Abu Khader commissions 25 kW PV plant in Amman, Jordan

Wednesday, 3.6.2013 - 19:40 (Solarserver)

On March 4th, 2013, Abu Khader Group announced the installation of a 25 kilowatt (kW) grid-connected solar photovoltaic (PV) system at the company's office in Mecca Street, Amman, Jordan. The solar array was installed by "Mustakbal clean tech". It is part of Abu Khader Group?s group's to contribute in the enhancement of renewable energy and environment friendly projects in Jordan. Read more

WalMart installs PV on 12 stores throughout Ohio, more than 4.7 MW

Wednesday, 3.6.2013 - 19:36 (Solarserver)

Walmart announced that SolarCity (San Mateo, California, U.S.) has installed photovoltaic (PV) systems with a combined capacity of more than 4.7 megawatts (MW) on 12 Walmart stores and Sam's Clubs throughout Ohio. Altogether, the PV installations will produce about 6,000,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) of solar power, enough energy to power more than 820 homes. The systems are expected to cover about 5-20% of each store's overall electricity needs. Read more

Panasonic, Pristine Sun partner to build 50 MW of PV plants in California

Wednesday, 3.6.2013 - 16:04 (Solarserver)

Panasonic Eco Solutions North America (Secaucus, New Jersey, US) and Pristine Sun LLC (San Francisco, California, US) have partnered to build 50 MW of solar photovoltaic (PV) plants in California over the next 24 months, as the first phase of a portfolio build-out. The companies plan to begin construction on the USD 150 million in PV projects in late 2012, and to sell the electricity generated by the plants to Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E, San Francisco, California, US) when complete in 2014. The plants will incorporate Panasonic's dual-axis tracking technology. Read more

Power-One unveils new PV inverters for UK market at Ecobuild

Wednesday, 3.6.2013 - 15:58 (Solarserver)

Power-One Inc. (Camarillo, California, U.S displays its AURORA TRIO string PV inverters at the Ecobuild exhibition in London, England. The exhibition is held from March 5th, 2013, through March 7th, 2013. Power-One introduces its new AURORA PVI-6.0-TL and AURORA PVI-8.0-TL at the trade show, along with the AURORA MICRO-0.25-I and AURORA MICRO-0.3-I micro-inverters as well as the AURORA CDD monitoring device. Read more

Suntech's D-Day Nears, Yingli's Mixed Results

Wednesday, 3.6.2013 - 15:09 (Renewable Energy World)

New developments in the battered solar energy space indicate the day of reckoning is fast approaching for embattled Suntech (NYSE: STP), even as the latest results from rival Yingli (NYSE: YGE) are showing early signs of a rebound for the battered sector. Industry watchers will recall that cash-strapped Suntech has nearly $600 million worth of bond Read more

Suntech board reshuffle ?unlawful?, says outgoing Chairman

Wednesday, 3.6.2013 - 14:28 (PV-Tech)

Dr Zhengrong Shi has called Suntech Power Holdings? decision to remove him as Executive Chairman ?misconceived? and ?unlawful?. Read more

Ecobuild: Power-One launches new UK inverter products

Wednesday, 3.6.2013 - 14:24 (Solarpowerportal)

Inverter manufacturer Power-One has launched two new additions to its AURORA TRIO string inverter line at Ecobuild. Read more

Report: Energy storage fastest growing requirement for PV inverter buyers

Wednesday, 3.6.2013 - 12:54 (PV-Tech)

Energy storage is the fastest growing requirement of PV inverter buyers around the world, according to a report by IHS Research. Read more

Alta Devices reaches 30.8% efficiency with dual-junction PV cell

Wednesday, 3.6.2013 - 9:18 (Solarserver)

Alta Devices (Sunnyvale, California, US) has achieved 30.8% cell efficiency at one sun using a new dual-junction solar photovoltaic (PV) technology. This efficiency has been verified by the US Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratories (NREL, Golden, Colorado, US). The record PV cell is based on Alta Device's gallium arsenide (GaAs) technology, with a top absorber layer of indium gallium phosphide (InGaP) added. Read more

Suntech appoints Susan Wang chair, to replace Dr. Zhengrong Shi

Wednesday, 3.6.2013 - 9:08 (Solarserver)

Suntech Power Holdings Company Ltd. (Wuxi, China) has appointed Susan Wang as chair of the company's board of directors, effective immediately, to replace Dr. Zhengrong Shi. Dr. Shi will remain a director of Suntech. Wang has been a director of Suntech since 2009, and formerly served as executive VP of corporate development and chief financial officer for Solectron Corporation (Milpitas, California, US). Read more

