German election eliminates anti-renewable FDP, but future still uncertain for feed-in tariff system

Monday, 9.23.2013 - 15:37 (Solarserver)

The center-right Free Democratic Party (FDP) has been eliminated in Germany's government by failing to meet a 5% threshold in the federal election on September 22nd, 2013. This removes the only political party calling for a repeal of the nation's feed-in tariff law (EEG). Read more

IHS refutes ‘fabless’ business model for PV industry

Monday, 9.23.2013 - 19:56 (PV-Tech)

Market research firm IHS has attempted to counter recent reports from rival firm, NPD Solarbuzz in the next direction PV manufacturers will take, which could have a significant impact on equipment and materials suppliers to the sector. Read more

E.ON and American Honda join Solar Energy Industries Association

Monday, 9.23.2013 - 18:04 (PV-Tech)

Utility company E.ON has joined the board of US trade association Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA). Read more

Phoenix Solar to build Singapore’s largest PV rooftop

Monday, 9.23.2013 - 18:01 (PV-Tech)

Phoenix Solar is to design and construct what is claimed will be the largest PV installation in Singapore for CMM marketing and management, the distribution arm of one of Singapore’s largest retailers, Sheng Siong. Read more

China Boosts Solar Market with New Construction Ban

Monday, 9.23.2013 - 16:51 (Renewable Energy World)

Beijing took an important step towards rejuvenating the global solar panel sector last week when it announced new steps that will strictly limit new plant construction. This kind of government-led approach is a good short-term solution, as it will halt the introduction of new supply, which in turn will allow prices to stabilize after more than 2 ye Read more

US Solar Group Offers Peace Plan to Avert Trade War with China

Monday, 9.23.2013 - 16:45 (Renewable Energy World)

A solar-energy group is offering a plan to resolve a trade dispute between the U.S. and China, saying import duties currently in place are crippling the industry in both nations. Read more

JinkoSolar prices stock offering at USD 16.25 per share

Monday, 9.23.2013 - 15:36 (Solarserver)

JinkoSolar Holding Co. Ltd. (Shanghai) has announced a pricing of USD 16.25 per share for its follow-on public offering of 3.8 million shares, which will close on September 25th, 2013. The offering includes a underwriter's option to purchase an additional 570,000 shares. Read more

IndoGreenEnviro ships first hybrid wind and solar PV mill to UAE

Monday, 9.23.2013 - 15:30 (Solarserver)

IndoGreenEnviro (Magarpatta City, Pune, India) has exported its first “Windstream SolarMill” to Sharjah, one of the emirates of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to demonstrate 24 hour power output through hybrid energy generation. The “SolarMill” hybrid device combines vertical axis wind turbines combined with a solar photovoltaic (PV) panel. SolarMill’s first UAE installation will open the doors for a large market in the Gulf countries, the company expects. Read more

Waxman Renewables to distribute TiSUN solar thermal products in the U.K.

Monday, 9.23.2013 - 15:24 (Solarserver)

Waxman Renewables (Elland, West Yorkshire, U.K.) will become exclusive distributor for Austrian solar thermal company TiSUN’s products in England, Scotland and Wales from October 2013. With the newly launched British Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) for solar thermal applications, TiSUN (Söll, Austria) and Waxman anticipate a strong potential for growth in the British solar thermal market. Read more

Solar Exchange online trading solar platform launched

Monday, 9.23.2013 - 15:15 (PV-Tech)

An online trading platform has been launched by Solar Exchange, a business-to-business (B2B) global online marketplace, aimed at professionals in the solar power industry. Read more

Solar assets of Suntech-owned fund seized

Monday, 9.23.2013 - 15:08 (PV-Tech)

An Italian court has ordered the seizure of further solar parks constructed by companies associated with Global Solar Fund, the PV power plant investment body in which Chinese manufacturer Suntech is majority shareholder. Read more

Argonne publishes report on solar energy development impacts, mitigation in six U.S. states

Monday, 9.23.2013 - 15:01 (Solarserver)

Argonne's Environmental Science Division (EVS, Argonne, IL, U.S.) published a report identifying potential environmental, cultural and socio-economic impacts of utility-scale solar energy development. The release, which provides applicable mitigation measures as well, summarizes information from the Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Solar Energy Development in Six Southwestern States (Solar PEIS), which Argonne prepared for the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Solar Energy Technologies Program. Read more

India unveils plans for 4GW ‘mega’ solar project

Monday, 9.23.2013 - 14:52 (PV-Tech)

A 4GW solar project has been announced in Rajasthan, India, which, if fully built, would be the world’s largest solar plant. Read more

Kuwait’s first solar park to be built for US$3.27 billion

Monday, 9.23.2013 - 14:33 (PV-Tech)

