Fire risk fiasco as Dutch government warns over 650,000 Scheuten Solar modules

Wednesday, 2.20.2013 - 18:17 (PV-Tech)

Hundreds of thousands of Scheuten Solar Holding-manufactured solar modules have been declared a fire risk by the Dutch Food and Goods Authority (NVWA). Read more

Rising Trend: Poop Powers Ski Resorts and Water Treatment Center in Europe

Wednesday, 2.20.2013 - 16:09 (Renewable Energy World)

United Utilities Plc and Severn Trent Plc, Britain's biggest publicly traded water companies, are increasingly feeding waste into tanks of bacteria whose methane emissions generate electricity. Read more

Pakistan proposes feed-in tariff for PV

Wednesday, 2.20.2013 - 9:42 (Solarserver)

The government of Pakistan will hold a hearing on a proposed feed-in tariff for solar photovoltaic (PV) projects 100 MW and smaller on February 27th, 2013 in Islamabad. The nation's Alternative Energy Development Board (AEDB) has proposed payments of USD 0.233/kWh under 25-year contracts, which it says will provide an internal rate of return of 17%. Participating power producers would also be granted an exemption from taxes on feed-in tariff payments. Read more

AVSR 1 solar PV plant reaches 100 MW

Wednesday, 2.20.2013 - 23:43 (Solarserver)

First Solar Inc. (Tempe, Arizona, US) has announced that its Antelope Valley Solar Ranch One (AVSR) solar photovoltaic (PV) plant in Southern California has reached an operational capacity of 100 MW-AC. Read more

Latin America Report: Mexico Just Scratching the Surface of Solar Demand

Wednesday, 2.20.2013 - 21:26 (Renewable Energy World)

With huge swaths of flat desert surfaces and tons of sunlight, Mexico is a prime location for solar power, even though potential financial backers are struggling to adequately understand the advantages of solar PV or risk evaluation. Read more

AVSR 1 becomes California's largest solar PV plant at 100 MW

Wednesday, 2.20.2013 - 18:42 (Solarserver)

First Solar Inc. (Tempe, Arizona, US) has announced that its Antelope Valley Solar Ranch One (AVSR) solar photovoltaic (PV) plant in Southern California has reached an operational capacity of 100 MW-AC. Read more

Solar Shakeout: Nanosolar cuts workforce

Wednesday, 2.20.2013 - 18:19 (PV-Tech)

Nanosolar, a US-based CIGS thin-film solar cell and module manufacturer, has confirmed that it cut its workforce last week with media reports citing up to a 75% reduction. Read more

650,000 solar panels declared fire risk

Wednesday, 2.20.2013 - 17:50 (Solarpowerportal)

Thousands of Scheuten-manufactured solar modules were yesterday declared a fire risk by the Dutch Food and Goods Authority (NVWA). Read more

SolarCity and Honda partner to provide solar power

Wednesday, 2.20.2013 - 17:32 (PV-Tech)

SolarCity and American Honda Motor Co have announced a partnership aimed at making solar power more affordable to customers in the US by providing a cleaner source of electricity at a lower cost than utility-supplied power. Read more

juwi breaks ground on 7MW REIPPP solar project

Wednesday, 2.20.2013 - 16:28 (PV-Tech)

juwi Renewable Energies has started building the 7MW Rustmo 1 Solar Farm located in the mining town of Rustenburg, South Africa. Read more

France awards 49.4 MW of solar PV projects 100 - 250 kW in size

Wednesday, 2.20.2013 - 15:56 (Solarserver)

On February 19th, 2013 French Minister of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy Delphine Batho announced the winners of the third and fourth rounds of a tender for solar photovoltaic (PV) plants 100 - 250 kW in capacity. 231 plants have been selected with a combined capacity of 49.4 MW. The ministry will re-launch the tender in March 2013 in three rounds of 40 MW each, with new conditions including considering the carbon footprint of the manufacturing process for the PV modules. Read more

JinkoSolar to supply CTGNE with 600 MW of PV modules

Wednesday, 2.20.2013 - 15:30 (Solarserver)

JinkoSolar Holding Company Ltd. (Shanghai, China) has entered into an agreement to supply China Three Gorges New Energy Corporation (CTGNE) with 600 MW of solar photovoltaic (PV) modules over the next three years. JinkoSolar says that the modules will be used in PV projects in Western China, but provided few additional details. Read more

JA Solar raises shipment guidance

Wednesday, 2.20.2013 - 15:12 (PV-Tech)

JA Solar has raised its shipment guidance for the fourth quarter and full-year 2012. Read more

Solar Says "Good-bye Solyndra"

Wednesday, 2.20.2013 - 15:00 (Renewable Energy World)

No company has done greater damage to the image of the American solar industry than Solyndra. It was therefore a source of great delight to me last week as I drove along Interstate 880 through Fremont, CA for what I didn't see. The signs on the old factory were gone. Those persistent thorns in the side of American solar, had finally vanished, closi Read more

Delaware's 2013 Procurement Program Approved by the DE PSC

Wednesday, 2.20.2013 - 15:00 (Renewable Energy World)

The Delaware Public Service Commission (DE PSC) approved the Delaware Procurement Program's 2013 solicitation on January 22, 2013. The 2013 Program for Procurement of Solar Renewable Energy Credits was developed by the Renewable Energy Taskforce on behalf of Delmarva Power & Light Company. Following the DE PSC's approval, it was announced that appl Read more

SolarCity, Honda Establish $65 Million Project Investment Fund

Wednesday, 2.20.2013 - 15:00 (Renewable Energy World)

SolarCity Corp., the solar-power provider led by billionaire Elon Musk, is partnering with Honda Motor Co. to finance $65 million worth of rooftop projects for car buyers and dealers. Read more

Recapture Rapture: Can Revised Tax Credit Policies Attract More Capital to Solar?