Mecasolar supplies screws to 3 MW Martifer Solar PV plant in Spain

Wednesday, 3.6.2013 - 19:48 (Solarserver)

On March 5th, 2013, MECASOLAR (Fustiñana, Spain) announced that it has supplied over 3,400 Mecascrew foundation screws to a 3 megawatt (MW) solar photovoltaic (PV) plant being developed by Martifer Solar in Lorca, Murcia, Spain. Read more

Australian manufacturer Tindo Solar to incorporate SolarBridge micro-inverter into PV modules

Wednesday, 3.6.2013 - 19:44 (Solarserver)

On March 1st, 2013, Tindo Solar (Mawson Lakes, South Australia) announced that it has formed a partnership with SolarBridge Technologies (Austin, Texas, U.S.) to incorporate SolarBridge's micro-inverters into Tindo Karra-250 AC solar photovoltaic (PV) modules. Read more

Pew, BNEF find USD 913 million US solar trade surplus with China in 2011

Wednesday, 3.6.2013 - 16:09 (Solarserver)

Pew Charitable Trusts (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US) has released a new report which finds that the United States enjoyed a USD 913 million trade surplus with China in the solar sector in 2011. ?Advantage America: The U.S.-China Clean Energy Trade Relationship in 2011? finds USD 6.5 billion worth of trade in products and services between the two nations in the solar sector during the year. While China had a large surplus of solar photovoltaic (PV) cell and module exports, the United States had a greater export value to China in polysilicon, silicon wafers and PV manufacturing equipment. Read more

Treasury Issues Statement Clarifying the Impact of Sequestration on Section 1603

Wednesday, 3.6.2013 - 16:06 (Renewable Energy World)

As of March 1st, the potential impacts of sequestration on the solar industry have unfortunately become reality. On Monday the 4th, the Treasury released a ?Message on Sequestration? clarifying its impact on Section 1603 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Tax Act of 2009, more commonly known as the cash grant for the 30 percent investment ta Read more

Ecobuild: ET Solar eyes UK residential market

Wednesday, 3.6.2013 - 15:13 (Solarpowerportal)

ET Solar has announced that it will be introducing new 260W and 265W iterations of its newly-launched black-on-black modules in the UK. Read more

Ecobuild: Southampton petrol station to be home to Polysolar solar glass canopy

Wednesday, 3.6.2013 - 14:36 (Solarpowerportal)

Cambridge-based solar technology firm Polysolar has supplied its solar glass canopy for installation at a petrol station located in Southampton. Read more

Ecobuild: Hanwha Q CELLS launches new module and mounting system

Wednesday, 3.6.2013 - 13:13 (Solarpowerportal)

German solar manufacturer Hanwha Q CELLS is debuting its new Q.PRO-G3 module at Ecobuild. Read more

Indonesia?s new feed-in tariff spurs solar projects in isolated regions

Wednesday, 3.6.2013 - 13:05 (PV-Tech)

Indonesia is planning a new feed-in tariff (FiT) for solar as high as US$0.25 per kilowatt hour applicable for 20 years, the country?s Finance Minister Agus Martowardojo has announced. Read more

Polysolar supplies solar glass canopy for UK petrol station

Wednesday, 3.6.2013 - 12:26 (PV-Tech)

A petrol station in Southampton is soon to become home to the UK?s first solar glass petrol station canopy, according to building-integrated PV manufacturer Polysolar. Read more

Greenbriar negotiates 100 MW solar PV PPA in Puerto Rico

Wednesday, 3.6.2013 - 11:47 (Solarserver)

Greenbriar Capital Corporation (Vancouver, Canada) has entered into power purchase agreement (PPA) negotiations for 100 MW of electricity from solar photovoltaic (PV) generation in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The company will use funds from the sale of a housing subdivision in California to acquire PV plants in Puerto Rico, which will enable it to do so without having to issue shares. According to Bloomberg, the company plans to complete the PPA by the end of 2013. Read more

SolarAid sales increase by 600%

Wednesday, 3.6.2013 - 11:29 (PV-Tech)

SolarAid, a British charity, has announced that sales of its solar lights to the African market will exceed 320,000, forecasting £2.08 million (US$3.14 million) by the end of March this year. Read more

