NREL Compares U.S. state solar PV policies: Combination of approaches creates the most robust solar photovoltaic markets

Friday, 12.12.2014 - 13:00 (Solarserver)

Analysts at the U.S. Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have used statistical analyses and detailed case studies to better understand why solar market policies in certain states are more successful. Their findings indicate that while no standard formula for solar implementation exists, a combination of foundational policies and localized strategies can increase solar photovoltaic (PV) installations in any state. Read more

S.A.G. Solarstrom management to leave at end of 2014

Friday, 12.12.2014 - 17:06 (PV-Tech)

The existing management of insolvent German PV project developer S.A.G. Solarstrom are set to leave the company by the end of the year, after failing to agree terms with China-based PVEP Shunfeng, which recently concluded the acquisition of the company. Read more

SolarPark Korea’s PV modules used in floating tracker power plant

Friday, 12.12.2014 - 16:41 (PV-Tech)

South Korean PV module manufacturer, SolarPark Korea has supplied modules to the first floating PV power plant that also uses a tracking and rotating system. Read more

19MW Scottish solar farm wins planning permission

Friday, 12.12.2014 - 16:14 (Solarpowerportal)

A 19MW solar farm in the north east of Scotland has secured planning permission. Read more

JinkoSolar supplies China General Nuclear Power Group with 80 MW of modules for a solar-agriculture plant in Henan Province

Friday, 12.12.2014 - 13:53 (Solarserver)

JinkoSolar Holding Co., Ltd. (Shanghai, China) on December 12th, 2014 announced that it has supplied 80 MW of solar photovoltaic (PV) modules to China General Nuclear Power Group (CGN), for a project in Neihuang County, Henan Province. Located in Mashang and Liucun, two villages in Neihuang County, Henan Province, the PV project is being built on the rooftops of traditional agricultural greenhouse. It utilizes 325,689 JinkoSolar PV modules is expected to be connected to the grid by the end of 2014. Read more

LDK Solar subsidiary inks 30.6 MW PV module supply agreement for solar project in Ningxia, China

Friday, 12.12.2014 - 13:50 (Solarserver)

LDK Solar CO., Ltd. in provisional liquidation (Xinyu City, China) on December 12th, 2014 announced that its Chinese subsidiary, LDK Solar Hi-Tech (Nanchang) Co., Ltd. has signed a new solar photovoltaic (PV) module supply agreement with Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region Electric Power Design Institute, a leading EPC company in China and owned by Power Construction Corporation of China. Read more

JinkoSolar supplies 325,689 modules to agricultural project

Friday, 12.12.2014 - 12:47 (PV-Tech)

Major tier one PV manufacturer JinkoSolar has supplied modules totalling 80MW to China General Nuclear Power Group’s Neihuang County, Henan Province power plant project. Read more

LDK Solar supplying 30.6MW of modules to China project

Friday, 12.12.2014 - 12:10 (PV-Tech)

Bankrupt PV manufacturer, LDK Solar has secured a new module supply deal with Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region Electric Power Design Institute, an EPC company in China. Read more

Green light for 37MW Mexico PV project

Friday, 12.12.2014 - 11:58 (PV-Tech)

A 37.4MW solar power plant has received final approval for construction from the Mexican government. Read more

JA Solar and DuPont seal R&D pact

Friday, 12.12.2014 - 11:51 (PV-Tech)

JA Solar, the fastest growing PV manufacturer in 2014, has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with PV materials and technology specialist DuPont. Read more

South Africa solar booming as REIPPPP comes under scrutiny

Friday, 12.12.2014 - 11:44 (PV-Tech)

The completion of South Africa’s latest utility PV power plant has coincided with new figures showing an “exponential” rise in the contribution solar is now making to the country’s grid. Read more

ACCIONA Energía starts up 94.3 MW solar PV plant in South Africa

Friday, 12.12.2014 - 11:20 (Solarserver)

ACCIONA Energía (Sarriguren, Spain) has put the 94.3 megawatt peak (MWp) Sishen solar photovoltaic (PV) plant into service. The PV plant, with a peak capacity of 94.3 megawatts (MWp) – 74 nominal MW – is located in the municipality of Dibeng in Northern Cape province in the north-west of South Africa. The area’s exceptional solar resource and the plant’s layout, with horizontal tracking structures that allow the PV panels to capture more radiation by following the sun’s trajectory across the sky will produce electricity equivalent to the consumption of around 100,000 South African households a year, ACCIONA expects. Read more

Capital Stage acquires 50.8MW French portfolio

Friday, 12.12.2014 - 11:18 (PV-Tech)

German wind and solar operator Capital Stage has acquired a 50.8MW portfolio of solar farms in France. Read more

First 20 MW of solar PV projects to be developed in Uganda

Friday, 12.12.2014 - 11:06 (Solarserver)

The Uganda Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERA) in cooperation with GET FiT on December 10th, 2014 announced the conclusion of the process for the selection of the first 20 MW of solar photovoltaic (PV) projects to be developed in the nation. After a competitive bidding process that was initiated in January 2014, the projects proposed by the Ugandan-Italian consortium - Simba Telecom Ltd./Building Energy SpA and the consortium of Access/TSK Electronica (United Arab Emirates/Spain) have been selected by ERA and the GET FiT Investment Committee to benefit from the GET FiT Solar Facility, a dedicated support scheme for solar PV development. Read more

Eaton helps to power Africa’s largest solar PV microgrid project

Friday, 12.12.2014 - 10:30 (Solarserver)

