IHS bullish on PV demand, forecasting over 35GW in 2013

Monday, 4.8.2013 - 16:18 (PV-Tech)

Market research firm IHS has released a new forecast for the photovoltaics industry that is more bullish about global installations in 2013 than many others. Read more

Tracking the Price of U.S. Grid-connected PV

Monday, 4.8.2013 - 14:00 (Renewable Energy World)

As the deployment of grid-connected solar photovoltaic (PV) systems has increased, so too has the desire to track the installed price of these systems over time and by location, customer type, and system characteristics. Read more

LDK Solar brings forward Q4 2012 financial reporting

Monday, 4.8.2013 - 22:57 (PV-Tech)

Struggling PV manufacturer, LDK Solar has brought forward the release of its fourth quarter 2012 financial results and conference call to Thursday, April 18, 2013. Read more

Solar Energy For and By the People: Mosaic Gets $100M Approval for California Investments

Monday, 4.8.2013 - 21:28 (Renewable Energy World)

How do we get to 100 percent clean energy? At Mosaic, we believe the fastest way is to allow more people to participate in building the clean energy economy.   In the video above, produced by Mosaic’s good friends at Green For All, we lay out our vision for a future of abundant clean energy, for and by the people. Mosaic has just been approved to o Read more

Mosaic cleared for USD 100 million in solar investments, launches new project

Monday, 4.8.2013 - 18:18 (Solarserver)

Solar crowd-funding platform Mosaic (Oakland, California, US) has received approval from securities regulators to offer USD 100 million worth of solar photovoltaic (PV) investments to California residents. Read more

Sudden departure of First Solar’s executive vice president of global business

Monday, 4.8.2013 - 18:10 (PV-Tech)

By mutual agreement, First Solar and Jim Brown, First Solar’s executive vice president of global business have parted ways, according to an SEC filing issued today. Read more

IHS: Global solar PV market to grow 12% in 2013 to 35 GW, led by Asia

Monday, 4.8.2013 - 16:47 (Solarserver)

IHS Inc. (Englewood, Colorado, US) has released a new analysis which predicts that global solar photovoltaic (PV) installations will grow 12% in 2013 to reach 35 GW. The company also estimates that PV installations grew 14% in 2012 to reach 31.4 GW. Read more

UK solar signatories send open letter urging EU to avoid duties on Chinese solar equipment

Monday, 4.8.2013 - 16:02 (Solarpowerportal)

UK and European solar industry representatives have warned of the potentially severe impact of trade tariffs against China in an open letter to European trade commissioner, Karel De Gucht. Read more

EU companies protest potential tariffs on Chinese-made solar PV

Monday, 4.8.2013 - 15:52 (Solarserver)

On April 3rd, 2013 the Alliance for Affordable Solar Energy (AFASE) sent a letter signed by representatives of hundreds of companies in the European photovoltaic (PV) industry to the European Trade Commissioner rejecting potential duties on Chinese-made PV products. Read more

SunGift completes 250kWp solar PV array for Henry vacuum manufacturer

Monday, 4.8.2013 - 15:50 (Solarpowerportal)

Southwest renewable energy specialist SunGift Solar has completed a flagship 250kW solar PV system for the Somerset factory of Numatic International, manufacturer of the Henry vacuum cleaner. Read more

PG&E approved for SunPower’s 100MW California plant

Monday, 4.8.2013 - 14:26 (PV-Tech)

The California Public Utilities Commission has approved Pacific Gas and Electric’s (PG&E) 20-year deal to buy power from SunPower’s 100MW Henrietta solar farm. Read more

What You Can Learn from Clean Power Finance's $37M Round

Monday, 4.8.2013 - 14:00 (Renewable Energy World)

Venture capital investors these days favor startups that are involved in the retail side of the solar business. The latest evidence of that trend comes from Clean Power Finance, which says Monday it has raised $37 million from investors such as Edison International. Read more

4 Tactics for Converting Residential Solar Website Visitors

Monday, 4.8.2013 - 14:00 (Renewable Energy World)

