Shunfeng Photovoltaic reaches 890 MW of grid-tied solar PV

Friday, 1.3.2014 - 8:41 (Solarserver)

In a filing with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Shunfeng Photovoltaic International Ltd. (Changzhou, China) reports that it holds 890 MW of grid-connected solar photovoltaic (PV) plants. The company did not say when it completed these plants, but provided a breakdown by province for 840 MW of the plants, all of which are in Northwestern China. 24 of the 31 plants are located in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, representing the majority of installed capacity at 540 MW. Read more

Minn. Judge: Solar Beats Natural Gas for Utility Procurement

Friday, 1.3.2014 - 17:55 (Renewable Energy World)

In what is being called an unprecedented decision, solar energy went head-to-head with natural gas in a competitive evaluation for utility resource planning — and solar came out on top. Read more

Winchester City Council grants planning permission for 40MW solar farm

Friday, 1.3.2014 - 16:59 (Solarpowerportal)

Councillors have voted in favour of a proposed 40MW solar farm on the Southwick Estate, just north of Portsmouth. Read more

California sets new record for utility-scale solar PV, CSP output at 3.048 GW

Friday, 1.3.2014 - 16:00 (Solarserver)

California's utility-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) and concentrating solar power (CSP) output reached a new peak output of 3.048 gigawatts (GW) shortly after noon on January 2nd, 2014, one of the shortest days of the year. The California Independent System Operator (ISO) reports that total PV output peaked at 12:11 PM at 2.792 GW, with CSP peaking at 264 MW later in the day at 2:51 PM. Read more

SolarWorld Seeks to Close ‘Loophole’ on Chinese Panel Tariff

Friday, 1.3.2014 - 15:35 (Renewable Energy World)

SolarWorld Industries America, the U.S. unit of Germany’s SolarWorld AG, is asking the government to close a loophole it says allows Chinese competitors to avoid anti-dumping tariffs that have been imposed since 2012. Read more

Net metering changes to have little impact on the U.S. solar PV market in 2014

Friday, 1.3.2014 - 15:27 (Solarserver)

Changes to net metering policies in U.S. states will have “negligible” impacts on the nation's solar photovoltaic (PV) market in 2014, according to an analysis by IHS Inc. (Englewood, Colorado, U.S.). Read more

Which is More Effective? Marketing Solar with Anxiety or Inspiration?

Friday, 1.3.2014 - 15:26 (Renewable Energy World)

Below is another fascinating TED Talk. This one is from Jonah Sachs, one of the creators behind The Story of Suff. Here, Sachs talks about how the old tricks of traditional marketing are losing their mojo. He says that brands (and I’ll add solar brands) can no longer scare our customers into “needing” to buy a product. In the traditional consumer w Read more

Which Is More Effective: Marketing Solar with Anxiety or Inspiration?

Friday, 1.3.2014 - 15:26 (Renewable Energy World)

Below is another fascinating TED Talk. This one is from Jonah Sachs, one of the creators behind The Story of Suff. Here, Sachs talks about how the old tricks of traditional marketing are losing their mojo. He says that brands (and I’ll add solar brands) can no longer scare our customers into “needing” to buy a product. In the traditional consumer w Read more

Listen Up: Ten Solar Predictions for 2014

Friday, 1.3.2014 - 15:15 (Renewable Energy World)

As we roll into the new year I like to gaze into my crystal ball to see what's in store for the rooftop solar industry in 2014. Making predictions in the solar industry is like weather forecasting — you can determine the general trends, but getting the timing exactly right is challenging. But that won't stop me from trying, because when you do get the timing right it can be great for business. Read more

Solar beats natural gas in landmark US judicial ruling

Friday, 1.3.2014 - 13:38 (PV-Tech)

An administrative judge in the US state of Minnesota has ruled solar generation to be a better investment than natural gas for electric and natural gas utility, Xcel Energy. Read more

Minnesota judge recommends solar PV over natural gas for Xcel

Friday, 1.3.2014 - 13:05 (Solarserver)

An administrative law judge (ALJ) in the U.S. state of Minnesota has recommended that utility Xcel Energy (Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.) procure electricity from 130 MW-DC of solar photovoltaic (PV) plants to be built by Geronimo Energy (Edina, Minnesota, U.S.), instead of proposed natural gas-fired plants. The recommendation by ALJ Eric Lipman will now go to the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (MPUC), which will make a final decision on the matter. Lipman notes that it is not clear that Xcel needs the 345-645 MW of capacity over the next five years that the natural gas plants would represent, and central to the ruling is the advantage of PV as a scalable resource. Read more

