Enel Green Power connects their first photovoltaic plants in Romania

Tuesday, 7.16.2013 - 16:58 (PV-Tech)

Enel Green Power Romania, the local renewable energy subsidiary of Enel Group, has connected its first PV plants in Romania with a combined installed capacity of 19MW Read more

Equipment supplier seeks arbitration with GCL-Poly over purchase agreements

Tuesday, 7.16.2013 - 13:15 (PV-Tech)

An unidentified equipment supplier to China’s largest producer of both polysilicon and solar wafers, GCL-Poly Energy is seeking arbitration over unfulfilled order and sales commitments made by its ingot and wafer subsidiary, Taicang GCL Photovoltaic Technology Co., Ltd. Read more

Enel commissions 19 MW of PV plants in Romania

Tuesday, 7.16.2013 - 12:10 (Solarserver)

Enel Green Power SpA (Rome) has commissioned a 10 MW solar photovoltaic (PV) plant and a 9 MW PV plant in Prahova County, Romania, as its first PV plants in the nation. The company estimates that the Berceni 1 and 2 PV plants will generate roughly 29 GWh annually. Enel had previously built 498 MW of wind power in Romania. Read more

ReneSola raises wafer and module shipment guidance for Q2

Tuesday, 7.16.2013 - 11:32 (PV-Tech)

Chinese tier one PV manufacturer, ReneSola has significantly revised upwards its sales and shipment guidance for the second quarter of 2013. Read more

CPV Solar Manufacturer Soitec Sets Its Sights on 50% Efficiency

Tuesday, 7.16.2013 - 20:17 (Renewable Energy World)

Concentrating solar photovoltaic (CPV) technology focuses the sun on a tiny photovoltaic cell in order to create solar power. In areas of high DNI (direct normal irradiance) the technology is a perfect match for creating power, said Gaeten Borgers, Executive VP of Soitec Solar. With solar power plants in 18 countries worldwide, Soitec is slowly but steadily attempting to prove that it can be the lowest-cost power source in hot, sunny regions. Read more

Chile in line for First Solar and SunEdison PV projects

Tuesday, 7.16.2013 - 18:01 (PV-Tech)

Chile’s Environmental Evaluation Service (SEA), the environmental regulatory body in charge of project licensing, announced that US thin-film solar firm First Solar has approached the government regulator with plans for a US$370 million, 162MW solar park in Luz Del Norte. Read more

Solar Fred’s Introduction to Solar Guerrilla Marketing, Part 2: Qualities

Tuesday, 7.16.2013 - 15:34 (Renewable Energy World)

There's an art to Solar Guerrilla Marketing In Part 1 of this intro to solar guerrilla marketing, I discussed an example of good solar marketing...from a non-solar company, Nivea skin care. This week, we’ll refer to that and also to an example of poor solar guerrilla marketing at last week’s Intersolar conference. First, let's define solar guerrill Read more

China expands solar PV market goal to 10 GW per year, calls for industry consolidation

Tuesday, 7.16.2013 - 15:20 (Solarserver)

China's State Council has increased the nation's goal for solar photovoltaic (PV) generation to 10 GW annually from 2013 to 2015, to reach at least 35 GW by 2015. The new goal was published in a list of eight dictates on July 15th, 2013. Read more

Powerway and NARI form South Africa PV project partnership

Tuesday, 7.16.2013 - 14:38 (PV-Tech)

Chinese solar manufacturer and developer NARI has formed a partnership with solar mounting supplier Powerway Renewable Energy to jointly build PV projects in South Africa. Read more

Generaytor unveils “Virtual Solar”, combines PV and social media

Tuesday, 7.16.2013 - 14:38 (Solarserver)

Generaytor Ltd. (Tel Aviv, Israel) recently unveiled its “Virtual Solar” innovation, an industry-first “try before you buy” experience. With a few simple clicks, a homeowner can start producing virtual solar power based on data from real solar photovoltaic (PV) powered homes nearby, in real time, personalized for the home’s roof. “No one wants to base a buying decision on a sales pitch. That’s why we’re centered around a community of real people. Together, our members are producing solar electricity around the world, saving money, and inspiring their friends and neighbors to join them in the world of solar,” said Generaytor CEO Amit Rosner. Die Solarstromanlage Read more

Activ Solar commissions 34 MW solar PV plant in Odessa, Ukraine

Tuesday, 7.16.2013 - 14:35 (Solarserver)

Activ Solar (Vienna) has commissioned a 34.1 MW solar photovoltaic (PV) plant in the Odessa region of Ukraine, as its fifth PV plant in the southern part of the region. Read more

Activ Solar completes 34MW Ukraine PV project

Tuesday, 7.16.2013 - 14:34 (PV-Tech)

Austria-based PV developer Activ Solar has commissioned the 34MW Bolgrad Solar Park in Odessa, Ukraine. Read more

Order Focus: Schneider Electric to manage 42MW of PV power plants in Bulgaria

Tuesday, 7.16.2013 - 13:45 (PV-Tech)

Schneider Electric’s solar division has been awarded a contract to fully manage the operations of a total of 42MW of PV power plants in Bulgaria. Read more