Wednesday, 2.20.2013 - 14:00 (Renewable Energy World)

For developers trying to monetize the federal tax benefits for a given project, finding a tax equity partner can be a lonely process. Tax equity investors consist of a limited pool of suitors?investment bankers and a few other firms ? who can tolerate the array of risks associated with this type of investment, including: Read more

Phono Solar and Symbior Energy plan 40MW PV project in Thailand

Wednesday, 2.20.2013 - 13:11 (PV-Tech)

Chinese solar manufacturer Phono Solar and Symbior Energy, a Hong Kong-based renewable energy company, have signed a strategic cooperation to jointly develop a 40MW solar project in Thailand. Read more

Centrosolar to restructure following revenue fall

Wednesday, 2.20.2013 - 11:59 (PV-Tech)

German module manufacturer Centrosolar is restructuring its business after reporting a fall in revenue in its 2012 provisional results. Read more

JinkoSolar and China Three Gorges New Energy Corp ink 600MW module supply agreement

Wednesday, 2.20.2013 - 11:56 (PV-Tech)

JinkoSolar Holding, a tier 1 module manufacturer with production facilities in China, has signed a module supply agreement with China Three Gorges New Energy Corp (CTGNE), a developer of large-scale renewable energy projects. Read more

PSE gives solar simulator to Sunrain

Wednesday, 2.20.2013 - 9:52 (Solarserver)

PSE AG (Freiburg, Germany) has delivered a solar simulator to Sunrain Solar Energy Company Ltd. (Lianyungang, China) for research use, free of charge. PSE presented its Solar Simulator ST8 to Chinese researchers at a Sunrain conference in December 2012, with the stated goal of demonstrating the advantages of its test stand, which it says will allow the company to develop solar collectors, thermosiphon systems more rapidly. Read more

Andhra Pradesh solar solicitation receives strong interest

Wednesday, 2.20.2013 - 9:47 (Solarserver)

184 project developers have placed bids in a recent solicitation in the Indian State of Andhra Pradesh. The 294 bids for 1.35 GW of solar generation capacity were well in excess of the 1.16 GW available. However, as the bids were differentiated by location, only 110 locations representing 850 MW of capacity received bids, leaving another 51 locations with 310 MW of capacity. Four locations received at least 8 bids each, and 42 locations had only one bid. Read more

Mercom: India to install 1.3 to 1.4 GW of solar PV in 2013

Wednesday, 2.20.2013 - 9:46 (Solarserver)

Mercom Capital (Austin, Texas, US) has released a new analysis by CEO Raj Prabhu which forecasts that India will install 1.3 to 1.4 GW of solar photovoltaics (PV) in 2013. In "India Solar Market Update - 1st Quarter 2013", Prabhu states that he expects 340 MW of PV projects to be commissioned in March 2013 under Phase 1, Batch 2 of the National Solar Mission (NSM). The analysis also warns of the dangers of a trade dispute with the United States. Read more

United States adds 267 MW of utility-scale solar PV in January 2013

Wednesday, 2.20.2013 - 9:32 (Solarserver)

In January 2013, the United States installed 267 MW of solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity at 16 utility-scale PV plants, according to data released by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's (FERC) Office of Energy projects. Solar and wind projects were the only new capacity added during the month, though a number of other energy projects received certification. According to the office, this brings utility-scale PV to 4.44 GW, or 0.38% of the nation's generating capacity. Read more

Engineering Cells for More Efficient Biofuel Production

Wednesday, 2.20.2013 - 15:00 (Renewable Energy World)

In the search for renewable alternatives to gasoline, heavy alcohols such as isobutanol are promising candidates. Not only do they contain more energy than ethanol, but they are also more compatible with existing gasoline-based infrastructure. For isobutanol to become practical, however, scientists need a way to reliably produce huge quantities of it from renewable sources. Read more

Wind, Solar, Biomass Provide All New US Electrical Generating Capacity in January 2013

Wednesday, 2.20.2013 - 14:00 (Renewable Energy World)

According to the latest "Energy Infrastructure Update" report from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's Office of Energy Projects, 1,231 MW of new in-service electrical generating capacity came on line in the United States in January 2013 ? all from wind, solar, and biomass sources. Read more

Terrorism could threaten UK gas supply

Wednesday, 2.20.2013 - 13:02 (Solarpowerportal)

Documents obtained by Greenpeace show that the government is concerned that terrorism and piracy could pose a serious threat to the UK?s energy supply. Read more

French electricity regulator predicts 6.7GW capacity by 2017

Wednesday, 2.20.2013 - 12:24 (PV-Tech)

The French government has published the winners for the third and fourth periods of tender, approving 231 projects to build PV systems between 100 to 250kW. Read more