Stem, SMUD team up to study impact of PV on the grid

Friday, 3.8.2013 - 17:40 (Solarserver)

On March 5th, 2013, Stem (Millbrae, California, U.S.) and the Sacramento (California) Municipal Utility District (SMUD) announced that they have partnered on a two-year research project to study the impact of high penetration solar photovoltaics (PV) on the grid. Read more

Huge development portfolio, little action on PV plants in Chile

Friday, 3.8.2013 - 17:34 (Solarserver)

The February 2013 report from Chile's Renewable Energy Center (CER) finds that even though over 3.1 GW of solar electric plants have received environmental approval in the nation, only 3.3 MW of solar photovoltaic (PV) projects are currently under construction. The report finds another 3.6 MW of operational PV in the nation, and 1.06 GW of projects awaiting environmental approval. The vast majority of PV projects under development are in the north of the nation, in regions XV, I, II and III. Read more

UL certifies JA Solar modules for 1000 Vdc applications in North America

Friday, 3.8.2013 - 12:56 (PV-Tech)

JA Solar?s modules have received UL 1703 certification for use on 1000 Vdc systems in the United States and Canada from Underwriters Laboratories. Read more

California city proposes requiring PV on new residential buildings

Friday, 3.8.2013 - 12:41 (Solarserver)

The city of Lancaster, California has proposed zoning rules which would require new residential buildings built after January 1st, 2014 to include solar photovoltaic (PV) systems. Under the new zoning, new single-family homes must include PV systems with a capacity of at least 0.5 kW - 1.5 kW, depending on the lot type and location, with multi-family units required to host 0.5 kW per unit. The Lancaster City Council is expected to decide on the new rules, which are currently up for public comment, during March 2013. Read more

Dr. Shi refuses to leave board of Suntech; lawsuit with GSF settled

Friday, 3.8.2013 - 12:37 (Solarserver)

Dr. Zhengrong Shi has refused to step down as executive chairman of the board of Suntech Power Holdings Company Ltd. (Wuxi, China). On March 4th, 2013 Suntech's board replaced Dr. Shi as chair with Susan Wang, a move Dr. Shi has called ?unlawful?. Three days later, on March 7th, 2013, Suntech and Dr. Shi settled their lawsuit with GSF Capital Pte Ltd. and Javier Romero in exchange for full ownership of Global Solar Fund SCA, Sicar. Read more

More management shuffling at Sunways

Friday, 3.8.2013 - 12:30 (PV-Tech)

Both Mario Zen and Jürgen Frei have stepped down from the Sunways management board as the reshuffling of all senior positions continues. Read more

ANPIER: Spanish government has no plans to reverse retroactive feed-in tariff cuts

Friday, 3.8.2013 - 9:24 (Solarserver)

Spain's National Association of Renewable Energy Producers and Investors (ANPIER) reports that the Spanish government has no plans to reverse retroactive feed-in tariff cuts, despite meetings with several officials. ANPIER reports that in a February 19th, 2013 meeting Spanish Secretary of State for Energy D. Alberto Nadal cited the need to reduce the tariff deficit in his denial of the request. ANPIER and a number of other renewable energy and solar trade groups have threatened legal action over the cuts, as have individual companies including Abengoa SA (Seville, Spain). Read more

Join the Solar Freedom Cause to Reduce Rooftop Installation Costs by 50%

Friday, 3.8.2013 - 20:56 (Renewable Energy World)

The issue: Although panel prices have plummeted in the past five years, installling a rooftop system in the U.S. costs twice as much as it does in Germany. The cause: According to Solar Freedom Now, a new grassroots organization led by industry veterans Barry Cinnamon, Ron Kenedi, Jesse Pichel, Paula Mints, and Tom McCalmont, it all boils down to " Read more

Is SolarCity a Wise Investment?

