Applied's EES division reports slow orders but reduced losses in Q1 FY 2014

Friday, 2.14.2014 - 15:52 (Solarserver)

Applied Materials Inc. (Santa Clara, California, U.S.) reported another slow quarter for its Energy and Environmental Services (EES) division, which makes solar photovoltaic (PV) manufacturing equipment. Sales in the division fell 15% year-over-year to USD 40 million and new orders fell 41% to USD 40 million in the first quarter of fiscal year 2014, which ended January 26th, 2014. Read more

Trina Solar adding 420MW in solar cell capacity with JV

Friday, 2.14.2014 - 13:48 (PV-Tech)

Tier one PV manufacturer, Trina Solar, is acquiring a majority shareholding in Hubei Hongyuan PV Science and Technology, a solar cell producer in China. Read more

NYSE denies Suntech Power Holdings delisting appeal

Friday, 2.14.2014 - 12:38 (PV-Tech)

Suntech Power Holdings American Depositary Shares (ADS) will officially be delisted from the New York Stock Exchange after the insolvent company lost an appeal with the NYSE’s Committee for Review. Read more

Belectric, BGT introduce new glass BIPV product based on organic photovoltaics

Friday, 2.14.2014 - 9:42 (Solarserver)

Belectric Holding GmbH's (Kolitzheim, Germany) organic photovoltaics (OPV) subsidiary and BGT Bischoff Glastechnik AG (BGT, Bretten, Germany) have announced they will introduce a new glass building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) product based on OPV technology. The BI-Powersol is part of Belectric OPV GmbH's (Nuremburg, Germany) Solarte product line, which it says enables new aesthetic, ecological and economic possibilities for the integration of electricity production into architecture. Read more

Shunfeng hints at potential impacts of lawsuits against Suntech subsidiaries

Friday, 2.14.2014 - 9:36 (Solarserver)

Shunfeng Photovoltaic International Ltd. (Changzhou, China) has revealed that the recent court judgment against Suntech Singapore may have ramifications for Wuxi Suntech (Wuxi, China), which it is in the process of acquiring. Under a suit brought by the liquidator of Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd. (Wuxi), the High Court of Singapore ordered Suntech Singapore to pay USD 264 million plus interest and costs to Suntech subsidiary Power Solar System Co. Ltd. (Wuxi). Read more

Early Solar Energy Giant Bill Yerkes Passes On

Friday, 2.14.2014 - 21:04 (Renewable Energy World)

We all have been informed of the passing of actress and ambassador Shirley Temple Black and comedian Sid Ceaser this week, but the passing of “Bill” Yerkes, one of the modern solar pioneers, is worth notice. Read more

Applied Materials continues downsizing of solar operations

Friday, 2.14.2014 - 18:39 (PV-Tech)

In a continued effort to return its Energy and Environmental Solutions (EES) division to breakeven, despite two-years of downsizing and restructuring, Applied Materials said it had reduced EES spending per quarter to US$25 million. Read more

Duke Energy solicits 300 MW of solar PV in the Carolinas

Friday, 2.14.2014 - 17:56 (Solarserver)

Duke Energy (Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S.) has issued a request for proposals (RFP) for 300 MW of solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity in the the service area of two subsidiaries in the U.S. states of North Carolina and South Carolina. Duke is looking for PV plants larger than 5 MW, and plans for the new capacity to be operational by the end of 2015. Read more

US ITC votes to proceed with latest SolarWorld trade case

Friday, 2.14.2014 - 17:48 (PV-Tech)

The US International Trade Commission (ITC) has ruled that an investigation into anti-dumping and countervailing duties for solar cell products from China and Taiwan will go ahead, following a preliminary phase vote in Washington DC on Friday. Read more

Solar, Will You Marry Me? (For a Contract Period of 20 Years)

Friday, 2.14.2014 - 16:57 (Renewable Energy World)

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, the Minnesota Department of Commerce (DOC) released an extensive proposal for a value of solar (VOS) methodology, as required by 2013 legislation. Under this new state energy law (HF 729), utilities will be able to apply with the public utility commission (PUC) to replace net metering with a contracted, 20-year VOS Read more

The Solar Energy Outlook for 2014

Friday, 2.14.2014 - 14:07 (Renewable Energy World)

For decades, solar has been like the Rodney Dangerfield of renewable energy. Rarely has it received the respect it has deserved. But by all accounts, 2013 was a watershed year in that respect. In Q3 alone, 930 megawatts of PV were installed in the United States — and in the last two and a half years, total global PV capacity grew from 50 megawatts to over 100. Sure, 2013 saw its share of failures and disappointments. But according to some of the best and brightest minds in the solar industry, the coming year may play itself out as the dividing line between past and future. Read more

Nearly 800 Japan PV projects await fate in FiT probe

Friday, 2.14.2014 - 13:58 (PV-Tech)

The preliminary findings of an investigation by the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) into the status of uncompleted solar power projects in the country have revealed that 784 projects with feed-in tariff approval do not have either land or equipment deals in place. Read more

Georgia gains 1.3MW for solar initiative as SunEdison and URE team up with local landowners

Friday, 2.14.2014 - 13:55 (PV-Tech)

Sunedison and United Renewable Energy (URE) have successfully collaborated on 1.3MW of solar projects in the US state of Georgia. Read more

The Unintended Consequences of California’s Solar Tax Exclusion

Friday, 2.14.2014 - 13:00 (Renewable Energy World)

