Kaco new energy opens inverter manufacturing facility in Texas

Monday, 12.23.2013 - 12:43 (PV-Tech)

German inverter manufacturer Kaco new energy, has opened a manufacturing plant in San Antonio, Texas. Read more

IHS: Global PV inverter shipments hit a record 9.9 GW in Q3 2013

Monday, 12.23.2013 - 9:08 (Solarserver)

IHS Inc. (Englewood, Colorado, U.S.) reports that 9.9 GW of inverters to accompany solar photovoltaic (PV) generation were shipped globally in the third quarter of 2013, as the largest quarterly volume to date. The company further predicts that 10.9 GW of inverters will be shipped in the fourth quarter. Additionally, for the first time three of the top five inverter makers by revenue were Chinese or Japanese companies. Omron (Kyoto, Japan) and Tabuchi Electric Co. Ltd. (Osaka, Japan) became the third and fourth largest during the quarter, followed by Sungrow Power Supply Co. Ltd. (Hefei, China) in fifth place. Read more

NPD Solarbuzz expects explosive growth of 49GW for Solar PV industry in 2014

Monday, 12.23.2013 - 23:51 (PV-Tech)

According to NPD Solarbuzz, the PV industry has reached a tipping point that will propel the sector to an unprecedented demand in 2014. Read more

UK’s largest solar farm granted planning permission

Monday, 12.23.2013 - 17:15 (PV-Tech)

Renewable energy supplier, Good Energy has been granted provisional planning permission for a 49.9MW solar plant – the largest in the UK following the cannon of announcements for a 40MW and 41MW solar park in recent weeks. Read more

SolarCity increases corporate credit facility to USD 200 million

Monday, 12.23.2013 - 17:05 (Solarserver)

SolarCity Corp. (San Mateo, California, U.S.) has increased the size of its corporate revolving credit fund to USD 200 million, which it plans to use to fund the company's growth. The three-year credit facility bears interest of 2.25% over base rate or 3.25% over LIBOR. Read more

Good Energy gets provisional go ahead for 49.9MW solar farm

Monday, 12.23.2013 - 16:40 (Solarpowerportal)

Renewable energy supplier, Good Energy has been granted provisional planning permission for a 49.9MW solar plant, the largest under development in the UK. Read more

Goldpoly to acquire 195 MW of solar PV plants in Inner Mongolia, China

Monday, 12.23.2013 - 16:30 (Solarserver)

A subsidiary of Goldpoly New Energy Holdings Ltd. (Hong Kong) has entered into agreements to acquire majority interests in 195 MW of solar photovoltaic (PV) plants in China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. All four plants have either already been commissioned during December 2013 or are expected to be commissioned by the end of the year. Read more

Solar shortage in Maharashtra as Tata Power petitions for penalty waiver

Monday, 12.23.2013 - 14:34 (PV-Tech)

Tata Power has petitioned the state electric regulator to waive penalties for not fulfilling solar generation obligations. Read more

Canadian Solar sells off two more utility-scale PV power plants

Monday, 12.23.2013 - 14:07 (PV-Tech)

Canadian Solar has continued a spate of project sales in a deal with Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG) for 4.4MW DC of PV power plants. Read more

Microinverters Moving Into Commercial-Scale Solar: When Will It Happen?

Monday, 12.23.2013 - 14:05 (Renewable Energy World)

Back in mid-August, Vine Fresh Produce in Ontario unveiled a 2.3-MW solar rooftop array on its greenhouse, the largest commercial rooftop project under the province's feed-in tariff (FIT). This system notably incorporates a technology that's been more familiar in the U.S. residential solar market: microinverters. (The devices, made in Enphase's Ontario plant, helped the project qualify for that FIT.) Weeks ago Enphase followed that up with another large-sized project using microinverters, 3.1-MW of distributed solar across 125 buildings for the San Diego Unified School District. Read more

US government passes half way mark in solar cost-cutting programme

Monday, 12.23.2013 - 12:44 (PV-Tech)

The US department of energy is more than half way toward the final target of its cost cutting programme for solar energy. Read more

Romania halves ‘generous’ solar certificate allocation for 2014

Monday, 12.23.2013 - 12:34 (PV-Tech)

Romania is to halve the green certificates available for new solar developments. Read more

DECC: Average cost of solar PV under 50 kW falls to USD 2.27-3.30 in 2013

Monday, 12.23.2013 - 9:13 (Solarserver)

The UK Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has issued a new analysis of solar photovoltaic (PV) plant prices under the nation's Microgeneration Scheme. The report finds that average installed prices for PV plants under 50 kW have fallen to GBP 1.39-2.02 (USD 2.27-3.30) per watt, depending upon the scale of the installation. For PV arrays up to 4 kW, the average price was GBP 2.02 (USD 3.30) per watt and for plants 4-10 kW this fell to GBP 1.66 (USD 2.71) per watt. For PV plants 10-50 kW in size, this fell again to GBP 1.39 (USD 2.27) per watt. Read more