Friday, 3.8.2013 - 18:16 (Renewable Energy World)

As a result of a disappointing earnings release, SolarCity (SCTY) took a shellacking on Thursday. The stock traded down 17.6 percent to the low of the day, and closed down 14.4 percent. Still, the stock is up 6.5 percent for the month, and the savvy investor would have gained 78 percent if they bought SCTY on the first day of trading in December 2012. Read more

Hanergy Sees Thin-Film Solar Gaining Market Share

Friday, 3.8.2013 - 18:05 (Renewable Energy World)

Hanergy Holding Group Ltd., a Chinese thin-film solar panel maker, expects the technology it has backed to take a greater share of the market that's dominated by silicon-based cells as the biggest manufacturers stumble. Read more

New Energy, NREL launch second phase of SolarWindow project

Friday, 3.8.2013 - 17:54 (Solarserver)

On March 6th, 2013, New Energy Technologies Inc. (Columbia, Maryland, US) announced that it has entered into the second phase of its cooperative research and development agreement (CRADA) with the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to advance the development of its SolarWindow technology, capable of generating electricity on glass. Read more

EuPD Research awards Krannich Solar as ?Top PV Supplier? in three European Countries

Friday, 3.8.2013 - 17:29 (Solarserver)

In an independent survey among European solar photovoltaic (PV) installers the market research institute EuPD Research (Bonn, Germany) got top marks to Krannich Solar GmbH & Co. KG (Weil der Stadt, Germany) for customer loyalty, satisfaction and for the distribution of solar PV modules and inverters in Germany, France and the UK. Krannich Solar has therefore received the premium "Top PV Supplier" seal for the second time from EuPD Research. This seal is given out each year only to those wholesalers who are rated particularly highly in installer surveys in comparison to the competition. Read more

Altanta Robotics develops prototype of motorized solar oven

Friday, 3.8.2013 - 17:19 (Solarserver)

On March 6th, 2013, Atlanta Robotics (Atlanta, Georgia, US) announced that it has developed a prototype of a motorized solar thermal oven that is capable of tracking the movement of the sun. Atlanta Robotics was supported by the students at Southern Polytech State University in Marietta Georgia. Read more

Report: Hemlock sues SolarWorld over polysilicon supply contracts

Friday, 3.8.2013 - 15:52 (PV-Tech)

According to the Oregonian newspaper, Hemlock Semiconductor has filed a law suit against SolarWorld?s subsidiary, Deutsche Solar over alleged failure to honour polysilicon ?take or pay? contracts. Read more

China Drives Record Solar Growth While Panel Makers Wilt

Friday, 3.8.2013 - 15:48 (Renewable Energy World)

The $77 billion solar-energy industry is forecast to expand the most since 2011, as China becomes the biggest market for the first time and drives annual global installations to a record. Read more

Suntech Settles Dispute with Global Solar Fund: Shinier Days Ahead?

Friday, 3.8.2013 - 15:27 (Renewable Energy World)

Sunnier days ahead for Suntech? With only a week before a key deadline for a big debt repayment, solar panel maker Suntech (NYSE: STP) appears to have cleared a major hurdle for a rescue plan by settling a big dispute with one of its major partners. I suspect that settlement with GSF, a builder of solar plants in Europe, was a major condition by Su Read more

NLP Solar Sales Training | 2 Loan Programs | Live Webinar March 20 & 21st

Friday, 3.8.2013 - 15:01 (Renewable Energy World)

Read more

Solar shakeout: German PV distributor HaWi Energietechnik starts insolvency proceedings

Friday, 3.8.2013 - 14:29 (PV-Tech)

Germany-based PV distributor HaWi Energietechnik has filed for bankruptcy protection in the regional district court of Landshut, according to reports from German language media. Read more

Boris Klebensberger resigns from SolarWorld

Friday, 3.8.2013 - 14:01 (PV-Tech)

German PV manufacturer SolarWorld has confirmed that Boris Klebensberger, Chief Operating Officer and member of the management board since October 2001, has left the company. Read more

BIJ, Finergia and Meeco plan 30MW solar JV

Friday, 3.8.2013 - 13:52 (PV-Tech)

Japan?s BIJ Corporation, Switzerland?s Meeco Group and Italy?s Finergia Advisory & Finance have signed a memorandum of understanding to set up a joint venture. Read more

Project Focus: Del Monte Electric installs PV on 51 California schools

Friday, 3.8.2013 - 13:33 (PV-Tech)

Electrical contractor Del Monte Electric has completed the installation of solar power systems in 51 schools at Mount Diablo Unified School District, in California. Read more

