Tracking the Sun VI report analyses falling cost of installed PV in US

Wednesday, 8.14.2013 - 13:11 (PV-Tech)

The cost of installing PV in the USA fell during 2012 and the first half of this year, according to Tracking the Sun VI: An Historical Summary of the Installed Price of Photovoltaics in the United States from 1998 to 2012. Read more

China Sunergy to supply 9.9MW of solar modules in Romania

Wednesday, 8.14.2013 - 12:05 (PV-Tech)

Solar cell and module manufacturer China Sunergy has signed two contracts to supply 9.9MW of solar modules in Romania with EPC firm Bester Generacion. Read more

Western Australia cancels retroactive feed-in tariff cut under public pressure

Wednesday, 8.14.2013 - 8:32 (Solarserver)

The Government of Western Australia has reversed an earlier decision and will not retroactively cut the province's feed-in tariff, as agreed by the State Cabinet on August 12th, 2013. The cuts would have reduced feed-in tariffs for solar photovoltaic (PV) generation set in 2010 from AUD 0.40 (USD 0.36) per kWh to AUD 0.30/kWh in 2013 and AUD 0.20/kWh in 2014. Read more

SolarCity Agrees to Buy Direct-Marketing Unit for $120 Million

Wednesday, 8.14.2013 - 17:40 (Renewable Energy World)

SolarCity Corp. agreed to buy a solar direct-marketing company majority-owned by Guthy-Renker LLC for about $120 million in stock and cash to reach more customers. Read more

Bosch, ISFH produce 22.1% efficient c-Si solar PV cell

Wednesday, 8.14.2013 - 17:38 (Solarserver)

Bosch Solar Energy (Arnstadt, Germany) and the Institute for Solar Energy Research Hamelin (ISFH, Emmerthal, Germany) have produced a 22.1% efficient crystalline silicon (c-Si) solar photovoltaic (PV) cell using ion implanted interdigitated back junction back contact (IBC) technology. Read more

Borrego Solar sells 5.5MW worth of projects to Greenwood Energy

Wednesday, 8.14.2013 - 17:29 (PV-Tech)

PV system design, financing and installation company Borrego Solar has sold 5.5MW of solar power generation projects in Massachusetts, USA, to Greenwood Energy. Read more

West Lindsey District Council proposes construction of civic solar farm

Wednesday, 8.14.2013 - 16:11 (Solarpowerportal)

A civic solar farm, thought to be the first to be built in Lincolnshire and only the second of its kind in the UK, is being planned by West Lindsey District Council. Read more

NPD Solarbuzz: Chinese anti-dumping duties won't raise polysilicon prices much

Wednesday, 8.14.2013 - 16:00 (Solarserver)

NPD Solarbuzz has published an analysis which states that while China's new anti-dumping duties on polysilicon will likely be challenging for tier 1 U.S. producers, they will have a small impact on polysilicon prices due to ongoing excess capacity. Read more

Arizona Fights for Its Solar Energy Rights

Wednesday, 8.14.2013 - 15:39 (Renewable Energy World)

Arizona Public Service (APS) recently proposed a drastic overhaul of net energy metering (NEM) policy in areas where it operates. APS’s plan, submitted in July to the state’s utility regulatory body — the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) would replace consumer-friendly NEM practices with terms — and economics — more favorable to the monopoly el Read more

JinkoSolar returns to profitability in Q2 2013 as shipments boom

Wednesday, 8.14.2013 - 15:25 (Solarserver)

In its second quarter 2013 results, JinkoSolar Holding Co. Ltd. (Shanghai) reported its first positive operating margin and net income in more than a year, as solar photovoltaic (PV) shipments increased 62% year-over-year to 489 MW. Read more

Winaico claims PV module efficiency victory in Australian desert

Wednesday, 8.14.2013 - 14:42 (PV-Tech)

Taiwanese module manufacturer Winaico has claimed its panels achieved the highest efficiency by cost during trials at the Desert Knowledge Australia Solar Centre (DKASC). Read more

Real Goods Solar reports small slide in revenue margin

Wednesday, 8.14.2013 - 13:55 (PV-Tech)

US installer Real Goods Solar (RGS) has reported a small drop in revenue for Q2 2013 compared to the same period last year despite an increase in deployments. Read more

Rhode Island Amends FIT to Require Bids for Small Solar Projects

Wednesday, 8.14.2013 - 13:16 (Renewable Energy World)

On August 7th, National Grid changed the rules for small solar systems in the bidding process for Rhode Island’s feed-in tariff program. The changes came in response to the Rhode Island legislature’s amendment to the Standard Contracts Act, which established the state’s feed-in tariff program early in 2013. The amendment mandated several changes to Read more

JinkoSolar returns to profitability on strong sales and higher margins

Wednesday, 8.14.2013 - 12:43 (PV-Tech)

Tier 1 Chinese PV module manufacturer, JinkoSolar reported increased shipments, sales and margins for the second-quarter of 2013, while revising upwards shipment guidance for the full-year. Read more

Solea and Pinpoint partner for 100MW Tamil Nadu project

Wednesday, 8.14.2013 - 12:05 (PV-Tech)

