World PV capacity tops 100GW

Monday, 2.11.2013 - 13:00 (PV-Tech)

The global cumulative capacity of solar PV passed the 100GW mark last year, according to analysis by the European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA). Read more

REC ASA reports heavy loss on impairment in 4Q results

Monday, 2.11.2013 - 9:46 (Solarserver)

Renewable Energy Corporation ASA (REC, Sandvika, Norway) has released fourth quarter and full year 2012 results, reporting USD 305 million in revenues and a -2% EBITDA margin. However, the company reports an operating result of USD -393 million, including USD 325 million in impairment on fixed assets mostly related to REC's US polysilicon business. REC states that solar photovoltaic (PV) market demand improved "somewhat" in the fourth quarter, with geographical shifts, and notes the impact of falling prices. Read more

Caltech?s Dr. Harry Atwater: Oversupply of PV modules is a good thing

Monday, 2.11.2013 - 9:34 (Solarserver)

Dr. Harry Atwater, director of the Resnick Sustainability Institute at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), has stated that the current oversupply of solar photovoltaic (PV) modules, while difficult for the industry in the short-term, is beneficial for the long-term adoption of PV. While Dr. Atwater notes that the PV industry is currently "underwater" due to dramatic price reductions, he also states that this is a great time for consumers to install PV systems. He shared these views at the VX 2013 Conference in Los Angeles, California. Read more

Magnolia Solar presents white paper on advanced nano-enhanced PV cell designs

Monday, 2.11.2013 - 23:19 (Solarserver)

Dr. Roger Welser, the chief technology officer (CTO) of Magnolia Solar Inc. (Woburn, Massachusetts, US), has presented a white paper on the development of a novel structure to suppress recombination events in solar photovoltaic (PV) devices. With the approach described in "Thick-Well Quantum-Structured Solar Cells", Magnolia Solar expects to demonstrate higher PV efficiencies over a range of operating conditions. Dr. Welser presented the paper at the SPIE Photonic West Conference on February 6th, 2013 in San Francisco. Read more

Multi-Contact to display solar products at 2013 Ecobuild exhibition

Monday, 2.11.2013 - 23:15 (Solarserver)

Multi-Contact AG (Allschwil, Switzerland) announced that it will present a wide range of high performance solar photovoltaic (PV) power connectors and junction boxes at this year's Ecobuild exhibition. The company's MC3 and MC4 plug connectors for linking photovoltaic (PV) arrays snap together to form a highly reliable connection, using Multilam technology. They are suitable for cable cross-sections up to 10 mm². Read more

German PV Market Briefing: Experts discuss subsidization of solar power storage systems and new business models for the PV industry

Monday, 2.11.2013 - 23:08 (Solarserver)

On February, 21st 2013 EuPD Research (Bonn, Germany) hosts the 6th ?German PV Market Briefing? at the Steigenberger Airport Hotel in Frankfurt am Main (Germany). Decision-makers from the entire solar industry meet annually to discuss market developments, potentials and current trends in the photovoltaic (PV) sector. Three sessions will be covering the German photovoltaic market with its challenges, chances and possibilities, and the renewable energy law (EEG) as well as potential business models that can be successful without the need for subsidization. Read more

Asia Report: Solar Trade Battles Brewing Between India, US, China

Monday, 2.11.2013 - 20:04 (Renewable Energy World)

With solar trade tensions still high between the US and China, now there's another front in the competitive global solar marketplace -- the U.S. has formally filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization over portions of India's National Solar Mission that spell out domestic content requirements. Read more

GTM Research: SolarCity dominating booming US residential PV market

Monday, 2.11.2013 - 18:22 (PV-Tech)

The third-party financing business model is dominating the booming US residential market, according to the latest report from GTM Research. Read more

Kerala, India, to generate 10MW of roof-top solar

Monday, 2.11.2013 - 16:58 (PV-Tech)

The state of Kerala, India, plans to install 10,000 1kW rooftop systems, supported by over Rs. 80 crores (US$1.4 million) from the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE). Read more

Kerala, India, to generate 10MW of rooftop solar

Monday, 2.11.2013 - 16:58 (PV-Tech)

The state of Kerala, India, plans to install 10,000 1kW rooftop systems, supported by over Rs. 80 crores (US$1.4 million) from the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE). Read more

German Ministries Clashing Over Renewable Subsidies

Monday, 2.11.2013 - 16:48 (Renewable Energy World)

German Economy Minister Philipp Roesler stepped up demands for extra cuts to subsidies for wind and solar power providers, aggravating a clash with his Environment Ministry Cabinet colleague over the nation's energy overhaul. Read more

EPIA: Global solar PV capacity passes 100 GW

Monday, 2.11.2013 - 15:39 (Solarserver)

The European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA, Brussels, Belgium) has announced that the world's cumulative solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity has reached 101 GW, with 30 GW of new capacity connected to the grid in 2012. EPIA also notes that 13 GW of that capacity was located outside Europe, compared to 8 GW in 2011, with China alone commissioning 3.5 - GW. The organization intends to release final figures for the 2012 market in May 2013. Read more

Germany Has More Solar Power Because Everyone Wins

Monday, 2.11.2013 - 15:00 (Renewable Energy World)