So you’ve done a lot of work blogging and using social media, plus paid web ads, to drive traffic to your website, but visitors don’t stay very long, and even when they do, most don’t contact you. Bummer. But why? There’s no one single reason for poor website conversions, but let’s go through a few common reasons and some solutions. 1) Your website Read more

NPD Solarbuzz expects bumpy road for China’s PV project business in 2013

Monday, 4.8.2013 - 13:22 (PV-Tech)

PV power plant installations in China are expected to fluctuate significantly on a quarterly basis throughout the next 12 months, according to the latest NPD Solarbuzz quarterly report. Read more

Sky Solar Japan adds 2.3MW of PV to Japanese grid

Monday, 4.8.2013 - 13:08 (PV-Tech)

Sky Solar Japan, the Japanese subsidiary of Chinese solar developer Sky Solar, has successfully connected two PV plants with a combined capacity of 2.3MW to the grid. Read more

S.A.G. Solarstrom AG completes 44 MW of UK solar PV plants

Monday, 4.8.2013 - 10:59 (Solarserver)

S.A.G. Solarstrom AG (Freiburg, Germany) reports that it completed three ground-mounted solar photovoltaic (PV) projects in England by March 31st, 2013, for a total of 44 MW. These plants include its 33 MW PV plant in Wymeswold, Leicestershire on a former Royal Air Force Base, as well as two PV plants larger than 5 MW in South West England. Power purchase agreements (PPAs) have been concluded for all three plants. Read more

JinkoSolar signs USD 58 million loan agreement with China Development Bank

Monday, 4.8.2013 - 10:54 (Solarserver)

JinkoSolar Holding Company Ltd. (Shanghai, China) has signed a USD 58 million, 15-year loan agreement with the China Development Bank (CDB, Beijing, China). JinkoSolar plans to use the proceeds to develop domestic solar photovoltaic (PV) projects. The agreement follows a strategic cooperation agreement for up to USD 1 billion in financing between JinkoSolar and CDB, announced in December 2012. Read more

SPI Solar revenues fall 28% in 2012

Monday, 4.8.2013 - 10:49 (Solarserver)

SPI Solar (Roseville, California, US) has released results for the fourth quarter and full year 2012, reporting a 79% fall in revenues in the fourth quarter of 2012 to USD 13 million, an operating margin of -88% and a net loss of USD 15.2 million. This was an uncharacteristically slow quarter for SPI. Over the full year 2012 the company saw a 28% fall in revenues to USD 100 million, a -24% operating margin, and a net loss of USD 25.6 million. Read more

Solarbuzz: Chinese market volatility drives global solar PV downturn in Q1’13

Monday, 4.8.2013 - 8:57 (Solarserver)

Seasonality and policy incentive deadlines from the end-market in China drove global solar photovoltaic (PV) demand down to 6.2 gigawatts (GW) in 1Q’13, down 23% Q/Q, according to the new NPD “Solarbuzz Quarterly” report. Over the next four quarters, China will account for more than 20% of global PV market demand, ranging between 0.9 and 3.6 GW, but its volatile PV demand cycles will create new supply challenges for leading PV manufacturers, NPD Solarbuzz (Santa Clara, Calif.) expects. Read more

SASIA releases comments on Saudi Arabia’s solar procurement white paper

Monday, 4.8.2013 - 8:46 (Solarserver)

The Saudi Arabia Solar Industries Association (SASIA, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia) has released its comments on the nation's plans to procure solar generation as outlined in the recent King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy (K.A.CARE) white paper. SASIA provided a number of suggestions, including limiting job localization requirements but increasing the consideration for local content, a review of technology mixes before future rounds, and setting stricter qualifications for developers. Read more

ReneSola, Solairedirect sign 120 MW solar PV module tolling agreement

Monday, 4.8.2013 - 8:42 (Solarserver)

Solairedirect SA (Paris, France) has committed to produce 120 MW of solar photovoltaic (PV) modules in South Africa for ReneSola Ltd. (Jiashan, China) through a tolling agreement. Additionally, Solairedirect has agreed to purchase 20 MW of these ReneSola-branded modules for use in projects in South Africa and 34 MW for use internationally. If Solairedirect expands its PV module production capacity, it may produce additional modules for ReneSola under the agreement. Read more

