Order Focus: US-based EPC firm to use 84,480 solar modules from Canadian Solar

Tuesday, 1.7.2014 - 17:13 (PV-Tech)

Canadian Solar has secured a PV module supply deal with US-based EPC firm, National Renewable Energy Corporation (NARENCO). Read more

Shunfeng targets 10GW of PV projects by 2016

Tuesday, 1.7.2014 - 12:47 (PV-Tech)

Chinese solar farm developer and component manufacturer Shunfeng Photovoltaic has said it plans to install 10GW of solar power by 2016 at a cost of RMB24 billion (US$4 billion). Read more

Germany meets 4.9% of electricity demand with solar PV in 2013

Tuesday, 1.7.2014 - 21:43 (Solarserver)

German solar photovoltaic (PV) generation has increased 6% to 29.7 terawatt-hours (TWh) in 2013, according to the latest analysis by Platts (London). This means that PV met an estimated 4.9% of electricity demand during the year, an increase from the 4.4% that it met in 2012. Read more

Real Goods Solar to build four SREC1-qualified PV plants in Massachusetts

Tuesday, 1.7.2014 - 18:22 (PV-Tech)

US solar provider Real Goods Solar is to design, install and maintain four PV power plants totalling 3.5MW in the US state of Massachusetts with developer BlueWave Capital. Read more

Solar Popularity Continues to Grow in Massachusetts

Tuesday, 1.7.2014 - 17:43 (Renewable Energy World)

Solar's popularity is growing in Massachusetts. That’s the finding of a new poll conducted in early December and released on Dec. 19 from Princeton Research Associates, which follows up on a poll the organization did earlier this year. The poll shows that now 67 percent of all voters in Massachusetts believe that the solar industry is important to Read more

Gestamp inaugurates 5 MW solar PV plant in Puerto Rico

Tuesday, 1.7.2014 - 17:08 (Solarserver)

Gestamp Solar SL (Madrid) has inaugurated a 5 MW solar photovoltaic (PV) plant at the Puerto Rico Convention Center in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico. The PV plant comprises more than 17,000 PV modules installed as canopies over parking spaces, as well as another 2,000 on the roof of the building. Gestamp invested over USD 20 million in the plant. Read more

Order Focus: Hanwha SolarOne plans 50MW module supply deal with OneRoof Energy

Tuesday, 1.7.2014 - 16:36 (PV-Tech)

Hanwha SolarOne has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to supply 50MW of its modules to US-based third-party finance and residential rooftop installer, OneRoof Energy, as the company plans to expand operations. Read more

Deutsche Bank hails second solar ‘gold rush’

Tuesday, 1.7.2014 - 14:53 (PV-Tech)

In a new detailed report by Deutsche Bank’s US-based solar industry analysts, the PV industry is said to be heading into its “second gold rush” with a base demand of 46GW in 2014, topped by an expected 56GW of demand in 2015. Read more

GCL-Poly completes 100MW project in China

Tuesday, 1.7.2014 - 14:40 (PV-Tech)

Polysilicon and wafer supplier, GCL Poly has grid connected a 100MW solar power plant in the Qingyang Desert in China’s Ningxia region. Read more

India Delays National Solar Bid Deadline for Second Time

Tuesday, 1.7.2014 - 14:00 (Renewable Energy World)

India delayed the deadline for companies to submit bids in its next national solar auction for a second time after developers raised concerns about the ability of cash-strapped state utilities to pay for power. Read more

DEG, IFC, Canada loan USD 46.5 million for the expansion of the La Huayca solar PV plant in Chile

Tuesday, 1.7.2014 - 13:55 (Solarserver)

The German Investment and Development Corporation (DEG, Cologne, Germany) has announced that it will provide a USD 18.5 million loan for the expansion of the La Huayca solar photovoltaic (PV) plant in Chile to 30.5 MW. This is part of a USD 46.5 million package of loans for the expansion. Read more

Etrion and Hitachi Hi-Tech to partner on Japan utility-scale PV projects

Tuesday, 1.7.2014 - 13:47 (PV-Tech)

Independent solar power producer Etrion has become the latest company to state its intention to become involved in the Japanese utility-scale PV market, after announcing a strategic partnership with Hitachi High Technologies Corporation. Read more

Canadian Solar puts online 30 MW solar PV plant in Northwestern China

Tuesday, 1.7.2014 - 13:33 (Solarserver)

A subsidiary of Canadian Solar Inc. (Guelph, Canada) and Gaochuangte New Energy (Suzhou, China) have commissioned a 30 MW solar photovoltaic (PV) plant in Northwestern China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Gaochuangte New Energy served as engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor, and CSI Solar Power (China) Inc. developed the project. Read more

The Benefits and Likelihood of Solar Trends in 2014 and Beyond

Tuesday, 1.7.2014 - 13:20 (Renewable Energy World)

Time is the primary difference between a fad and a trend. Fads are fleeting. Trends develop over time altering behavior in some relatively permanent fashion. The adverb relatively is used as permanence has become, over time, far less permanent. Fads ebb and flow more quickly than trends. The best way to tell the difference, unfortunately, is in hindsight. Read more

Proposals for 13MW Port Talbot solar farm unveiled

Tuesday, 1.7.2014 - 12:22 (Solarpowerportal)

Plans to build a 13.28MW solar farm have been submitted to North Port Talbot Council by London-based solar developer EEW Eco Energy World. Read more

Solar financing jumped in 2013, says Mercom

Tuesday, 1.7.2014 - 12:11 (PV-Tech)

Corporate and project funding for the solar power sector increased in 2013, according to consultancy Mercom Capital. Read more