Section 73 of the California Revenue and Taxation Code allows property tax exclusion for any active solar energy system, including photo voltaic (PV) utility-scale systems, installed through the end of 2016. The exclusion removes barriers for solar energy relative to conventional sources and incentivizes development. Solar installations have indeed proliferated. In 2008, solar PV surpassed solar thermal energy in installed megawatts. Today, California leads the nation in total installed solar energy (about 2,000 megawatts). Read more

LDK Solar continues forbearance holding pattern

Friday, 2.14.2014 - 12:37 (PV-Tech)

PV manufacturer LDK Solar has agreed a two-week forbearance agreement with bondholders on overdue interest payments. Read more

Fukushima Prefecture and Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems sign Memorandum of Understanding

Friday, 2.14.2014 - 9:12 (Solarserver)

The prefecture of Fukushima (Japan), which was struck by a severe nuclear accident three years ago, is aiming to become a new hub for renewable energy research. A new center, called the Fukushima Renewable Energy Institute, will open in April 2014. In order to promote close cooperation with Fraunhofer ISE, Europe’s largest solar energy research institute, a memorandum of understanding was signed between the prefecture Fukushima and the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE in Freiburg on February 12th, 2014. Read more

Italy abolishes minimum price for electricity from solar PV under “Ritiro Dedicato”

Friday, 2.14.2014 - 8:52 (Solarserver)

Italian solar photovoltaic (PV) systems up to 1 MW are no longer guaranteed a minimum price for their electricity under the “Ritiro Dedicato” program, according to the European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA, Brussels). Instead of the minimum price, the price paid for electricity from PV will be based on an average monthly price which varies according to the time of production and the location of the PV plant. This has been the method for determining payment for electricity from PV plants larger than 1 MW. Read more

ABB: Power-One acquisition drives increase in Q4 2013 orders, revenues

Friday, 2.14.2014 - 8:48 (Solarserver)

ABB (Zurich) reports an 8% year-over-year increase in fourth quarter 2013 revenues to USD 2.69 billion in its Discrete Automation and Motion Division, which now includes solar PV inverter maker Power-One Inc. (Camarillo, California, U.S.). The division's orders increased 10% year-over-year to USD 2.48 billion, and ABB says that the acquisition of Power-One in the third quarter of 2013 contributed to growth both in orders and revenues. Read more

Japan Wind Lobby Says Environment Assessments Curbing New Work

Friday, 2.14.2014 - 13:09 (Renewable Energy World)

Japan’s effort to obtain more power from wind turbines is being held up by requirements for developers to conduct environmental impact assessments, undermining government support for the industry, a lobby group said. Read more

U.S. trade authorities find evidence of damages from imports of Chinese, Taiwanese solar PV

Friday, 2.14.2014 - 18:45 (Solarserver)

The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) has made a preliminary determination of injury to the U.S. solar industry in its anti-dumping and anti-subsidy (countervailing duty or CVD) cases covering imports of solar photovoltaic (PV) products from China and Taiwan. Read more

Vast majority of Germans continues to support the Energy Transition, are not impressed with implementation

Friday, 2.14.2014 - 21:05 (Solarserver)

89% of Germans still consider the nation's Energy Transition (Energiewende) “important” or “very important”, according to a poll conducted by the German Association of Energy and Water Industries (BDEW). This is consistent with earlier polls, however only 42% believe that the Energy Transition is making “good” or “very good” progress, and 56% think it is not doing very well. This follows plans by Germany's coalition government to phase-out feed-in tariffs in favor of bidding systems and direct marketing of electricity, as well as imposing charges on “self-consumption” of electricity from solar photovoltaic (PV) systems. Read more

Study finds renewable energy competitive despite declining incentives, shift to emerging markets

Friday, 2.14.2014 - 15:21 (Solarserver)

Rödl & Partner (Nuremburg, Germany) have released the results of a new survey which finds that renewable energy remains competitive despite decreasing government funding in a variety of nations. The report predicts that renewables will be increasingly produced at market prices, and says that there are very good investment opportunities in nations with low renewable energy market shares including France, Malaysia, China and South Africa. Read more

Adequate Transmission Among Options to Better Integrate Renewable Energy to Grid, Says NREL

Friday, 2.14.2014 - 14:00 (Renewable Energy World)

Adequate transmission — building transmission to accommodate renewable energy, for instance — is an important component, as is energy storage, in integrating renewable energy sources to the grid, according to Lori Bird, senior analyst with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Read more

Fraunhofer to open new research facility in Fukushima

Friday, 2.14.2014 - 12:11 (PV-Tech)

A renewable energy research facility will be built in the disaster-hit Japanese region of Fukushima, after the area’s local government and Fraunhofer ISE research institute signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). Read more

NREL verifies 16.6 % conversion efficiency of CIS thin-film lab module from AVANCIS

Friday, 2.14.2014 - 10:04 (PV-Tech)

Saint-Gobain subsidiary, AVANCIS has reported a 30 x 30 cm² champion CIS thin-film module with a conversion efficiency of 16.6%, verified by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Read more

Vast majority of Germans continues to support the Energy Transition, is not impressed with implementation

Friday, 2.14.2014 - 8:40 (Solarserver)

89% of Germans still consider the nation's Energy Transition (Energiewende) “important” or “very important”, according to a poll conducted by the German Association of Energy and Water Industries (BDEW). This is consistent with earlier polls, however only 42% believe that the Energy Transition is making “good” or “very good” progress, and 56% think it is not doing very well. This follows plans by Germany's coalition government to phase-out feed-in tariffs in favor of bidding systems and direct marketing of electricity, as well as imposing charges on “self-consumption” of electricity from solar photovoltaic (PV) systems. Read more