Meyer Burger to supply equipment for South American solar PV production line

Monday, 12.23.2013 - 9:11 (Solarserver)

Meyer Burger AG (Thun, Switzerland) reports that it has concluded a USD 11 million order with a European customer to supply core components for an integrated solar photovoltaic (PV) production line in South America. This is the fourth large order for PV equipment that Meyer Burger has concluded this month, totaling USD 48 million. It also shows a growing interest in South America as a PV manufacturing location, following the announcement earlier in December 2013 that Hanergy will build a thin film PV factory in Brazil. Read more

U.S. commissions 177 MW of utility-scale solar PV in November 2013

Monday, 12.23.2013 - 9:05 (Solarserver)

14 utility-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) plants totaling 177 MW were put online in the United States in November 2013, according to the latest Energy Infrastructure Update by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). These represent nearly half of the 394 MW of new electricity generation commissioned during the month, all of which came from renewable energy. Over the first 11 months of 2013 the United States put online 222 utility-scale PV and concentrating solar power (CSP) plants totaling 2.63 GW, a 68% increase over the same period in 2012. Read more

Trina Solar to supply 25 MW of PV modules to Thai project

Monday, 12.23.2013 - 9:02 (Solarserver)

Trina Solar Ltd. (Changzhou, China) has been chosen to supply 25 MW of its solar photovoltaic (PV) modules to phase 3 of the Bangchak Solar Energy Project in Thailand. The entire project is 75 MW, and Trina Solar is the sole module supplier for phase 3. Trina Solar expects to commence shipment in late December 2013. Gunkul Engineering Public Co. Ltd. (Dusit, Thailand) will construct the plant for owner Bangchak Solar Energy Co. Ltd. (BSE). Read more

Deepwater Says Offshore Wind Farm Will Meet Tax Credit Threshold

Monday, 12.23.2013 - 16:29 (Renewable Energy World)

Deepwater Wind LLC, the renewable- energy developer planning wind projects off the U.S. Atlantic Coast, expects its Block Island Wind Farm to qualify for a federal tax credit that expires this year. Read more

MidAmerican completes acquisition of NV Energy

Monday, 12.23.2013 - 20:40 (Solarserver)

MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co. (MEHC, Omaha, Nebraska, U.S.) has completed its acquisition of utility NV Energy Inc. (Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.) after receiving the final regulatory clearances. The acquisition brings together two companies that have had a role in the development of the solar market in the Western United States. Read more

The Alaska Renewable-source Ammonia Fuel Pilot Plant: Firming Storage and Renewables Export

Monday, 12.23.2013 - 14:00 (Renewable Energy World)

Alaska’s 720,000 people live in over 200 “energy islands” with no electricity grid connection to each other nor to North America. Smaller communities have no road connection to each other, the rest of Alaska, or the continent. Most energy is imported: diesel for electricity generation and heat; gasoline for transportation. All Alaskans might obtain an annually-firm supply of most of their energy, for all purposes, by converting Alaska’s diverse, stranded, renewable energy (RE) resources to liquid anhydrous ammonia (NH3) fuel, transporting and storing it at low cost in common steel propane tanks, recovering the RE via stationary combined-heat-and-power (CHP) plants, Read more

Utility-Scale Renewable Energy Development in the US Faces Obstacles in 2014

Monday, 12.23.2013 - 17:54 (Renewable Energy World)

“Some think it is the beginning of the end here for renewable energy in the United States,” began Adam Umanoff partner at Akin Gump at the start of his presentation for energy media in early December. As a renewable energy journalist based in the U.S. this was a very provocative statement indeed. Read more

Utility-scale Renewable Energy Development in the US Faces Obstacles in 2014

Monday, 12.23.2013 - 17:54 (Renewable Energy World)

“Some think it is the beginning of the end here for renewable energy in the United States,” began Adam Umanoff partner at Akin Gump at the start of his presentation for energy media in early December. As a renewable energy journalist based in the U.S. this was a very provocative statement indeed. Read more

EnergyTrend: 2014 worldwide demand to hit 42GW, tier one manufacturers to profit

Monday, 12.23.2013 - 14:15 (PV-Tech)

Analysis firm EnergyTrend has predicted that global market demand for photovoltaics (PV) will total around 42GW in 2014. Read more

2013 Draws to a Close: Clean Energy Scorecard

Monday, 12.23.2013 - 14:00 (Renewable Energy World)

Global private capital renewable energy investments are still above $250 billion for 2013. While the final numbers are not in yet, 3rd quarter global renewable energy investments according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance’s latest data on deals and projects, notes slightly lower global investment than in 2012 due faltering “political will to decarbonise energy mix.” They further note that the third quarter’s decline in investment will push the year’s overall investment in renewable energy and energy-smart technologies down below 2012's $281 billion. But $250+ billion ain’t shabby. Read more