Building a Solar Database to Give Investors TLC

Friday, 4.12.2013 - 23:10 (Renewable Energy World)

One of the recurring themes in solar energy projects -- and for renewable energy projects writ-large -- is making them attractive to investors and capital. Put another way, it's giving investors some "TLC": Transparency, Longterm/Longevity, and Certainty. Read more

Bundling Solar Performance Data to Give Investors TLC

Friday, 4.12.2013 - 23:10 (Renewable Energy World)

One of the recurring themes in solar energy projects -- and for renewable energy projects writ-large -- is making them attractive to investors and capital. Put another way, it's giving investors some "TLC": Transparency, Longterm/Longevity, and Certainty. Read more

REC Solar, Sunrun partner to offer residential PV systems on O'ahu, Hawaii

Friday, 4.12.2013 - 21:13 (Solarserver)

On April 10th, 2013, REC Solar Inc. (San Luis Obispo, California, US) announced that it has teamed up with Sunrun Inc. (San Francisco, California, US) to offer residential solar photovoltaic (PV) solutions on the island of O'ahu, Hawaii. Read more

Earthwise Products adds Segen to UK distributor portfolio

Friday, 4.12.2013 - 15:55 (Solarpowerportal)

Solar product distributor, Segen, has announced Earthwise Products’ solar immersion controller is now for sale. Read more

Proposed solar park at Chelveston airfield gets green light

Friday, 4.12.2013 - 14:58 (Solarpowerportal)

East Northamptonshire Council has approved the proposed Chelveston Renewable Energy Park which will be built at the former Chelveston airfield in Northamptonshire. Read more

Utility Solar Business Model Flaws: CPS Energy's "SunCredit" Isn't the Answer

Friday, 4.12.2013 - 14:44 (Renewable Energy World)

As an owner of a small (16 kWp) PV plant, the local utility recently informed me that they would soon be discontinuing net metering in favor of a fixed payment per renewably produced kWh (cheerily termed a SunCredit), which is to be determined annually. Specifically, the retail value of a grid-delivered kWh is 9.9 cents while the value of a PV produced kWh is only 57% of that (5.6 cents). The remaining 4.3 cents per kWh is absorbed in the costs of transmission lines, transformers, administration, maintenance and the like. Read more

Hive Energy submits 16-hectare solar park plans

Friday, 4.12.2013 - 14:19 (Solarpowerportal)

Renewable energy company Hive Energy has submitted a pre-planning application for a 16 hectare solar park to South Kesteven District Council. Read more

US investigates claims of Chinese module import duty ‘evasion’

Friday, 4.12.2013 - 12:19 (PV-Tech)

Importers of Chinese cells into the US may be evading anti-dumping (AD) and countervailing duties (CVD), according to the Coalition for American Solar Manufacturing (CASM). Read more

US investigates claims of Chinese module AD/CVD import duty ‘evasion’

Friday, 4.12.2013 - 12:19 (PV-Tech)

Importers of Chinese cells into the US may be evading anti-dumping (AD) and countervailing duties (CVD), according to the Coalition for American Solar Manufacturing (CASM). Read more

Singulus to unveil new PERC solar PV cell production solution at SNEC trade show in Shanghai

Friday, 4.12.2013 - 12:05 (Solarserver)

Singulus Technologies AG (Kahl am Main, Germany) has announced that it will unveil a new production solution for rear side passivated crystalline silicon solar photovoltaic (PV) cells at the SNEC trade show in Shanghai, May 13-16th, 2013. This passivated emitter rear cell (PERC) solution was developed for the upgrade of existing cell production lines, and can produce an efficiency gain of roughly 1%. The process enables an improved cell rear sides through an AIOx/SiNy dielectric stack without the need for selective emitter technology. Read more

Report: Solar takes 100% share of new US grid-connected electricity in March

Friday, 4.12.2013 - 12:04 (PV-Tech)

Solar energy has achieved a milestone after it emerged that for the first time, solar accounted for all new utility electricity capacity added to the grid in the US in March. Read more

Wattner buys 22MW of German solar plants

Friday, 4.12.2013 - 11:59 (PV-Tech)

German investment firm Wattner has acquired five utility-scale solar power plants with a combined capacity of 22MW in various locations in Germany. Read more

Zimbabwe Power Company plans 100MW PV facility

Friday, 4.12.2013 - 11:20 (PV-Tech)

Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC), a developer of power generation facilities, is reportedly planning to construct a 100MW solar power plant in the Midlands province in Zimbabwe. Read more

US DOE loan guarantees support 631 MW-DC of newly built large solar PV plants

Friday, 4.12.2013 - 8:35 (Solarserver)

