CPV Outlook: Demand Doubling, Costs Halved by 2017

Thursday, 12.12.2013 - 21:56 (Renewable Energy World)

Are we seeing deja-vu in today's concentrated solar photovoltaic (CPV) market from the 2007-2008 period of solar PV? That's what one analyst says, offering as evidence wide technology advancements, a ramp-up in demand, and rapidly decreasing cost projections. Read more

Tool Order: Meyer Burger wins first technology buy for ink jet printing cell technology

Thursday, 12.12.2013 - 19:09 (PV-Tech)

Meyer Burger’s subsidiary, Roth & Rau has won the first order for its ‘PiXDRO JETx’ ink jet printing technology for high-efficiency solar cells for a US-based customer’s production facility in Malaysia. Read more

Suntech board member resigns

Thursday, 12.12.2013 - 17:17 (PV-Tech)

Philip Fan, independent director and board member at Suntech Power Holdings, has resigned his position with immediate effect, according to an SEC filing. Read more

Astronergy acquires Conergy Frankfurt factory

Thursday, 12.12.2013 - 12:51 (PV-Tech)

China-based thin-film module producer, Astronergy, is to buy Conergy’s Frankfurt modules factory. Read more

Exclusive: Shunfeng promises Suntech brand will live on after deal

Thursday, 12.12.2013 - 9:08 (PV-Tech)

The Suntech module brand will stay in use after the long-running acquisition of the firm’s manufacturing arm is completed, Shunfeng executive chairman Zhang Li has told PV Tech. Read more

Skytron's PVGuard monitoring software evolves into an analytical tool

Thursday, 12.12.2013 - 8:45 (Solarserver)

Skytron Energy (Berlin) says that its PVGuard monitoring software has evolved into an analytical tool for solar photovoltaic (PV) plants, driven by the changing market conditions for renewable and hybrid power plants including opening of the energy market to direct trading. The company notes that PVGuard's production forecasts supply hourly estimates of production for up to seven days in advance, which supports the strategic trading of electricity from PV. This includes an auto-adaptive algorithm which predicts power production based on current weather data, plant characteristics and the output over recent weeks. Read more

1366 Technologies garners more funds for 250MW wafer capacity expansion

Thursday, 12.12.2013 - 19:32 (PV-Tech)

Specialist US-based solar wafer producer, 1366 Technologies has received a further US$2.5 million in Series C financing bringing the round to a total of US$17.5 million. Read more

Greg Barker promises to ‘mobilise the mid-scale solar market’ in 2014

Thursday, 12.12.2013 - 19:15 (Solarpowerportal)

Energy and climate change minister, Greg Barker, promised those attending the Solar Trade Association’s Solar Britain parliamentary event that more would be done to develop the “crucial” rooftop solar sector in the UK. Read more

Canadian Solar to supply 100 MW of solar PV modules for Chinese projects

Thursday, 12.12.2013 - 14:59 (Solarserver)

Canadian Solar Inc. (Guelph, Canada) has agreed to supply Zhenfa New Energy Science & Technology Co. Ltd. (Wuxi, China) with 100 MW of solar photovoltaic (PV) modules for four PV projects in Northwestern China. Read more

Solargiga forms JV to build 200 MW of solar PV in Ghana

Thursday, 12.12.2013 - 14:15 (Solarserver)

A subsidiary of Solargiga Energy Holdings Ltd. (Hong Kong) and a regional development agency of the Ghanaian government have agreed to form a joint venture (JV) company with the aim of building 200 MW of solar photovoltaic (PV) plants in Ghana. Read more

Grupo T-Solar inaugurates 25MW NADB-financed plant on US-Mexico border

Thursday, 12.12.2013 - 14:04 (PV-Tech)

Spanish independent power producer Grupo T-Solar (T-Solar) has inaugurated its first plant in the US, a 25MWp project in the city of El Centro, Imperial Valley, California. Read more

GE Energy Financial Services completes equity investment in 143MW Catalina Solar project

Thursday, 12.12.2013 - 12:56 (PV-Tech)

A consortium headed by GE Energy Financial Services has completed an equity investment in the 143MW Catalina Solar PV power station in Rosamund, California. Read more

UK’s first solar mini-bond oversubscribed at £7.536 million

Thursday, 12.12.2013 - 12:50 (Solarpowerportal)

Secured Energy Bonds, a wholly-owned subsidiary of CBD Energy Limited, has confirmed that its solar mini-bond successfully achieved a full raise at launch. Read more

Canadian Solar expects PV module demand in China to exceed 10GW in 2014

Thursday, 12.12.2013 - 12:16 (PV-Tech)

