U.S. DoD, Soitec to collaborate on 1 MW CPV project at Fort Irwin

Thursday, 9.19.2013 - 17:19 (Solarserver)

On September 18th, 2013, Soitec (Bernin, France) announced its collaboration with the U.S. Department of Defense's (DoD) Environmental Security Technology Certification Program (ESTCP) for a 1 MW AC concentrating solar photovoltaic (PV) demonstration project at the Fort Irwin military facility in California. This initiative will help improving DoD's energy security and reduction of its facility costs while meeting its renewable energy goals. The CPV plant will be completed in 2014, and provide onsite distributed solar power generation avoiding the emission of nearly 1,850 tons of CO₂ each year. Read more

Thailand extends PV rooftop FiT deadline

Thursday, 9.19.2013 - 13:47 (PV-Tech)

The Thai government has extended the deadline for rooftop PV installations wishing to qualify for feed-in tariff support to December 2013. Read more

Update: Sol Voltaics Adds Backers for Solar Panel Nanowire Tech

Thursday, 9.19.2013 - 17:27 (Renewable Energy World)

Sol Voltaics, the Swedish startup that aims to apply nanowire materials to solar modules to dramatically hike their efficiency, has secured another $9.4 million in its current equity round, bringing the total to $15.6 million. This officially accomplishes funding goals for 2013 funding, and is enough to carry it to pilot production, according to the company. Read more

Hanergy looking at more CIGS thin-film acquisitions

Thursday, 9.19.2013 - 17:12 (PV-Tech)

Not content with its acquisitions of Solibro, MiaSolé and Global Solar Energy, Hanergy Holding is “aggressively” looking to make further CIGS thin-film IP and company acquisitions as it plans to be the global leader in the sector. Read more

Fraunhofer ISE showcases solar thermal collectors made from polymers

Thursday, 9.19.2013 - 17:09 (Solarserver)

An exhibition in front of the Congress Center Concert Hall in Freiburg (Germany) between September 23rd and 25th, 2013, shows how solar thermal collectors manufactured from plastic may look in the future. The Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE (Freiburg) presents polymeric solar thermal collectors and components alongside its industrial partners. Under the motto, efficiency and design, the exhibits provide an insight into research trends and product innovations for solar thermal applications. The exhibition is taking place as part of the Solar Heating and Cooling Conference, for which Fraunhofer ISE is the scientific chair. Read more

Viessmann and Industrial Solar work on solar thermal process heat

Thursday, 9.19.2013 - 17:05 (Solarserver)

Viessmann (Allendorf, Germany) and Industrial Solar (Freiburg, Germany) are developing a solar-fossil hybrid system that will generate process steam for industrial applications. The German Aerospace Center's Solar Institute (DLR) will serve as a scientific partner. The project is funded by the German Ministry for the Environment. Read more

Solar Stocks Are Taking Off — Will They Keep It Up?

Thursday, 9.19.2013 - 16:59 (Renewable Energy World)

The market is starting to notice that solar investing has been extremely profitable in 2013. As of the middle of September, the average solar stock is up over 50 percent in the past year, and over 15 percent in three months (that’s over 60 percent annualized!). Read more

First Solar begins construction of 150 MW-AC solar PV project in Southern California

Thursday, 9.19.2013 - 16:19 (Solarserver)

First Solar Inc. (Tempe, Arizona, U.S.) has broken ground on a 150 MW-AC solar photovoltaic (PV) project at three sites in Southern California's Imperial Valley, and expects to complete work by July 2014. Read more

China imposes limits on solar PV manufacturing expansion, minimum requirements for new & existing manufacturers

Thursday, 9.19.2013 - 15:34 (Solarserver)

China's State Council has issued orders to “strictly control” both new solar photovoltaic (PV) manufacturing projects and expansions of existing capacity, to only allow those projects which will strengthen innovation and/or reduce manufacturing costs. Read more

Solarwatt restructuring forces ‘unavoidable’ redundancies

Thursday, 9.19.2013 - 15:10 (PV-Tech)