Suddenly everyone knows about Germany?s solar power dominance because Fox Newsheads made fools of themselves, suggesting that the country is a sunny, tropical paradise.  Most media folks have figured out that there are some monster differences in policy (e.g. a feed-in tariff), but then latch on to the ?Germans pay a lot extra? meme.  Germans do, a Read more

DC Exempts Solar Energy Systems from Personal Property Tax

Monday, 2.11.2013 - 14:00 (Renewable Energy World)

The District of Columbia Council once again expressed its support for the solar industry by recognizing and eliminating one of the potential barriers to building solar in the District. In December, 2012, the DC Council approved and enacted legislation that would allow for solar energy systems to be exempt from the personal property tax. The Energy Read more

Rob Shneer joins Verengo Solar as VP of human resources

Monday, 2.11.2013 - 13:02 (PV-Tech)

Verengo Solar today announced that Rob Shneer has joined the company as Vice-President of human resources. Read more

Panasonic begins shipping HIT solar PV modules from Malaysia

Monday, 2.11.2013 - 12:54 (Solarserver)

Panasonic Corporation (Osaka, Japan) has begun shipping its HIT solar photovoltaic (PV) modules from its new manufacturing facility in Kedah, Malaysia. The Kedah plant is Panasonic's first fully-integrated PV manufacturing base, producing silicon wafers, PV cells and modules, which the company says strengthens cost competitiveness. The factory began operation on December 13th, 2012, and will mostly supply the Japanese PV market. Read more

Real Goods Solar partners with Sunrun to offer PV service options

Monday, 2.11.2013 - 12:45 (Solarserver)

Real Goods Solar Inc. (Louisville, Kentucky, US) has partnered with Sunrun Inc. (San Francisco, California, US) to offer solar photovoltaic (PV) service options to homeowners in the US states of California, Colorado, Massachusetts and New York. Through the partnership, Real Goods will design, engineer and manage the installation of the PV systems, while Sunrun will own, insure, monitor and maintain the equipment. The service options offered by the two companies include a zero-down option. Read more

Pacific Solar submits plans for 123.5MW of Chilean solar plants

Monday, 2.11.2013 - 12:18 (PV-Tech)

Pacific Solar, a Chilean PV project developer, has submitted plans for the development of two PV plants with a combined capacity of 123.5MW to the Chilean environmental authority Servicio de Evaluación Ambiental (SEA). Read more

Siemens CEO resigns ?by mutual consent?

Monday, 2.11.2013 - 12:14 (PV-Tech)

Theodor Scheidegger, Chief Executive of Siemens? Solar & Hydro division, has left the Germany company ?by mutual consent?. Read more

Siemens solar chief resigns ?by mutual consent?

Monday, 2.11.2013 - 12:13 (PV-Tech)

Theodor Scheidegger, Chief Executive of Siemens? Solar & Hydro division, has left the Germany company ?by mutual consent?. Read more

Maryland Ocean Turbines Seen Powering US Offshore Wind Energy

Monday, 2.11.2013 - 17:30 (Renewable Energy World)

A stripped-down wind-energy proposal backed by Maryland's governor and gaining support in its legislature may be the first step in creating a network of offshore turbines and sub-sea cables spanning the U.S. Atlantic coast. Read more

The Skilled Future of the Global Wind Market

Monday, 2.11.2013 - 15:00 (Renewable Energy World)

Technological advances, particularly in onshore wind power, have moved the wind sector onto a more level playing field, making it competitive with traditional energy sources. More expert engineers are being employed to develop next generation technology, like larger offshore turbines (6 MW - 10 MW), and turbines capable of operating at much lower wind speeds inland, for example. Read more

After a Million Page Views on Renewable Energy World ? Thanks and Lessons Learned

Monday, 2.11.2013 - 13:00 (Renewable Energy World)

A few weeks ago, I checked my stats here on Renewable Energy World and was surprised to learn that I?d crossed the million page view mark.* Wow! And thanks for reading.   Former REWorld editor Stephen Lacey first noticed my work on SolarPowerRocks.com, where I started my solar social media career. Renewable Energy World was just starting this blog Read more

Kazakhstan unveils renewable energy goals

Monday, 2.11.2013 - 12:50 (Solarserver)

Under a call to build a "green economy", the government of Kazakhstan has announced plans to build 1.04 GW of renewable energy capacity in the nation by 2020, including four solar photovoltaic (PV) plants. Press reports cited by PV-Tech indicate that the four PV plants will total 77 MW. The announcement was made at a meeting attended by Kazakh Prime Minister Serik Akhmetov and other heads of state on February 5th, 2013, and includes plans to build 13 wind plants and four hydroelectric plants by 2020. Read more

BNEF: Large-scale PV to be cheaper than coal, natural gas in Australia by 2020

Monday, 2.11.2013 - 9:41 (Solarserver)

A new analysis by Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF, New York, New York, US) predicts that large-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) plants will produce electricity more cheaply than coal or natural gas by 2020 in Australia. While this analysis includes the impact of carbon prices, BNEF notes that the price of PV in Australia has fallen by 29% since 2011. The company also found that electricity from unsubsidized wind plants is currently less expensive than electricity from either new coal- or gas-fired power plants. Read more