Tier one PV energy provider (PVEP), Canadian Solar, has said that due to the scale of planned PV power plant projects in China, module demand is expected to exceed 10GW in 2014. Read more

Solarcentury wins planning consent for solar farm in Prime Minister’s constituency

Thursday, 12.12.2013 - 11:59 (Solarpowerportal)

Plans for a 13.4MW solar farm near Eynsham in David Cameron’s constituency of Whitney have been given the go-ahead by local planners. Read more

U.S. DOE provides USD 13 million to support solar PV, CSP manufacturing improvements

Thursday, 12.12.2013 - 9:30 (Solarserver)

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has approved over USD 13 million to five projects to strengthen U.S. solar manufacturing and speed the commercialization of high-efficiency, low-cost solar power electric technologies through its SunShot Initiative. While four of the awards go to solar photovoltaic (PV) technologies, Abengoa SA's (Seville, Spain) U.S. subsidiary has been chosen for a USD 1.9 million award to support new manufacturing techniques for concentrating solar power (CSP) components. The SunShot Solar Manufacturing Technology (SolarMat) awards will be matched by USD 14 million in private investment. Read more

Chinese PV company Clenergy reduces its carbon footprint with a 207 kW solar PV roof

Thursday, 12.12.2013 - 9:23 (Solarserver)

Clenergy (Xiamen, China) recently completed a 207 kW solar photovoltaic (PV) roof array located on its global R&D and manufacturing center, Clenergy Technology Park, in Xiamen China. Deployed on the rooftop of Workshop Buildings One, Two and Three, the solar PV system utilizes Clenergy's PV-ezRack series of roof mount systems, SJB series of string joint boxes and SPS 500 inverters. The PV system provides solar power for Clenergy’s production lines and reduces the company’s carbon footprint and utility bills. Read more

BYD to supply 160 MW of solar PV modules, batteries for Strata Solar projects

Thursday, 12.12.2013 - 8:49 (Solarserver)

Strata Solar LLC (Chapel Hill, North Carolina, U.S.) has established a partnership with BYD Company Ltd. (Shenzhen, China), which will include the purchase 160 MW of BYD solar photovoltaic (PV) modules for projects in 2014. Additionally, Strata plans to integrate BYD batteries into a series of utility projects. Strata expects to complete 300–400 MW of PV projects in 2014, following on the completion of 30 PV plants totaling nearly 200 MW in 2013. Read more

Hydropower Renaissance Signals Investment Surge

Thursday, 12.12.2013 - 12:00 (Renewable Energy World)

According to the World Energy Council’s latest World Energy Resources (WER) report, hydropower already provides a substantial proportion of energy worldwide, contributing approximately 15 percent of global electricity production. Indeed in several countries, for example Iceland, Nepal and Mozambique, hydropower accounts for over half of all electricity generation. Read more

Holiday Shopping Deal on Geothermal Shares

Thursday, 12.12.2013 - 16:21 (Renewable Energy World)

Holders of Ram Power Corp. (TSX:RPG, OTC:RAMPF) on November 26 (the “record date”) recieved valuable coupons as the result of the company’s rights offering, announced November 18th. Just in time for the holidays, these coupons, or “rights” can be used to buy additional shares of Ram Power for 8¢ Canadian per share any time before 5:00 p.m. on December 23rd. (Disclosure: I am long Ram Power stock.) Read more

World Bank Prepares Djibouti’s Geothermal Project for Private Sector Expertise

Thursday, 12.12.2013 - 13:47 (Renewable Energy World)

Developing countries that are interested in geothermal energy may see transformational results by approaching World Bank and other institutions, as Djibouti did. In an interview, the World Bank Djibouti geothermal project team talks about the project investment, lessons from Kenya’s experience, and preparations that are being made for the private sector to take up the next steps. Read more

Eurelectric says PV system owners should pay for network access

Thursday, 12.12.2013 - 10:21 (PV-Tech)

Owners of PV systems should take “more responsibility” for the cost of adding PV generated electricity to transmission networks, Gunnar Lorenz, head of the distribution system operator (DSO) unit at electricity company trade body Eurelectric, has said. Read more

Chinese government reforms could expand the role of private industry in energy, change energy pricing

Thursday, 12.12.2013 - 9:03 (Solarserver)

The Communist Party of China (CCP) has outline a series of economic reforms to limit state involvement and allow private enterprises an expanded role, according to a white paper by IHS Inc. (Englewood, Colorado, U.S.). This was revealed in the Third Plenum of the CCP's 18th Congress. As outlined in “China's New Road Map for Accelerate Reform: An IHS View on the Third Plenum”, this could potentially level the playing field for private companies competing in key industries including energy, where state-owned enterprises currently have a strong role. It could also move energy prices to a market basis, with little government intervention. Read more