conservative MP Richard Drax’s estate

Wednesday, 11.13.2013 - 12:14 (Solarpowerportal)

Dorset County Council has approved plans for a 28MW solar farm on Richard Drax MP’s Charborough Estate near Mapperton. Read more

AEG Power Solutions commissions 5.83 MW solar PV project for Nahar Group in Rajasthan, India

Wednesday, 11.13.2013 - 12:12 (Solarserver)

AEG Power Solutions (Zwanenburg, The Netherlands) commissioned a major solar photovoltaic (PV) based power plant with new customer Nahar Group in India. Located in Bikaner (Rajasthan), the 5.83 MW PV Plant is equipped with high efficiency crystalline PV modules and connected to a 33 kV grid. Read more

Asia Report: China Ascending to Solar PV Pinnacle

Wednesday, 11.13.2013 - 10:54 (Renewable Energy World)

China has been the largest solar photovoltaic (PV) manufacturer for several years now, but it's also emerging as a massive end-market. Read more

Hanwha SolarOne struggles with profitability as sales decline sequentially

Wednesday, 11.13.2013 - 9:33 (Solarserver)

Hanwha SolarOne Co. Ltd. (Shanghai) has released results for the third quarter of 2013, reporting a 17% year-over-year increase in revenues to USD 185 million, but a net loss of USD 75.2 million. The company's shipments and revenues represent a slight decline from the previous quarter, and its operating margin fell from -10% to -12%. During the third quarter the company's shipments into Japan increased to 46% of revenues, with 10-12% of sales into the U.S., China and South Africa each. Read more

India solar: MNRE data shows PV plant performance improvement in September 2013

Wednesday, 11.13.2013 - 9:26 (Solarserver)

India's Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has released data on the capacity utilization factors (CUFs) of solar photovoltaic (PV) plants commissioned under the nation's National Solar Mission (NSM) for September 2013. With a few outliers, plants commissioned under Phase 1, Batch 1 and Phase 1, Batch 2 of the NSM, including plants brought into Phase 1 through the Migration Scheme, reported CUFs of 19–26%. This is an improvement from the CUFs reported in July 2013, during the height of monsoon season. MNRE did not release CUF data for August 2013. Read more

First Solar signs 40 MW-AC of PPAs with cities in Southern California

Wednesday, 11.13.2013 - 9:02 (Solarserver)

First Solar Inc. (Tempe, Arizona, U.S.) has signed 20-year power purchase agreements (PPAs) with municipalities in Southern California for the electricity to be generated by a 40 MW-AC solar photovoltaic (PV) project which it will build in California's Central Valley. The cities of Pasadena, Riverside, Colton and Azusa will all buy power from the Kingbird PV project near Rosamond in Kern county. First Solar says that dependent upon final permitting, construction on the PV plant could start in mid-2014, with commissioning as early as late 2015. Read more

SolarWorld revenues fall 26% in the first nine months of 2013

Wednesday, 11.13.2013 - 8:59 (Solarserver)

SolarWorld AG (Bonn, Germany) has released preliminary results for the first nine months of 2013, reporting a 26% fall in revenues to EUR 346 million (USD 464 million), with a -31% operating margin and a net loss of EUR 149 million (USD 200 million). The company's results were impacted by a 9% year-over-year fall in sales of solar photovoltaic (PV) modules and kits to 390 MW. SolarWorld notes that customers are hesitant to buy its kits due to concerns over its restructuring, and that loan capital for large-scale projects is not feasible at the moment. Read more

Growing Algae to Produce Clean Fuel and Offset Carbon Emissions

Wednesday, 11.13.2013 - 14:31 (Renewable Energy World)

A typical day in Orlando, Florida is hot, humid, and sunny – the perfect environment to grow some algae. On Monday afternoon, Power-Gen and Renewable Energy World attendees headed to the Culture Fuels site to learn about their algal biomass technology. According to Mike Welch, research associate at Culture Fuels, the company hopes to scale-up its technology so that it can economically and efficiently produce algal biodiesel. And since algae need plenty of carbon dioxide (CO2) to thrive, Welch believes algae can work hand-in-hand with fossil fuel generation to help offset emissions. Read more

Only 813MW of PV through to second round of Brazil A-3 auction

Wednesday, 11.13.2013 - 13:43 (PV-Tech)

A total of 31 PV projects with a generation capacity of 813MW have made it to the second round of bidding under Brazil’s ‘A-3’ energy action, according to the Brazilian government’s Energy Research Company (EPE). Read more

Lessons from Japan: How the Nation Can Supercharge Its Clean-Energy Economy

Wednesday, 11.13.2013 - 12:54 (Renewable Energy World)

Two and a half years after the Fukushima disaster, all of Japan’s 50 nuclear reactors are offline. The nation’s total energy mix from nuclear power has dropped precipitously, from nuclear providing 11.3 percent in 2010 to just 0.7 percent in 2012, according to recently released data from Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade, & Industry. While Japan’s national government under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe would like to bring many of the nation’s nuclear plants back online, strong opposition from local prefectural governors and the public have put nuclear power’s future in a precarious position. Some of Japan’s plants will likely be brought back online — this past Read more

Goldpoly adds 500MW of China PV projects to expanding portfolio

Wednesday, 11.13.2013 - 12:15 (PV-Tech)

China-based PV manufacturer, Goldpoly New Energy, has reached an agreement with Kunlun, a subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corporation, to acquire a 500MW PV project portfolio in China. Read more

It Doesn't Have To Be So Hard: Making Renewable Energy Siting Easier

Wednesday, 11.13.2013 - 3:59 (Renewable Energy World)

There is a deep irony at work in the intersection of energy and the environment. The biggest threat to our planet is climate change, caused in large part by our profligate use of energy. And one of the biggest solutions is to de-carbonize our electricity system by building renewable energy projects, linked to cities and large urban centers with new Read more