Struggling German module manufacturer Solarwatt has revealed plans to lay off staff as part of an extensive restructuring process. Read more

Goldpoly connects 20MW solar power plant in Qinghai, China

Thursday, 9.19.2013 - 14:39 (PV-Tech)

Hong Kong-based PV firm Goldpoly New Energy Holdings has successfully connected its 20MW Qinghai Gonghe power plant in Qinghai Province to the grid. Read more

FERC: US connected 578MW in August 2013 across 20 projects

Thursday, 9.19.2013 - 13:00 (PV-Tech)

According to the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC), 578MW of solar capacity from large-scale projects was added in the US during August 2013. Read more

FERC: US connected 578MW of large-scale PV in August

Thursday, 9.19.2013 - 13:00 (PV-Tech)

According to the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC), 578MW of solar capacity from large-scale projects was added in the US during August 2013. Read more

Dulas secures 2.5MW social housing solar contract

Thursday, 9.19.2013 - 12:58 (Solarpowerportal)

Dulas Ltd has announced that it has secured a contract to install solar arrays on 1,000 affordable homes across the south of England. Read more

Concentrating Solar Power: Rioglass to acquire Siemens CSP receiver business

Thursday, 9.19.2013 - 12:50 (Solarserver)

Siemens AG (Munich) has agreed to sell the receiver technology and related manufacturing assets from its concentrating solar power (CSP) division to Rioglass Solar Holding (Pola de Lena, Spain). The companies did not mention the value or terms of the proposed transaction. The deal will still need the approval of anti-trust authorities. Rioglass says that this deal will reinforce its position as a leader in the CSP market, as it will now supply mirrors and receivers for parabolic trough CSP plants, as well as reflectors for solar power tower, linear Fresnel and Stirling engine CSP plants. Read more

Solar Thin Films to build 31-40 MW of solar PV plants in West Virginia

Thursday, 9.19.2013 - 12:46 (Solarserver)

Tri-State Solar/Wind Energy LLC (Wheeling, West Virginia, U.S.) has contracted Solar Thin Films, Inc. (Uniondale, New York, U.S.) to build three solar photovoltaic (PV) projects in the U.S. state of West Virginia, totaling 31-40 MW. Solar Thin Films estimates the value of the contract at USD 124-160 million, and will receive a 20% deposit on each of the projects prior to installation as well as monthly payments to recover its expenses. The company plans to start installation work before the end of 2013 and to complete the plants in 18 months. Read more

GCL-Poly arranges US$480 million three-year loan facility

Thursday, 9.19.2013 - 12:41 (PV-Tech)

China’s largest polysilicon and solar wafer producer, GCL-Poly Energy Holdings, has secured a US$480 million three-year loan facility. Read more

Hevel Solar to invest US$83.7 million in Russian solar

Thursday, 9.19.2013 - 11:15 (PV-Tech)

Russian public-private partnership Hevel Solar is planning to invest around RUB2.7 billion (US$83.7 million) into solar energy projects in Russia Read more

EnergyTrend: Global solar PV market shift to Asia showing in Q2 shipments

Thursday, 9.19.2013 - 8:57 (Solarserver)

TrendForce's (Taipei City, Taiwan) EnergyTrend division reports that solar photovoltaic (PV) module shipments from top-tier manufacturers are increasingly shifting to China and Japan from Europe. The company reports that all but one of the seven top-tier PV makers it tracked sequentially increased the proportion of Asia-Pacific shipments in the second quarter of 2013. It also notes the role of Chinese policies in stimulating demand and regulating production. Read more

California Legislature passes bills to expand access to solar PV

Thursday, 9.19.2013 - 8:48 (Solarserver)

In addition to changes to net metering, the California State Legislature passed three other bills which support the growth of the state's solar photovoltaic (PV) market, according to Vote Solar Initiative (San Francisco, California, U.S) and the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA, Washington D.C.) These include extensions to the California Solar Initiative's (CSI) low-income programs, the creation of a shared renewables program, and the protection of customer-sited PV systems from utility user taxes. SEIA expects all four bills to be signed by California Governor Jerry Brown. Read more