Solarbuzz: Significant new polysilicon capacity to come online in next few years

Wednesday, 3.6.2013 - 9:14 (Solarserver)

NPD Solarbuzz (San Francisco, California, US) reports that significant new polysilicon capacity is expected to come online in next few years, despite what it describes as ?enormous? overcapacity. Citing its latest ?Marketbuzz? report, NPD Solarbuzz states that this will aggravate the current overcapacity, which is likely to exceed demand by more than 100% for the next few years. This in turn is expected to further drive down capacity utilization rates and polysilicon prices. Read more

US solar exports to China delivered US$913 million surplus in 2011

Wednesday, 3.6.2013 - 1:05 (PV-Tech)

Exports of US solar products to China delivered a surplus of US$913 million in 2011, despite the demise of America?s module manufacturing and Chinese government support for its renewables industry, according to an influential report released today. Read more

US solar exports to China reached $913 million surplus in 2011

Wednesday, 3.6.2013 - 1:05 (PV-Tech)

Exports of US solar products to China reached a surplus of $913 million in 2011, despite the demise of America?s module manufacturing and Chinese government support for its renewables industry, according to an influential report released today. Read more

UK Government Needs "Plan B on Nuclear" ? Wind Energy Can Rise to the Challenge

Wednesday, 3.6.2013 - 16:36 (Renewable Energy World)

An interesting story was posted on the Guardian yesterday, saying that the UK government needs a ?plan B? on nuclear power because of the danger that new reactors will not be built in time to avoid energy shortages. Many of the UK?s ageing reactors will be decommissioned and there is no clear strategy for their replacement, the paper says. ?The amb Read more

Asia Report: China Recommits to Energy, Emissions Goals

Wednesday, 3.6.2013 - 17:32 (Renewable Energy World)

As China's national legislature opens up its annual meeting this week, issues of reducing carbon emissions and energy use are squarely on the table, perhaps signaling that incoming Premier Li Keqiang will push harder on environmental and energy concerns than his predecessor Wen Jiabao. China's State Council reportedly could spend 2.37 trillion yuan (US $380 billion) from 2010-2015 on such measures, and the nation plans to reduce energy consumption per unit of GDP by 16 percent and carbon intensity by 17 percent over that period. Read more

US Had $1.63 Billion Clean Energy Surplus with China

Wednesday, 3.6.2013 - 16:13 (Renewable Energy World)

The U.S. sold more renewable energy and power management products to China in 2011 than it imported, contradicting wide-held views that the Asian nation is becoming the world's dominant supplier, according to the Pew Charitable Trusts. Read more

Creative Financing for Renewable Energy

Wednesday, 3.6.2013 - 14:00 (Renewable Energy World)

As more homeowners and business become interested in installing solar, a myriad of financing options have evolved. From third-party financiers to solar REITs, the options available to benefit the renewable energy industry and end users keep expanding. This article highlights what alternative energy investors should know about trends in creative financing for renewables, and which investments should profit. Read more

German Utility RWE to Cut Clean Energy Spending by Half from 2014 to Curb Debt

Wednesday, 3.6.2013 - 14:00 (Renewable Energy World)

RWE AG will cut renewable-energy investment by half from next year as Germany's second-largest utility seeks to reduce debt and counter falling earnings. Read more

The Future of Renewables: Economic, Policy and Social Implications

Wednesday, 3.6.2013 - 14:00 (Renewable Energy World)

It all comes down to a simple choice. Given technology and economic trends, the future of renewable energy is not a foregone conclusion, as states REN-21's new Renewables Global Futures Report 2013. Read more

Sustainable Energy Technologies shifts strategy towards energy storage market

Wednesday, 3.6.2013 - 11:56 (Solarserver)

Sustainable Energy Technologies Ltd. (STG, Calgary, Canada) has released results for its latest financial quarter, reporting a 93% year-over-year fall in revenues to USD 68,300 and a net loss of USD 1.60 million. STG states that during the quarter it began work to reposition towards the energy storage market for smart grids and micro-grids, and notes the significance of a new partnership to supply 10,000 inverters for energy storage systems in Europe. The company acknowledges that inverter sales were down during the quarter due to re-directed resources. Read more

DECC confirms shorter summer FiT period

Wednesday, 3.6.2013 - 8:37 (Solarpowerportal)

The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has confirmed that the recent feed-in tariff rates (FiT) announced will only apply for the period 1 May, 2013 to 1 July, 2013 instead of the expected 1 May, 2013 to 1 August, 2013. Read more