Tritec commissions 5.21 MW rooftop PV plant in Switzerland

Monday, 8.26.2013 - 15:08 (Solarserver)

Tritec AG (Allschwil/Basel, Switzerland) has built and commissioned a 5.21 MW rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) plant in Switzerland, as the largest in the nation. Read more

Chinese PV producer Trina Solar retains top rank on SVTC's Solar Scorecard

Monday, 8.26.2013 - 23:53 (Solarserver)

Trina Solar Limited (Changzhou, China) on August 22nd, 2013, announced it has maintained its No. 1 global ranking for environmental and social performance in the 2013 Solar Scorecard, an award system established by the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition (SVTC). "We are very proud to have maintained our top ranking in this leading environmental survey," said Mr. Jifan Gao, Chairman and CEO of Trina Solar. Read more

India installs 80 MW of solar PV in July 2013

Monday, 8.26.2013 - 15:37 (Solarserver)

79.6 MW of solar photovoltaic (PV) plants were installed in India in July 2013, according to the nation's Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE). This is more than was installed in the previous three months combined. Additionally, the nation installed 70,000 square meters of solar thermal systems during the month. India's PV market was relatively robust in 2012, with around 1 GW installed, but stalled in the first months of fiscal year 2013-2014, which started on April 1, 2013. Read more

First Solar sells 50 MW-AC of solar PV plants to GE, Alterra Power

Monday, 8.26.2013 - 15:36 (Solarserver)

A partnership led by General Electric's (GE, Schenectady, New York, U.S.) Energy Financial Services subsidiary has bought three solar photovoltaic (PV) plants totaling 50 MW-AC in Ontario, Canada from First Solar Inc. (Tempe, Arizona, U.S.). Read more

Martifer Solar to build and sell 50MW of PV power plants in UK

Monday, 8.26.2013 - 15:13 (PV-Tech)

Martifer Solar is almost doubling is current PV project business in the UK with plans to build five PV power plants with a total capacity of around 50MW. Read more

Martifer Solar to build and sell 50MW of PV power plants in UK to Lightsource

Monday, 8.26.2013 - 15:13 (PV-Tech)

Martifer Solar is almost doubling is current PV project business in the UK with plans to build five PV power plants with a total capacity of around 50MW. Read more

GE-Alterra partnership buys 50MW of Ontario-based First Solar PV projects

Monday, 8.26.2013 - 14:45 (PV-Tech)

The first acquisition of PV power plants since GE and First Solar struck a business partnership has taken place, without the financial details being disclosed. Read more

The Solar Marketer’s Action Plan to Help Save Net Metering — Do It

Monday, 8.26.2013 - 10:00 (Renewable Energy World)

  The fight to save net metering in many states is on, but SEIA, Vote Solar, and other solar organizations can’t win these multi-front battles alone. They need the support of everyone in the solar industry, especially solar marketers and sales people who have the communication skills to get the word out that net metering needs to be preserved. I’m Read more

India installs 80 WM of solar PV in July 2013

Monday, 8.26.2013 - 9:25 (Solarserver)

79.6 MW of solar photovoltaic (PV) plants were installed in India in July 2013, according to the nation's Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE). This is more than was installed in the previous three months combined. Additionally, the nation installed 70,000 square meters of solar thermal systems during the month. India's PV market was relatively robust in 2012, with around 1 GW installed, but stalled in the first months of fiscal year 2013-2014, which started on April 1, 2013. Read more

Louisiana regulators move to protect solar PV net metering customers

Monday, 8.26.2013 - 9:21 (Solarserver)

As the latest skirmish over net metering in the United States, regulators in the state of Louisiana have ruled that three electric co-ops must continue to process applications received through August 21st, 2013 for participation in the state's net metering program. The co-ops had claimed that they have reached the program cap, which is defined as 0.5% of peak demand. Solar installers and the Louisiana Public Service Commission (LPSC) are questioning the way that the co-ops calculated the capacity of solar systems against this cap, and the LPSC will more fully address this issue in its September 2013 meeting. Read more

Solar Energy Powers Rural Texas Ranches

Monday, 8.26.2013 - 9:00 (Renewable Energy World)

Intercepting photons from the sun 93 million miles away to power his rural central Texas ranch was not something Professor Bill Bard originally conceived of when he decided decades ago to become an electrical engineer, but after 45 years of teaching the subject to students at the University of Texas at Austin, that’s exactly what he recently did. Read more