Concentrating solar power: Esolar unveils new collectors, solar power tower with energy storage

Thursday, 9.19.2013 - 8:41 (Solarserver)

Esolar (Burbank, California, U.S.) unveiled an improved solar collector and a new molten salt tower power design with energy storage for concentrating solar power (CSP) plants at the 2013 SolarPACES conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. on September 17th and 18th. The company has also completed a USD 22 million funding round from existing investors including Oak Investment Partners (Norwalk, Connecticut, U.S.). The company says this will support its expansion into the Middle East and North Africa for enhanced oil recovery, desalination and process heat applications, as well as funding its collector design improvements. Read more

Top 10 Scariest Challenges for the Biofuels Industry

Thursday, 9.19.2013 - 10:00 (Renewable Energy World)

They use various aliases — naysayers, pessimists, The Party of No, doom-and-gloom’ers, realists, skeptics, and so on. For almost every aspect of a biobased supply chain or technology, there’s someone available with 15 reasons why it can’t work. Read more

Servicing the Wind Energy Sector is Big Business for Siemens

Thursday, 9.19.2013 - 23:08 (Renewable Energy World)

By all accounts Tim Holt’s business is booming. Holt, who is the CEO, Service Renewables, in the Energy Service Division of Siemens Energy said that even when wind turbine sales are down, his business, which oversees the servicing and repair of the more than 6,800 Siemens turbines in the field, remains steady. Renewable Energy World met with Holt at the grand opening of the Siemens new wind training service center in Orlando, Florida. Siemens paid for the travel expenses of a handful of journalists to cover the momentous occasion. Read more

Order Focus: Daqo to supply three Chinese wafer manufacturers with polysilicon

Thursday, 9.19.2013 - 18:15 (PV-Tech)

According to Daqo New Energy, three leading Chinese wafer manufacturers have signed polysilicon supply contracts with its Xinjiang Daqo New Energy division. Read more

European renewables industry unites: Over 60 European companies and associations call for ambitious 2030 renewable energy framework

Thursday, 9.19.2013 - 17:16 (Solarserver)

The European renewable energy industry has written to the European Parliament President Martin Schulz, EU Energy Ministers and the EU Energy and Climate Commissioners to call for a legally binding 2030 target for renewable energy as part of “a strong and ambitious regulatory framework for the years to come”. The letter, organised by the European Renewable Energy Council (EREC) and signed by the UK Renewable Energy Assiociation (REA) and more than 60 others, notes the success of the existing 20-20-20 framework in setting “a clear direction” for industry and the urgent need for a 2030 framework “given the long investment cycles in the energy sector”. Read more

European renewable industry calls for 2030 renewable target

Thursday, 9.19.2013 - 12:53 (Solarpowerportal)

A coalition of renewable energy industry representatives have written to the European Parliament to call for a legally binding renewable energy target for 2030. Read more

SunEdison’s proceeds from stock offering hit US$239.9 million

Thursday, 9.19.2013 - 12:22 (PV-Tech)

Major PV energy provider (PVEP), SunEdison, has received net proceeds from its recent share offering of approximately US$239.9 million. Read more

DOE Secretary Moniz Launches Clean Energy Research Facility at NREL

Thursday, 9.19.2013 - 12:04 (Renewable Energy World)

Last week, U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz visited the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colo. where he launched a trio of new efforts to increase the amount of solar, wind and other clean energy in the U.S. He launched on Sept. 11 the Energy Systems Integration Facility (ESIF) — a new research facility focused Read more

US DOE Secretary Moniz Launches Clean Energy Research Facility at NREL

Thursday, 9.19.2013 - 12:04 (Renewable Energy World)

Last week, U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz visited the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colo. where he launched a trio of new efforts to increase the amount of solar, wind and other clean energy in the U.S. He launched on Sept. 11 the Energy Systems Integration Facility (ESIF) — a new research facility focused Read more