The US Department of Energy (DOE) reports that five large utility-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) and concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) plants which came online in 2012 were supported by the US DOE's loan guarantee program. Together the Agua Caliente, Alamosa Solar, Antelope Valley Solar 1, Mesquite Solar and California Valley Solar Ranch plants currently represented 631 MW-DC of new capacity. As the largest of the five, the Agua Caliente PV has reached 287 MW-DC, with more capacity scheduled to come online in 2013. Read more

Duke Energy acquires 21 MW of solar PV plants in Southern California

Friday, 4.12.2013 - 8:31 (Solarserver)

Duke Energy's (Charlotte, North Carolina, US) renewable energy subsidiary has acquired two solar photovoltaic (PV) projects totaling 21 MW in Southern California from SolarWorld AG (Bonn, Germany). Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. SolarWorld is directing the project's engineering, procurement and construction, and expects to complete the Highlander Solar 1 and 2 PV plants in the second quarter of 2013. Read more

Arundo Is Better than Switchgrass for Biomass Power Generation

Friday, 4.12.2013 - 14:00 (Renewable Energy World)

Arundo donax, the ancient species of Giant Reed that may have hidden Moses along the Nile River more than 3500 years ago, could also go a long way in solving the U.S.' 21st century biomass to energy needs. That is, if it can overcome regulatory hurdles and environmentalists bent on characterizing this tall grass as an "out of control" invasive species. Read more

Five Takeaways from 2012's Record US Wind Performance

Friday, 4.12.2013 - 19:10 (Renewable Energy World)

On Thursday the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) offered more insights into the U.S. wind industry's record-setting performance in 2012, showing trends in project development, geographic proliferation, offtaker and investor activity, and transmission. Read more

Nevada Renewable Energy Roundtable: Barriers to Geothermal Development and Future Prospects

Friday, 4.12.2013 - 14:00 (Renewable Energy World)

Nevada's alternative energy sector has seen a plethora of hills and valleys in recent years. From federal funding challenges to educating the general populace about alternative energy, the sector has seen its share of challenges. Recently, executives representing various alternative energy interests throughout the state met at the Reno offices of City National Bank to discuss these issues and the future of alternative energy. Read more

Geothermal Energy Capacity Expected to More Than Double by 2030

Friday, 4.12.2013 - 13:00 (Renewable Energy World)

Geothermal energy capacity will more than double by 2030 as developing economies including Indonesia, Chile and Kenya take advantage of natural resources, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. Read more

NREL and DOE Announce 10 Teams for the National Collegiate Wind Competition

Friday, 4.12.2013 - 21:13 (Renewable Energy World)

Let the competition begin. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) recently released the 10 schools that will compete in the inaugural National Collegiate Wind Competition (NCWC). NCWC is unlike many other energy innovation challenges we’ve seen in the past, which tend to focus on technology design and de Read more

Anti-REPS bill advances through second committee in North Carolina

Friday, 4.12.2013 - 21:04 (Solarserver)

On April 3rd, 2013, the North Carolina General Assembly's Commerce and Job Development Subcommittee on Energy and Emerging Markets passed House Bill 298, the anti-Renewable Energy Portfolio Standards (REPS) bill. The bill is designed to eliminate REPS and to provide for cost recovery by public utilities for certain costs of compliance with REPS. Read more

Australia's Ballooning Gas Exports May Lead to Record Investment in Renewables

Friday, 4.12.2013 - 15:59 (Renewable Energy World)

Australia's $65 billion of projects to export liquefied natural gas from the east coast are set to push up domestic prices, opening the way for record investment at home in competing energy sources to produce power. Read more

Libya targets 20% renewable energy by 2020

Friday, 4.12.2013 - 13:19 (PV-Tech)

Libya is aiming to generate 20% of its power from renewable sources by 2020, according to Reuters. Read more

Washington Gas to build and operate 3.8 MW PV plant in Massachusetts

Friday, 4.12.2013 - 12:01 (Solarserver)

Washington Gas Energy Systems Inc. (McLean, Virginia, US) has signed a contract to build, own and operate a 3.82 MW solar photovoltaic (PV) plant for the town of Bellingham in the US state of Massachusetts. Gehrlicher Solar America Corporation (Springfield, New Jersey, US) began construction of the plant, which will supply electricity to Bellingham, in March 2013. The PV plant will comprise 12,700 PV modules and was developed by NextSun Energy LLC (Boston, Massachusetts, US). Read more

Increased funding for renewables, high-tech manufacturing in Obama's FY 2014 budget

Friday, 4.12.2013 - 0:18 (Solarserver)

On April 10th, 2013 US President Barack Obama submitted his fiscal year (FY) 2014 budget to the US Congress, which includes USD 615 million to “increase the use and reduce the costs” of renewable energy through the US Department of Energy (DOE). Read more