Bechtel Corp. completes construction on 143 MW Catalina Solar plant

Monday, 8.26.2013 - 8:53 (Solarserver)

Bechtel Corp. (San Francisco, California, U.S.) has completed construction of the 143 MW-DC Catalina Solar project in Southern California for EDF Énergies Nouvelles SA's (Paris) U.S. subsidiary. Catalina Solar is the world's 8th largest solar photovoltaic (PV) plant. In an unusual move, the plant mixes two different PV technologies, and is comprised of 82 MW of Solar Frontier copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) thin-film PV modules and 61 MW of First Solar cadmium telluride (CdTe) thin-film PV modules. Read more

Hawaii jumps to second place in Ernst & Young rankings of U.S. state solar markets; California continues to lead

Monday, 8.26.2013 - 8:46 (Solarserver)

Ernst & Young (London) has moved Hawaii to second place among U.S. states in its assessment of the state's long-term solar market outlook. The state now follows only California in the company's August 2013 “United States renewable energy attractiveness indices”. Hawaii also earned second place in the “all renewables” category, up from seventh place. Ernst & Young notes that Hawaii currently gets a larger percentage of its electricity from solar than any other state, as part of its goal to reach 40% renewable energy by 2030. Read more

SunEdison to spin off semiconductor business, focus on solar

Monday, 8.26.2013 - 8:29 (Solarserver)

The board of directors of SunEdison, Inc. (St. Peters, Missouri, U.S.) has approved the separation of the company's semiconductor business, including an initial public offering of the business as a separate company in early 2014. SunEdison Inc. plans to sell a minority share of SunEdison Semiconductor to the public, and to use the proceeds from the separation to fund initiatives related to the solar business, repay debts and for general corporate purposes. The new company will have a separate board of directors. Read more

Norway Approves $3 Billion for Wind Power Plants to Triple Capacity

Monday, 8.26.2013 - 16:21 (Renewable Energy World)

Norway has awarded concessions to build eight new onshore wind farms for about 20 billion kroner ($3.3 billion) in a bid to triple the country’s capacity to more than 2 gigawatts by 2020. Read more

Zambia Targets Geothermal Power to Plug Energy Gap

Monday, 8.26.2013 - 16:12 (Renewable Energy World)

Kalahari GeoEnergy Ltd. plans to produce power from steam resources in Zambia to help end a shortfall of electricity in Africa’s biggest copper producer, Chief Executive Officer Peter Vivian-Neal said. Read more

Revamped Electric Grids in Iceland Show Path To Changing Global Energy Markets

Monday, 8.26.2013 - 10:00 (Renewable Energy World)

With aging infrastructure and renewable energy generation on the rise, there has never been a more urgent need for a modern electricity grid. Many envision this modernized smart grid based on its capacity to integrate renewable energy sources, being virtually carbon neutral, and featuring improved voltage control, demand response and supply flexibi Read more

Revamped Electric Grids in Iceland Show Path to Changing Global Energy Markets

Monday, 8.26.2013 - 10:00 (Renewable Energy World)

With aging infrastructure and renewable energy generation on the rise, there has never been a more urgent need for a modern electricity grid. Many envision this modernized smart grid based on its capacity to integrate renewable energy sources, being virtually carbon neutral, and featuring improved voltage control, demand response and supply flexibi Read more

Electric Cars Are Cleaner Today and Will Only Get Cleaner Tomorrow

Monday, 8.26.2013 - 14:00 (Renewable Energy World)

Uncovering a fraud is uniquely satisfying, which is perhaps why news outlets continue to provide electric car deniers with a platform to proclaim they aren’t as green as they appear. But close examination reveals the latest round of skeptics to be lacking in substance. Numerous peer-reviewed articles have reached the same conclusion — from cradle to grave, electric cars are the cleanest vehicles on the road today. And unlike cars that rely on oil, the production of which is only getting dirtier over time, the environmental benefits of electric cars will continue to improve as old coal plants are replaced with cleaner sources and manufacturing becomes more efficient as Read more

Fueled vs Electric Cars: The Great Race Begins

Monday, 8.26.2013 - 11:00 (Renewable Energy World)

The amazing success of the Tesla model S proves that electric cars may have a chance of replacing liquid fueled vehicles in the long run. Skeptics point out that most of our electric power today comes from coal, which is dirty and inefficient. We must change to clean, renewable energy sources but is that really practical? The Tesla has proved that Read more