Vestas Wind Systems Showing Signs of a Strong Recovery

Monday, 4.8.2013 - 17:55 (Renewable Energy World)

For the past two years, Vestas Wind Systems has struggled. Last year the company announced it was cutting more than 3,000 jobs in order to try to stay solvent. An oversupply of wind turbines on the market forced turbine prices down over the past years. This plus uncertainty around the U.S. production tax credit, increased competition from Chinese companies and a tightening of the European renewable energy market have all added up to difficult times for the giant wind turbine manufacturer. Read more

EON, Dong Connect World's Largest Offshore Wind Farm to U.K. Grid

Monday, 4.8.2013 - 17:49 (Renewable Energy World)

London Array, the world's largest operating wind farm at sea, set the last of its 175 turbines whirling as backers EON SE, Dong Energy A/S and Masdar Abu Dhabi Future Energy Co. seek to cut costs by building at scale. Read more

Back to Basics Video: What Is Geothermal Energy Anyway?

Monday, 4.8.2013 - 19:23 (Renewable Energy World)

Geothermal energy is the Earth’s own renewable energy.  All other renewables and in fact, all other forms of energy, hinge on the sun: wind power, solar power, even fossil fuels wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for the sun.  (And neither would we, of course.) If you are even slightly knowledgeable about geothermal energy, you probably understand that i Read more

Opportunities Forsaken: The Iraq War and Renewable Energy

Monday, 4.8.2013 - 17:54 (Renewable Energy World)

The U.S. is noting a somber milestone this year: It has been a decade since the invasion of Iraq. Over the years, the opportunities forsaken and cost to future Americans have become clear. The enormous debt it incurred has weighed on Washington, DC, where austerians shout that the nation can no longer afford to rebuild our crumbling infrastructure due to the mounting interest on this debt. Read more

Grupotec adds 46MW of grid-connected PV in nine weeks

Monday, 4.8.2013 - 16:21 (Solarpowerportal)

Grupotec, an investor in renewable energy projects, has announced it has connected 12 PV projects with a total capacity of 46MW to the grid in just nine weeks. Read more

Standard Bank Group, ICBC sign South African renewable energy project financing deal

Monday, 4.8.2013 - 14:05 (PV-Tech)

Standard Bank Group and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) have inked a R20 billion (US$2.2 billion) deal to fund renewable energy projects in South Africa. Read more

Virtual Training, Real Savings: Providing Instruction at Less Cost

Monday, 4.8.2013 - 14:00 (Renewable Energy World)

Companies in the global energy industry are under intense pressure from all directions. Growth in power demand must always be met and compliance with increasingly stringent health, safety and environmental regulations is mandatory. New facilities must be brought online quickly, and infrastructure must be upgraded and modernized. And throughout, a retiring workforce with the potential loss of know-how and experience must be replaced — all with minimal service interruptions. Read more

SEIA vice president John Smirnow to be renewable energy advisory committee chairman

Monday, 4.8.2013 - 13:29 (PV-Tech)

John Smirnow, vice president of trade and competitiveness at the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), has been designated chairman of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency Advisory Committee. Read more

Australian rooftop PV installations clear one million landmark

Monday, 4.8.2013 - 11:45 (PV-Tech)

Nearly 2.5GW of PV capacity had been installed on just over one million domestic and business rooftops in Australia as of the end of March 2013, according to the country’s Clean Energy Regulator. Read more

Bill to repeal North Carolina's RPS passes House committee 11-10

Monday, 4.8.2013 - 8:52 (Solarserver)

A bill to repeal the US state of North Carolina's renewable portfolio standard (RPS) has passed a committee of the state's House of Representatives 11-10. The bill must now pass more committees, the full House and the North Carolina Senate before it can go to the governor to be signed. House Bill 298, the “Affordable and Reliable Energy Act” was introduced by House Majority Whip Mike Hager (R), and three other members of the state's Republican Party. The bill is one of many state-level efforts to repeal RPS policies that have been advanced by Republicans through a national effort by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). Read more