China Sunergy wins 9.9 MW PV module contracts in Romania

Thursday, 8.15.2013 - 13:29 (Solarserver)

China Sunergy Co., Ltd. (Nanjing, China) on Augsut 1^3th, 2013 announced that the Company has signed two solar photovoltaic (PV) module supply contracts totaling 9.9MW with Bester Generacion, an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) company headquartered in Spain. The PV modules will be supplied from China Sunergy's Turkey plant to Romania in September 2013. Bester Generacion will deploy China Sunergy's multi-crystalline PV modules in two ground-mounted projects in Romania. Read more

IHS says Q2 2013 is the turning point back to profitability for the PV module industry

Thursday, 8.15.2013 - 9:30 (Solarserver)

IHS Inc. (Englewood, Colorado, U.S.) has released comments on the updated shipment guidances and strong second quarter 2013 results reported by leading solar photovoltaic (PV) manufacturers, stating that the PV module industry is decisively returning to profitability. IHS names Chinese PV manufacturers Yingli, Trina and JinkoSolar, as well as Canadian-Chinese manufacturer Canadian Solar. However, Japanese and some North American PV manufacturers also reported strong results, with Sharp and Kyocera reporting booming shipments and SunPower reporting its first positive operating margin in years. Read more

Winaico PV modules prove high real world efficiency in Desert Knowledge test facility

Thursday, 8.15.2013 - 9:12 (Solarserver)

In recent testing solar photovoltaic (PV) modules manufactured by Winaico (Hsinchu County, Taiwan) have proven be amongst the most efficient currently on the market, as shown in real world conditions by their performance at the Australian Desert Knowledge testing facility. Winaico modules proved to be more efficient than their competitors’ by up to 12 %, meaning that each panel produces a higher yield for better value, the company emphasizes. Read more

Obama to get solar panels on White House “this week”

Thursday, 8.15.2013 - 18:59 (PV-Tech)

The White House is currently having solar panels installed, an official has revealed. Read more

JA Solar and Canadian Solar raising funds

Thursday, 8.15.2013 - 17:01 (PV-Tech)

Both tier 1 PV module manufacturers, JA Solar and Canadian Solar are raising funds to the tune of US$96 million and US$50 million respectively. Read more

Inazin Solar proposes 67-hectare solar farm in Lincolnshire

Thursday, 8.15.2013 - 16:53 (Solarpowerportal)

Inazin Solar is exploring the possibility of installing one of the UK’s largest solar farms in Lincolnshire. Read more

California’s flagship solar support scheme still vital after rebates run-out: report

Thursday, 8.15.2013 - 16:36 (PV-Tech)

Despite running out of rebate funds, the California Solar Initiative (CSI) can still boost PV uptake in the state, according to a new report. Read more

Gehrlicher Solar America, Marina Energy and Solop collaborate on 13MW New Jersey project

Thursday, 8.15.2013 - 16:22 (PV-Tech)

Gehrlicher Solar America has been announced as one of three companies working together to build a 13MW net-metered solar plant in New Jersey, USA, while German parent company Gehrlicher Solar Corporation remains in administration. Read more

Opening the Roof for Affordable Solar

Thursday, 8.15.2013 - 15:45 (Renewable Energy World)

The high upfront cost of solar has always been a barrier to participation for many who would otherwise welcome the chance to green their energy supply.  So has a lack of roof ownership for renters.  These factors, along with other barriers have given solar somewhat of a reputation — that it's really only a feasible option for the wealthier homeowne Read more

Empa reaches 11.5% conversion efficiency with flexible CdTe solar PV technology

Thursday, 8.15.2013 - 14:44 (Solarserver)

Researchers at the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (Empa) report that they have created an 11.5% efficient flexible cadmium telluride (CdTe) thin film solar photovoltaic (PV) cell using copper doping. Read more

NPD Solarbuzz: Spain’s solar u-turn could expose €20 billion PV bubble

Thursday, 8.15.2013 - 14:42 (PV-Tech)