Canadian Solar completes 30MW project in Xinjiang

Tuesday, 1.7.2014 - 11:59 (PV-Tech)

Canadian Solar has completed and grid-connected a 30MW ground mounted project in Tumushuke City, Xinjiang, China. Read more

Chinese solar thermal market stable at USD 17 billion in 2013 as market volume rises 3.3%

Tuesday, 1.7.2014 - 10:28 (Solarserver)

China's solar thermal market grew 3.3% to 66 million square meters of collector area installed in 2013, according to preliminary industry data published by Solarthermalworld. This represents 46.2 Gigawatts-thermal (GWth) of new heating capacity. The China Solar Thermal Industry Federation (CSTIF) estimates that Chinese industry revenues were stable from 2012 at roughly USD 17 billion in 2013, or five times the size of Europe's solar thermal industry. Read more

Solar industry funding grows in 2013, despite fall in VC

Tuesday, 1.7.2014 - 10:20 (Solarserver)

Mercom Capital LLC (Austin, Texas, U.S.) has found that total corporate funding into the global solar industry increased 25% to almost USD 10 billion in 2013, in its annual analysis of funding and mergers and acquisitions in the sector. Public market financings tripled to USD 2.8 billion in 39 deals during the year, and seven initial public offerings (IPOs) netted more than USD 1 billion. Against this trend of increasing investments is the continued decline of venture capital (VC) funding, which fell another 40% in 2013 to USD 600 million. Read more

GCL-Poly commissions 160 MW of solar PV plants in China

Tuesday, 1.7.2014 - 10:12 (Solarserver)

GCL-Poly Energy Holdings Ltd. (Hong Kong) reports the commissioning of two solar photovoltaic (PV) plants at 100 MW and 60 MW in capacity in Northern and Northwestern China. GCL owns a 51% equity interest in the 100 MW Ningxia Qingyang PV plant in China's Ningxia Region. The company developed the 60 MW PV plant in Shanxi Province, as the largest plant in the province. Read more

LDK Solar releases five-year forecast, plans polysilicon, PV capacity expansions

Tuesday, 1.7.2014 - 8:53 (Solarserver)

As part of its negotiations regarding overdue bond payments, LDK Solar Co. Ltd. (Xinyu, China) has released a forecast for the next five years, in which it expects a positive change in net working capital in 2018. The company also plans to nearly double its polysilicon output to 18,000 metric tons per year by 2015, as well as nearly doubling its annual PV module capacity to 1.4 GW by 2017. LDK has signed repeated forbearance agreements with note holders, and in November 2013 received a USD 256 million credit facility which can not be used to repay these or other offshore obligations. Read more

EnergyTrend: Materials cost increases may drive up solar PV cell prices

Tuesday, 1.7.2014 - 8:41 (Solarserver)

TrendForce's (Taipei City, Taiwan) EnergyTrend division reports that recent increases in polysilicon and multi-crystalline silicon wafer prices and demand may drive up solar photovoltaic (PV) cell prices. EnergyTrend estimates that polysilicon prices approached USD 18 per kilogram (kg) at the end of 2013, after falling to USD 16.32 per kg in July 2013. These prices are expected to rise to USD 19–20 per kg in January. Read more

Intermolecular modifies terms of collaborative work with First Solar on thin film PV

Tuesday, 1.7.2014 - 8:35 (Solarserver)

Intermolecular Inc. (San Jose, California, U.S.) has reduced its commitments to assisting First Solar Inc. (Tempe, Arizona, U.S.) with improvements to its cadmium telluride (CdTe) thin-film solar photovoltaic (PV) technology. Under a modification to the agreement on December 30th, 2013, Intermolecular will supply fewer staff resources in exchange for lower fees in 2014. First Solar has also agreed to pay volume-based royalties on collaborative intellectual property used in its CdTe PV modules. Read more

Six Viridian Solar products achieve MCS 012 standard

Tuesday, 1.7.2014 - 6:10 (Solarpowerportal)

Viridian Solar has announced that six of its roof-integrated solar PV and solar thermal panels have achieved MCS 012 accreditation. Read more

New Test Facility to Improve Wind Turbines

Tuesday, 1.7.2014 - 14:00 (Renewable Energy World)

Premature failures of mechanical systems have a significant impact on the cost of wind turbine operations and thus the total cost of wind energy. Recently, the Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) took a giant step forward in the quest for more reliable, lower-cost wind power with the addition of the new 5-megawatt (MW) Dynamometer Test Facility at its National Wind Technology Center (NWTC). The new facility dramatically expands the capability of NWTC engineers and their industry partners to verify the performance and reliability of wind turbine drivetrain prototypes and commercial machines. Read more

Portugese PV association: Energy sector could be ‘irreparably damaged by tariff cuts

Tuesday, 1.7.2014 - 12:58 (PV-Tech)

Portugese photovoltaic sector trade association APESF has written an open letter condemning recently announced cuts to tariff rates for two classes of small-scale PV electricity generation. Read more

Portugese PV association: Energy sector could be ‘irreparably damaged’ by tariff cuts

Tuesday, 1.7.2014 - 12:58 (PV-Tech)

Portugese photovoltaic sector trade association APESF has written an open letter condemning recently announced cuts to tariff rates for two classes of small-scale PV electricity generation. Read more

SunEdison gets approval for 92MW Chile PV project

Tuesday, 1.7.2014 - 13:15 (PV-Tech)

Chile’s Environmental Assessment Service (SEA) has given the green light to the 92MW Gramadal PV power plant project proposed by US PV developer SunEdison. Read more