Solar3D touts leap forward in cell design

Tuesday, 7.16.2013 - 12:20 (PV-Tech)

Start-up, Solar3D has claimed the use of an unspecified “thinner” silicon wafer substrate in prototyping its technology has achieved improved cell efficiency of 10% above its 25% cell efficiency claimed in 2012. The results have not been verified by a third party. Read more

US Ranchers Roundup the Power of the Sun

Tuesday, 7.16.2013 - 12:03 (Renewable Energy World)

Cattle ranchers are herding more than sheep and cattle — they’re rounding up the power of the sun. Farmers too are harvesting the sun's rays to increase their energy independence and power their farming operations.   In Cottonwood, Calif., rancher Bill Gibson installed solar panels to generate energy for his 1,000-acre ranch. Though a majority of t Read more

NRG flips switch on 40MW of California PV

Tuesday, 7.16.2013 - 11:50 (PV-Tech)

NRG Solar has reached commercial operation of two PV solar projects in California, adding 40MW to the grid. Read more

Major Solar Projects in Mexico Move Ahead

Tuesday, 7.16.2013 - 10:00 (Renewable Energy World)

Mexico’s first double-digit utility-scale solar projects are heading into the pipeline. The first 20-MW phase of Sonora80M’s proposed solar park in Hermosillo, located in the northern state of Sonora, is planned to begin construction this year and come online in the first quarter of 2014; ultimately Sonora80M is planning four stages totaling 80 MW of capacity. Read more

Solar takes a step closer to trillion-dollar securities market

Tuesday, 7.16.2013 - 9:00 (PV-Tech)

Tapping into the trillion-dollar securities market for portfolios of solar projects moved a significant step forward at a meeting last week of the Solar Access to Public Capital (SAPC) working group. Read more

Peru unveils off-grid solar household electrification program

Tuesday, 7.16.2013 - 8:55 (Solarserver)

Peru's Ministry of Energy and Mines has unveiled a household electrification program using solar photovoltaic (PV) modules which aims to provide energy to two million Peruvians living in poverty by the end of 2016. As the first phase of the Photovoltaic Household Electrification Program, the ministry has provided 1,601 PV modules to 126 communities in the region of Cajamarca which do not have access to the electricity grid. The agency is also holding a bidding process for an installer for the PV modules through the program. Read more

Europe Doubles Its Offshore Wind Capacity, but Policy Uncertainty Still a Challenge

Tuesday, 7.16.2013 - 15:42 (Renewable Energy World)

Europe’s offshore wind sector is twice as healthy as this time last year, according to a first look at mid-2013 statistics from the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA). Read more

Is Fracking for Enhanced Geothermal Systems the Same as Fracking for Natural Gas?

Tuesday, 7.16.2013 - 15:29 (Renewable Energy World)

The U.S. geothermal industry recently scored a big win when its first enhanced geothermal system (EGS) project went online in April. ORMAT was able to stimulate a previously unproductive well at its Desert Peak project with EGS technology — injecting fluid into a well to reopen cracks and create a resource reservoir — and found an additional 1.2 megawatts (MW) of capacity. Renewable energy experts applauded the project, dubbing it a "game-changer" and a "shining moment" for the industry. Read more

Netherlands could install 2 million residential PV systems by 2023

Tuesday, 7.16.2013 - 14:47 (PV-Tech)

The Netherlands is negotiating a new energy policy “Nationaal Energieakkoor” that could see up to 2 million household PV installed by 2023. Read more

Npower: Energy bill policy costs to rise by 78% between 2013 and 2020

Tuesday, 7.16.2013 - 13:49 (Solarpowerportal)

RWE npower has released a new report which claims that policy and regulation costs will represent the largest proportion of energy bill rises in the lead up to 2020. Read more

Ed Davey: Taxpayers Alliance energy bill claims fictitious

Tuesday, 7.16.2013 - 13:37 (Solarpowerportal)

Energy secretary Ed Davey has dismissed as “fictitious” claims by the Taxpayers’ Alliance that green energy policies will drive energy bills up significantly. Read more

German, Swiss, Austrian agencies to work together to support pumped hydro storage

Tuesday, 7.16.2013 - 12:05 (Solarserver)

The German Federal Association of Energy and Water Industries (BDEW), VSE (Switzerland) and the Austrian Energy Association have agreed to collaborate to enable the building of more pumped storage hydro power plants, according to German Energy Blog. This includes advocating at the national and EU levels to ensure fair regulatory conditions for these plants. BDEW notes that pumped hydro storage is among the most economical storage technologies for electricity, but argues that its value is not currently recognized due to peculiarities of electricity markets. Read more

German renewable energy surcharge exemptions mount, European Commission moves to investigate

Tuesday, 7.16.2013 - 9:04 (Solarserver)

2,367 German companies have requested 3,458 exemptions from the renewable energy surcharge for the nation's feed-in tariff in 2014, according to German MP Hans Josef-Fell (Green). If all are approved, this would restrict surcharges on 119 TWh of electricity, an 11% increase over 2013. Spiegel has reported that the European Commission will initiate an investigation into these exemptions. Read more