Spain’s draft laws that would make self-generated solar more expensive than regular grid electricity could expose the country’s banks to a €20 billion (US$26.6 billion) bubble, according to analysts NPD Solarbuzz. Read more

SolarWorld to close Hillsboro wafer operations for upgrades but with job losses

Thursday, 8.15.2013 - 14:34 (PV-Tech)

Having gone through a major financial restructuring, SolarWorld is starting to tackle its manufacturing competitive issues with a round of technology upgrades and new product introductions. Read more

Viridian Solar launches 500 kW PV modules

Thursday, 8.15.2013 - 13:32 (Solarserver)

Viridian Solar (Papworth, Cambridgeshire, UK) announces the launch of a new range of higher power solar photovoltaic (PV) modules. The use of higher performance solar cells has improved the power output of Viridian Solar’s “Clearline” PV module series and for the largest panel format (PV30 at 3 square metres) this takes the rating to 500Wp per panel, the company emphasizes. Read more

Europe’s largest solar rooftop complete

Thursday, 8.15.2013 - 13:19 (PV-Tech)

Eleven hectares of PV roof solar has been installed in Germany with the project becoming the largest self-consumption solar plant in Europe. Read more

India to start US$7.9 billion investment for solar-ready grid

Thursday, 8.15.2013 - 12:12 (PV-Tech)

India is about to kick-start a planned US$7.9 billion investment in its electricity grid as it prepares to introduce more solar and wind. Read more

Dutch residential solar fund exceeds limit

Thursday, 8.15.2013 - 12:12 (PV-Tech)

The €50.8 million (US$67.5 million) funding budget for small scale PV systems has had more than 90,000 applications for the 15% rebate on PV equipment purchased from 2012 to 2013. Read more

Intersolar South America: International solar conference to be expanded by exhibition in 2013; focus on Brazil

Thursday, 8.15.2013 - 12:05 (Solarserver)

From September 18-20, international solar experts and representatives from research, industry and associations meet for the second time at the Expo Center Norte in São Paulo (Brazil). There the Intersolar South America Summit first took place in 2012 in the form of a conference with a focus on South America. Following the success of the event, this year the conference is expanded to include an exhibition segment, Solar Promotion International GmbH (Pforzheim, Germany) reports. Around 70 exhibitors will showcase their latest designs from the fields of photovoltaics, energy storage systems and solar thermal technologies across an area of 2,500m². Read more

Yingli, DEK Solar to establish joint solar PV research center

Thursday, 8.15.2013 - 10:06 (Solarserver)

Screen-printing and process provider DEK Solar (Weymouth, UK) and Yingli Green Energy Holding Co. Ltd. (Baoding, China) have agreed to establish a joint solar photovoltaic (PV) research center, which the companies say will provide a platform for PV manufacturers to develop new technologies, processes and materials. In addition to collaboration on core technology and application development, the companies say the Yingli Solar State Key Laboratory will enable the development of Chinese PV talent. Under the agreement DEK will provide its Apollo metalization platform to the Lab for research and development (R&D) work. Read more

SolarWorld revenues fall to 41% in 1H 2013 on lower shipments, prices

Thursday, 8.15.2013 - 9:55 (Solarserver)

SolarWorld AG (Bonn, Germany) has released financial results for the first half of 2013, reporting a 41% year-over-year fall in revenues to EUR 201 million (USD 266 million), a -34% operating margin and a net loss of EUR 82 million (USD 109 million). The company confirmed figures released in mid-July 2013 which indicate that solar photovoltaic (PV) product shipments, including wafers, fell 30% year-over-year to 233 MW. The company recently received approval for a financial restructuring, and will be laying off 50 workers in its wafer factory in the U.S. state of Oregon. Read more

SolarCity to buy Paramount Solar, ups 2013 guidance

Thursday, 8.15.2013 - 9:23 (Solarserver)

SolarCity Corp. (San Mateo, California, U.S.) has entered into an agreement to purchase channel partner Paramount Solar (Granite Bay, California, U.S.) for USD 116 million in stock and a cash payment to total roughly USD 120 million. SolarCity has raised its 2013 guidance to 278 MW due to the acquisition of Paramount's backlog, and expects an even larger impact in 2014. The acquisition also involves the transfer of executives. Read more