Power management company Eaton (Pittsburgh, PA, US), on December 11th, 2014 announced it is providing electrical engineering services and power distribution equipment for the construction of a 5-megawatt (MW) solar photovoltaic (PV) microgrid system in Annobon Province, an island off Equatorial Guinea in West Central Africa. The microgrid has battery energy storage and is designed to supply reliable and predictable power to meet the off-grid community’s energy demand. It will be the largest self-sufficient solar PV microgrid project in Africa, Eaton emphasizes. Read more

DECC predicts 300-500MW of sub-5MW solar farms under the RO next year

Friday, 12.12.2014 - 9:57 (Solarpowerportal)

The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) expects less than 0.5GW of small-scale (≤5MW) solar farms to be deployed under the renewable obligation (RO) next year. Read more

DECC predicts 300-500MW of sub-5MW solar under the RO next year

Friday, 12.12.2014 - 9:57 (Solarpowerportal)

The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) expects less than 0.5GW of ≤5MW solar to be deployed under the renewable obligation (RO) next year. Read more

SolarCity, Bank of America create program to finance approximately USD 400 million in residential solar PV projects

Friday, 12.12.2014 - 8:41 (Solarserver)

SolarCity Corp. (San Mateo, California, U.S.) on December 11th, 2014 announced that it has created a new investment program with Bank of America Merrill Lynch to finance an estimated USD 400 million in solar photovoltaic (PV) power projects in 2014 and 2015. The new residential program follows BofA Merrill’s prior commitment to finance more than USD 200 million in commercial solar PV projects with SolarCity, and continues the two companies’ long-term partnership to deploy clean energy. Read more

Panasonic makes strategic investment in Coronal Group as an outcome of the joint end-to-end solar PV solution model

Friday, 12.12.2014 - 8:34 (Solarserver)

Panasonic Enterprise Solutions Company (Newark, N.J., US) on December 11.th, 2014 announced that it has made a strategic investment in alternative energy firm Coronal Group LLC (Pasadena, California, US). Since 2013, Panasonic and Coronal have worked together to bring comprehensive, end-to-end solutions for solar photovoltaic (PV) projects to the commercial, industrial, municipal and small utility sectors. Read more

Solar-Fabrik AG anticipates solid negative EBIT-margin

Friday, 12.12.2014 - 8:30 (Solarserver)

Solar-Fabrik AG (Freiburg., Germany) reconfirms its solar photovoltaic (PV) sales volume and revenue targets for 2014 as achievable, but EBIT will suffer, the company announces in an Ad hoc announcement. Slow sales and increased price erosion in Q4, 2014 may even prevent the target of an improved EBIT-margin for Solar-Fabrik Group, compared to 2013. Read more

Powering Up Turkey with Hydropower

Friday, 12.12.2014 - 15:18 (Renewable Energy World)

With its dependence on imported fuels and electricity demand growth topping 7 percent per year, Turkey is increasingly turning to development of its domestic resources to meet demand. Coupled with its favorable geography, these factors have seen a swathe of hydropower development. Read more

Threatened by Renewable Energy, Fossil Fuel Companies Highlight Their Role in Alleviating Poverty

Friday, 12.12.2014 - 15:39 (Renewable Energy World)

Exxon Mobil Corp., Chevron Corp., Peabody Energy Corp. and Glencore Plc have increasingly taken to portraying themselves as champions of the world’s poor. Billions of people in developing countries, they say, need access to cheap oil, natural gas and coal to pull themselves from poverty into the middle class. Read more

This Week's Vote Secures Minneapolis' Title as Climate Champion

Friday, 12.12.2014 - 15:39 (Renewable Energy World)

In August 2013, Minneapolis (MN) was in the news for considering a take-over of its energy utilities. Today, they're back in the news for supporting a first-in-the-nation clean energy partnership with those same utilities and a pioneering effort to bring more local input into the city's energy future. It's been a whirlwind week. On Monday, the city Read more

Application period for the Electrical Energy Storage Award opens in February 2015

Friday, 12.12.2014 - 11:00 (Solarserver)

Without intelligent storage systems, there will be no energy transition. Battery and energy storage technology is the key to exploiting fluctuating, renewable energy. The ees AWARD is presented to the industry’s most impressive innovations at the electrical energy storage (ees) exhibition. Companies are invited to submit their applications from February 2nd, 2015. Read more

Kingspan launches PV-tied ZerO Energy Lighting solution

Friday, 12.12.2014 - 8:59 (Solarpowerportal)

Kingspan Insulated Panels has launched its ZerO Energy Lighting solution which combines rooflights, LED lighting, smart controls and solar PV. Read more

Abengoa to increase sales of yield co shares

Friday, 12.12.2014 - 2:39 (PV-Tech)

Spanish renewable energy developer Abengoa SA will increase the rate at which it will sell off shares in of its yield co subsidiary in an effort to raise at least US$200 million. Read more

Locus Energy passes 50,000 installations

Friday, 12.12.2014 - 1:08 (PV-Tech)

Solar monitoring and PV data analytics platform provider Locus Energy has accumulated over 50,000 installations and is nearing 1GW of capacity. Read more

Panasonic Enterprise Solutions invests in Coronal Group

Friday, 12.12.2014 - 0:48 (PV-Tech)

Eco solutions installer Panasonic Enterprise Solutions Company has invested in alternative energy group Coronal Group LLC. Read more