Portugal solar PV market doubles in 2012

Friday, 3.8.2013 - 12:46 (Solarserver)

Portugal installed 67.8 MW of solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity in 2012 to bring it to a total of 225 MW, according to statistics released by the nation's Directorate General of Energy and Geology. This represents a 95% increase over 2011 installations, and includes 39.4 MW from PV plants smaller than 250 kW. PV produced an estimated 360 MWh during the year, or 0.7% of demand. Read more

Greentech Energy Systems eyes US solar market with new JV

Friday, 3.8.2013 - 11:57 (PV-Tech)

Danish renewable energy firm Greentech Energy Systems is planning to enter the US solar market after signing a joint venture agreement with UK-based solar investor Foresight Group. Read more

Karnataka opens solicitation for 130 MW of solar PV, CSP

Friday, 3.8.2013 - 9:35 (Solarserver)

The Indian state of Karnataka has released a request for proposals (RFP) for 130 MW of solar photovoltaic (PV) and concentrating solar power (CSP) projects. The solicitation will use a reverse bidding process, against a benchmark tariff of INR 14.5 (USD 0.266) per kWh for PV and INR 11.3 (USD 0.207) for CSP. Bids must be entered by March 28th, 2013. Read more

Malaysia increases FiT degression rate for mid-sized, large solar PV plants

Friday, 3.8.2013 - 9:31 (Solarserver)

The Malaysian government has announced that the degression rate through the nation's feed-in tariff (FiT) for solar photovoltaic (PV) generation for plants larger than 24 kW will increase from 8% to 20%. The government has also confirmed that the degression rate for PV plants 24 kW and smaller will remain at 8%, and the degression rates for bonus criteria of locally manufactured PV modules and inverters will be eliminated. These changes will take effect in March 2013. Read more

Solar developers hit by US sequestration cuts

Friday, 3.8.2013 - 0:46 (PV-Tech)

Solar developers have this week been hit with a ?disturbing? 8.7% reduction in a critical clean energy grant as part of the US sequestration spending cuts. Read more

Building the Chacayes Hydropower Plant and Contributing to Cleaner Energy in Chile

Friday, 3.8.2013 - 15:00 (Renewable Energy World)

A year has passed since Pacific Hydro started operation of its 111-MW Chacayes run-of river plant in Chile. The US$450 million hydroelectric facility plays an important role in the country's energy supply mix, as Chile is facing the need to increase its energy in the context of the country's development and economic growth. Read more

Xcel CEO addresses US House Subcommittee on Energy and Power, advocates customer renewable credit

Friday, 3.8.2013 - 17:51 (Solarserver)

On March 6th, 2013, Xcel Energy (Minneapolis, Minnesota, US) announced that the company's Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Ben Fowke addressed the US House Subcommittee on Energy and Power. Fowke emphasized the critical role that fuel diversity, including renewable resources, and federal incentives such as a customer renewable credit (CRC) play in ensuring Americans to get clean, reliable energy at a competitive price. Read more

It's Rocky, but the Transition to Clean Energy is Well Underway

Friday, 3.8.2013 - 16:22 (Renewable Energy World)

The sequester. Continued Congressional gridlock. Declining levels of venture capital funding. High-profile bankruptcies. The boom in low-cost natural gas. As the Obama administration seeks to find its footing for a second term, there appear to be plenty of reasons to hold a very bleak outlook for clean tech in the U.S. and beyond. Read more

Eoxis UK secures US$28 million loan for two Italian PV plants

Friday, 3.8.2013 - 15:43 (PV-Tech)

Eoxis UK, a renewable energy investor, has confirmed to PV-Tech that it has received a project financing loan amounting to ?21.5 million (US$28 million) from investment company ING Groep. Read more

Kenya Power injects US$6.5 million into off-grid renewable projects

Friday, 3.8.2013 - 12:53 (PV-Tech)

Kenya Power & Lighting, Kenya?s state-owned utility company, has announced its intention to invest KES560 million (US$6.5 million) in the development of off-grid renewable energy projects in Kenya. Read more

Solsonica enters UK market with Libra Energy partnership

Friday, 3.8.2013 - 12:32 (Solarpowerportal)

Italian solar PV manufacturer Solsonica is expanding its sales operations into the UK market. Read more