Ford unveils solar-powered hybrid car

Friday, 1.3.2014 - 12:59 (Solarserver)

Ford Motor Co. (Dearborn, Michigan, U.S.) has unveiled a new concept hybrid automobile that can be charged by solar photovoltaic (PV) modules built into its roof. The C-Max Solar Energi Concept includes SunPower PV modules and a concentrator lens, and is the first directly solar-powered automobile to be unveiled for mass production. The vehicle will be on display at the 2014 International CES show in Las Vegas on January 7th-10th, 2014. Read more

Gestamp Solar inaugurates 5MW Puerto Rico PV plant

Friday, 1.3.2014 - 12:57 (PV-Tech)

Spanish PV plant developer and operator Gestamp Solar has inaugurated a 5MW solar power installation at the Puerto Rico Convention Center, Puerto Rico. Read more

Hanwha SolarOne to supply 11.5MW for Norfolk Ikaros Solar project

Friday, 1.3.2014 - 12:49 (PV-Tech)

Hanwha SolarOne has announced that it will be supplying Belgian solar developer Ikaros Solar with 11.5MW of modules for a UK project. Read more

JinkoSolar reaches 213MW of grid connected PV in China

Friday, 1.3.2014 - 12:27 (PV-Tech)

PV producer Jinko Solar has announced the grid connection of four PV projects totalling 80MW in China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Read more

Goldpoly continues solar charge with connection of 180MW of PV projects

Friday, 1.3.2014 - 12:12 (PV-Tech)

Goldpoly has announced the connection of a further 180MW of solar power plants in China. Read more

US utilities’ net metering policies to have limited impact on solar says IHS

Friday, 1.3.2014 - 12:09 (PV-Tech)

Strongly contested campaigns by some US-based utilities to change net-energy metering (NEM) policies for mainly residential PV owners is not expected to have a meaningful negative impact on the US PV market, according to the latest findings from market research firm IHS. Read more

Canadian Solar sells 10MW Ontario PV plant to TransCanada

Friday, 1.3.2014 - 11:54 (PV-Tech)

Canadian Solar has sold a 10MW AC photovoltaic (PV) power plant, Mississippi Mills, to energy infrastructure company TransCanada as part of a wider deal involving nine plants with a total capacity of 86MW. Read more

Utility-scale solar PV, CSP meet 2.36% of California's electricity demand in 2013

Friday, 1.3.2014 - 8:49 (Solarserver)

Renewable energy consultant Bernard Chabot has released his latest analysis of electricity production from solar and wind in California, finding that utility-scale solar photovoltaics (PV) met 2.08% of annual electricity demand, and concentrating solar power (CSP) another 0.28%. This analysis does not include the estimated 2 GW of “behind-the-meter” PV that the state has installed, as California's grid operator does not track the output of these systems. Overall, utility-scale renewable energy including hydropower meet 21.3% of California's demand during 2013. Read more

Texas Renewable Energy Transmission Project Delayed by Bad Weather

Friday, 1.3.2014 - 17:18 (Renewable Energy World)

Inclement weather is being blamed for preventing a perfect record for Texas’s competitive renewable energy zone (CREZ) transmission initiative by delaying a single transmission project in the central CREZ zone beyond the end-of-2013 target date for the projects’ completion. Read more

The Farm Bill and Its Impact on Renewable Energy Funding

Friday, 1.3.2014 - 14:00 (Renewable Energy World)

The first Farm Bill was introduced in 1933 for the overall purpose of ensuring that everyone had enough to eat, farmers earned a living, and that the soil and water stayed healthy. A new Farm Bill is written, debated and passed every five to seven years. Since 1933 15 different versions of the Farm Bill have passed. The 2008 Farm Bill, called the Food, Conservation and Energy Act, authorized $289 billion in spending over five years. Read more

EnergyTrend: Polysilicon spot prices forcing wafer and cell ASPs higher

Friday, 1.3.2014 - 12:54 (PV-Tech)

Polysilicon spot prices are expected to test the US$20/kg mark for the first time in over two years in January, 2014, according to EnergyTrend, a research division of TrendForce based in Taiwan. Read more

Ofgem denies Labour’s claim that energy companies overcharged Brits by £3.8 billion

Friday, 1.3.2014 - 12:15 (Solarpowerportal)

Ofgem has admitted that it has not seen the details which underpin Labour’s claim that British households have been overcharged by £3.8 billion over the last four years. Read more