IBM's HyRef Seeks to Solve Wind's Intermittency Problem

Thursday, 8.15.2013 - 17:50 (Renewable Energy World)

IBM has decloaked a system combining weather modeling, sensors, and analytics to better forecast a wind farm's output from minutes to weeks away, helping utilities and grid operators more confidently integrate an intermittent energy source. Read more

New Analysis Shows India’s “Huge” Offshore Wind Power Potential

Thursday, 8.15.2013 - 12:48 (Renewable Energy World)

India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has published a report detailing the significant potential for offshore wind energy in the country. Read more

New Analysis Shows India’s Huge Offshore Wind Power Potential

Thursday, 8.15.2013 - 12:48 (Renewable Energy World)

India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has published a report detailing the significant potential for offshore wind energy in the country. Read more

MidAmerican’s entry to Nevada welcomed by Senator Reid

Thursday, 8.15.2013 - 6:56 (PV-Tech)

MidAmerican Energy’s acquisition of Nevada’s largest utility promises to accelerate the adoption of renewable energy such as solar in the state, Congress’s most influential clean energy advocate said yesterday. Read more

Electrochemical Step Towards Better Hydrogen Storage

Thursday, 8.15.2013 - 11:00 (Renewable Energy World)

Good metal-based systems for hydrogen storage cannot be developed without knowing how this element permeates through metals. Researchers at the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw managed to apply a user-friendly electrochemical method to study hydrogen diffusion in highly reactive metals. Read more

Flexible Grid, Renewable Energy Offer Hope For Future

Thursday, 8.15.2013 - 21:50 (Renewable Energy World)

August 14, 2003, was a dark day in U.S. history — in a lot of different ways. It started off as a quiet Thursday.  Then a single tree limb in Ohio came crashing down, touching off a power outage which cascaded across eight states and parts of Canada, leaving 50 million Americans in the Northeast in the dark.  Commuters were stranded.  Businesses cl Read more

Flexible Grid, Renewable Energy Offer Hope for Future

Thursday, 8.15.2013 - 21:50 (Renewable Energy World)

August 14, 2003, was a dark day in U.S. history — in a lot of different ways. It started off as a quiet Thursday.  Then a single tree limb in Ohio came crashing down, touching off a power outage which cascaded across eight states and parts of Canada, leaving 50 million Americans in the Northeast in the dark.  Commuters were stranded.  Businesses cl Read more

Photon Energy prepares IPO and expansion plans

Thursday, 8.15.2013 - 18:14 (PV-Tech)

Solar project developer, investor and manufacturer Photon Energy has announced it is assessing financing options ahead of a planned expansion and IPO in the first quarter of 2014. Read more

Trade War: EU-China dispute ‘may not be fully resolvable’ says EnergyTrend

Thursday, 8.15.2013 - 12:49 (PV-Tech)

The EU-China trade dispute may not be fully resolvable, even in the long term, according to EnergyTrend, the green energy division of market analysis specialists TrendForce. Read more

2MW energy storage trial energised in Orkney

Thursday, 8.15.2013 - 12:38 (Solarpowerportal)

The UK’s first large-scale battery has been connected to the grid in Orkney. Read more

Moving Above Ground: From Coal Mines to Clean Energy

Thursday, 8.15.2013 - 12:06 (Renewable Energy World)

As the number of coal mining jobs continues to decline throughout the U.S., more unemployed miners are finding work above ground — in the clean energy industry, ironically. A group called The JOBS Project has been working for the past three years to help workers throughout Central Appalachia obtain renewable energy jobs in coal-dominated states lik Read more

Three Hareon directors step down following disappointing results

Thursday, 8.15.2013 - 7:12 (PV-Tech)

Three directors have resigned from Chinese PV manufacturer Hareon three days after it announced a 19% drop in revenue for the first half of 2013 compared to last year. Read more