A contract has been signed for the first solar power plant to be built in the Gulf state of Kuwait, a 280MW solar thermal power plant in Al-Abdaliya. Read more

Kuwait’s first solar park to be built for US$327 million

Monday, 9.23.2013 - 14:15 (PV-Tech)

The first solar power plant to be built in the Gulf state of Kuwait, a 280MW solar thermal power plant in Al-Abdaliya, is expected to go online by the end of this year. Read more

Reflectors Significantly Raise the Efficiency of Rooftop Solar

Monday, 9.23.2013 - 10:10 (Renewable Energy World)

Flat-roofed urban buildings bake in the sun all day with no shade from trees, so they are the perfect place for solar panels. They can deliver power directly to where it’s needed without significant transmission loss. But roof space is limited so efficiency is very important. TenK Solar of Minneapolis has developed a system that achieves amazing ef Read more

Reflectors Significantly Raise the Efficiency of Flat Rooftop Solar

Monday, 9.23.2013 - 10:10 (Renewable Energy World)

Flat-roofed urban buildings bake in the sun all day with no shade from trees, so they are the perfect place for solar panels. They can deliver power directly to where it’s needed without significant transmission loss. But roof space is limited so efficiency is very important. TenK Solar of Minneapolis has developed a system that achieves amazing ef Read more

An Innovative Approach to Economic Diversification with a Healthy Dose of Solar in West Virginia

Monday, 9.23.2013 - 8:58 (Renewable Energy World)

Aptly referred to as “America’s backyard” in the recent documentary featuring the West Virginian coalfields, Hollow, much of the nation can hardly imagine the terms “progress” and “central Appalachia” in the same sentence. From the region responsible for the industrialization of our nation, namely, the central Appalachian coal counties of West Virg Read more

Goldpoly commissions 20 MW solar PV plant in Western China

Monday, 9.23.2013 - 8:49 (Solarserver)

Goldpoly New Energy Holdings Ltd. (Hong Kong) has connected a 20 MW solar photovoltaic (PV) plant to the grid in Qinghai Province, Western China. The Qinghai Gonghe Solar Power Plant is located in Gonghe County, an area which boasts extremely high solar radiation, estimated at over 2,900 hours of sunlight annually. As a result, Goldpoly forecasts that the plant will produce 32 GWh annually. Read more

Solarwatt to accelerate restructuring, including workforce reduction

Monday, 9.23.2013 - 8:24 (Solarserver)

Solarwatt GmbH (Dresden, Germany) has announced that it will be reorganizing its business structures in favor of more flexible business units more quickly than originally planned, including “downsizing”. Solarwatt notes that it will shift its strategic orientation from mass production to intelligent system solutions, but did not offer other details, such as how many jobs it plans to shed or when. The company says that prospects are good for its remaining employees. Read more

Geothermal Energy: Why It Is Different From Shale Gas

Monday, 9.23.2013 - 17:44 (Renewable Energy World)

The possibility of producing shale gas in some European countries has triggered a very heated debate about the environmental and social impacts of the technique used to extract gas from shale rocks (today only in the US and Canada); this technique is widely known as hydraulic fracturing or fracking. Read more

EIB supports renewable energy and efficiency projects in India with USD 54 million loan

Monday, 9.23.2013 - 15:19 (Solarserver)

The European Investment Bank (EIB, Luxembourg) has signed a USD 54 million (EUR 40 million) long-term loan to SREI Infrastructure Finance Limited (SREI, Kolkata, India) to fund projects in the renewable energy and energy efficiency sectors in India. The projects financed will target especially electricity and heat generation schemes like solar photovoltaics (PV), wind power, hydro power and high-efficiency cogeneration. Read more

‘Urgent intervention’ required as latest statistics show lacklustre Green Deal uptake

Monday, 9.23.2013 - 14:33 (Solarpowerportal)

Just 12 households have taken out Green Deal plans since the scheme’s launch in January, according to the latest Green Deal figures published by the Department for Energy and Climate Change. Read more

German Industry Calls for Renewables Policy Reform

Monday, 9.23.2013 - 13:38 (Renewable Energy World)

Germany’s industry federation has released a proposal for reform of the nation’s renewable energy strategy, calling for it to be enacted in the new government’s first 100 days. Read more

German electricity system 99.997% reliable in 2012

Monday, 9.23.2013 - 8:43 (Solarserver)

Germany's Federal Network Agency has issued a report which finds that the nation's electricity system remained highly reliable in 2012, as increasing amounts of electricity from solar photovoltaics (PV) and other renewable energy sources came online. German electricity customers experienced an average of 15.91 minutes of service interruption in 2012, or 0.003% of the time. While this is slightly worse than the 15.31 recorded in 2011, it is still below the average of 17.09 minutes between 2006 and 2011. Read more