Solea and Pinpoint Ventures Holding have announced they are working on the 100MW Raasi Solar Park in Tamil Nadu in the south of India. Read more

Yingli and DEK Announce Collaboration on Centre for Solar Manufacturing Research

Wednesday, 8.14.2013 - 11:38 (Renewable Energy World)

China’s Yingli Group and the UK’s DEK Solar have announced that they will jointly build a solar technology research centre intended, the two companies said, to drive innovation and nurture the next generation of talent in the Chinese solar market. Read more

U.S. Solar Consolidation: Real Goods Solar acquires Syndicated Solar

Wednesday, 8.14.2013 - 8:29 (Solarserver)

Real Goods Solar Inc. (Louisville, Colorado, U.S.) has continued its acquisition streak by completing the purchase of Syndicated Solar Inc. (Denver, Colorado, U.S.) for USD 2.5 million and 400,000 shares of Real Goods Solar stock, as well as potential earn-out payments. Syndicated Solar will bring up to 40 employees to Real Goods Solar, and Syndicated Solar Founder and CEO Justin Pentelute will continue in his role as CEO for the remainder of 2013. This acquisition follows Real Goods' announcement three days prior that it will merge with Mercury Solar Systems (Port Chester, New York, U.S.). Read more

Solar PV meets 9.9% of Italian electrical demand in July 2013

Wednesday, 8.14.2013 - 8:25 (Solarserver)

Italian grid operator Terna SpA (Rome) has released statistics on the nation's electricity production and demand in July 2013, finding that solar photovoltaics (PV) produced 2.96 TWh during the month, meeting 9.9% of Italian demand. This represents a slight increase in production but a decrease in the portion of demand met from June 2010, when PV met 10.5% of demand. It is also a 22% increase in raw production from July 2012. Read more

Schneider Electric supplies electrical equipment to 100 MW of Thai solar PV plants

Wednesday, 8.14.2013 - 8:22 (Solarserver)

Schneider Electric SA (Reuil-Malmaison, France) has supplied electrical balance of systems solutions to 14 solar photovoltaic (PV) plants in Thailand totaling over 100 MW so far in 2013. This includes inverters, switchgear, monitoring hardware and software and junction boxes. Schneider Electric will also supply 10-year maintenance services for the PV plants, which are currently under construction and are expected to be completed by the end of 2013. The company states that it is also looking to expand into Thailand's newly developing rooftop PV market. Read more

US interior secretary announces additional solar energy zone

Wednesday, 8.14.2013 - 3:22 (PV-Tech)

The US secretary of the interior today announced approval for a further solar energy zone that could see up to 3.3GW of projects developed on public lands in Nevada. Read more

First utility scale PV project on Native American reservation set to start

Wednesday, 8.14.2013 - 3:17 (PV-Tech)

Construction will begin in a “matter of weeks” on the first utility-scale solar plant to be built on a Native American reserve it was announced today at the National Clean Energy Summit in Las Vegas. Read more

Sierra Ranks Top 10 Greenest Universities in the US

Wednesday, 8.14.2013 - 17:54 (Renewable Energy World)

Sierra has been ranking America's greenest colleges for seven years now, so we know what a difference a campus can make. Read more

Nevada Tribe Venture to Build 1.5 Gigawatts of Renewable Power

Wednesday, 8.14.2013 - 17:48 (Renewable Energy World)

The Moapa Band of Paiute Indians have formed a joint venture with Terrible Herbst Inc. and Stronghold Engineering Inc. to build as much as 1.5 gigawatts of renewable energy projects on its land in Nevada. Read more

Weekly installation rates top 6MW

Wednesday, 8.14.2013 - 17:33 (Solarpowerportal)

The latest PV installation figures released by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) show that Read more

Green Investment Bank appoints sustainable finance chief

Wednesday, 8.14.2013 - 15:57 (Solarpowerportal)

The Green Investment Bank (GIB) has appointed Gavin Templeton as its head of sustainable finance. Read more

Nottingham Playhouse awarded £1 million to go green

Wednesday, 8.14.2013 - 14:07 (Solarpowerportal)

Nottingham Playhouse has been awarded funding from Arts Council England (ACE) to install solar panels and new energy efficiency measures. Read more

Kazakhstan Uses Renewable Energy to Expand Regional Leadership

Wednesday, 8.14.2013 - 11:00 (Renewable Energy World)

When Uzbekistan president Islam Karimov said last year that the escalations over two proposed dams in central Asia — Kambarata-1 in Kyrgyzstan and the Rogun Dam in Tajikistan — could “lead not just to a serious confrontation, but even water wars,” there was imminent controversy in Central Asia. Read more

GCL-Poly warns of higher losses in H1 2013

Wednesday, 8.14.2013 - 8:18 (Solarserver)

GCL-Poly Energy Holdings Ltd. (Hong Kong) has issued a warning that its losses for the first six months of 2013 will exceed the USD 43 million which it recorded in the first six months of 2012. GCL-Poly blames the higher losses on a decline in the selling prices of polysilicon and wafers compared to a year ago. The company also notes the impact of impairments and provisions made against its intangible assets, inventory, accounts receivables and production facilities. Read more