Canadian Solar experiences fire at solar cell plant in China

Friday, 2.21.2014 - 22:52 (PV-Tech)

A fire was reported to have occurred at a solar cell manufacturing line at Canadian Solar’s production facility in Suzhou, China according to Chinese websites and video footage. Read more

More signs of trouble with Shunfeng's acquisition of Wuxi Suntech

Friday, 2.21.2014 - 8:23 (Solarserver)

Shunfeng Photovoltaic International Ltd. (Changzhou, China) has delayed a notice to shareholders on details of its acquisition of Wuxi Suntech (Wuxi, China), stating that it needs to finalize the content. A week prior, Shunfeng revealed that a USD 264 million court judgment against Suntech Power Holding Co. Ltd.'s (Wuxi, China) Singapore subsidiary may have implications for the acquisition, as Suntech Singapore was transferred to Wuxi Suntech prior to Shunfeng's bid for the company. Read more

Japan installed 592 MW of solar PV in November 2013

Friday, 2.21.2014 - 22:38 (Solarserver)

Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) has released new statistics for solar photovoltaic (PV) installations under the nation's feed-in tariff, finding 83 MW of residential PV and 509 MW of “non-residential” PV installed in November 2013. Read more

287 MW of U.S. utility-scale solar PV comes online in January 2014

Friday, 2.21.2014 - 19:00 (Solarserver)

The United States commissioned 13 new utility-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) plants totaling 287 MW during January 2014, according to the latest figures from the nation's Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). New PV plants included Exelon's (Chicago) 130 MW Antelope Valley Solar Phase 2 plant, which was built by First Solar Inc. (Tempe, Arizona, U.S.). Read more

First Solar set to miss out in India PV auction

Friday, 2.21.2014 - 18:15 (PV-Tech)

The Indian government’s auction for 750MW of solar energy has revealed the financial bid results, with US firm First Solar looking likely to miss out, according to analysts. Read more

Financial bids opened under India's National Solar Mission phase 2 batch 1

Friday, 2.21.2014 - 16:28 (Solarserver)

Acme (Gurgaon, India), Azure Power (New Delhi) and SunEdison (St. Peters, Missouri, U.S.) will receive the largest shares of projects under phase 2, batch 1 of India's National Solar Mission (NSM), according to an initial report by Bridge to India (New Delhi). Read more

US Government Gets it Right on the Future of Solar; Now It’s Time to Commercialize It (at Home)

Friday, 2.21.2014 - 15:56 (Renewable Energy World)

The U.S government takes a lot of grief, some of it deserved. Criticism might be most pronounced in industrial policy, where the mantra “we can’t pick winners and losers” was proven to many with the demise of solar start-up Solyndra. Read more

IHS: Leading solar PV makers begin to expand capacity, driven by renewed end-market demand

Friday, 2.21.2014 - 15:22 (Solarserver)

IHS Inc. (Englewood, Colorado, U.S.) reports the first signs of renewed equipment spending in the solar photovoltaic (PV) industry driven by renewed end-market demand growth, which it expects to increase through 2014 and beyond. The company notes that top-tier PV makers Canadian Solar (Guelph, Canada) and SunPower (San Jose, California, U.S.) have confirmed plans to expand their PV manufacturing capacities. Read more

Vikram Solar given tier one module manufacturer status

Friday, 2.21.2014 - 15:02 (Solarpowerportal)

Indian PV module manufacturer Vikram Solar has been given tier one status. Read more

Scatec Solar planning African expansion

Friday, 2.21.2014 - 14:38 (PV-Tech)

The company behind what is set to be East Africa’s first utility-scale PV power plant is looking to develop projects in a swathe of other African countries, PV Tech has learned. Read more

Abengoa Targets Credit Rating Upgrade to Cut Costs, CEO Says

Friday, 2.21.2014 - 14:34 (Renewable Energy World)

Abengoa SA, the biggest developer of solar-thermal plants, is seeking to raise its credit ratings by two levels in a bid to reduce financing costs, Chief Executive Officer Manuel Sanchez Ortega said. Read more

Ivanpah Solar Thermal Project Both “Inspirational and Aspirational” for CSP Worldwide

Friday, 2.21.2014 - 14:31 (Renewable Energy World)

Seven. The number of days in the week? The number of deadly sins? Yes, the correct answer to both of those questions is indeed "seven," but that's not what I'm getting at here. Instead, I'm referring to the number of times that NRG President and CEO David Crane has visited the 392-megawatt Ivanpah solar thermal power plant, which went online last w Read more

SCHOTT seeking exit from CSP receiver business

Friday, 2.21.2014 - 14:28 (PV-Tech)

Following its exit from PV module manufacturing in 2012, industrial technology firm SCHOTT is seeking a partner to take a majority shareholding in its Concentrated Solar Power (CPS) division. Read more

Three Strategies for Low-Income Solar Programs

Friday, 2.21.2014 - 14:24 (Renewable Energy World)

The phrase ‘low-income’ rarely appears in solar energy press coverage in the United States. But some enterprising organizations have set their sights on expanding the market for residential solar photovoltaics to include low-to-moderate-income communities. Read more

Singulus expects better order intake from solar segment in 2014

Friday, 2.21.2014 - 13:58 (PV-Tech)

PV equipment supplier, Singulus Technologies reported preliminary revenue for 2013 of €134 million (US$184 million), up 23% from the previous year. Read more

Bluefield chases 19MW UK solar farm

Friday, 2.21.2014 - 13:41 (PV-Tech)

Bluefield Solar Income Fund has announced that is has entered into a conditional contract to acquire its ninth large-scale solar farm, a 19MW project in Wilshire, UK. Read more

Bluefield chasing ninth UK solar farm

Friday, 2.21.2014 - 13:30 (Solarpowerportal)

Bluefield Solar Income Fund has announced that is has entered into a conditional contract to acquire its ninth large-scale solar farm, a 19MW project located to the north of Swindon. Read more

Stay of FiT execution for Japan’s unbuilt solar projects

Friday, 2.21.2014 - 13:28 (PV-Tech)

Companies responsible for 748 Japanese solar power projects that have gained approval to receive the feed-in tariff (FiT) but have not yet been built have been handed a temporary reprieve. Read more

Vikram Solar given tier one module manufacturer status

Friday, 2.21.2014 - 12:55 (PV-Tech)

Indian PV module manufacturer Vikram Solar has been given tier one status. Read more

BELECTRIC changes name to reflect global solar market

Friday, 2.21.2014 - 12:14 (PV-Tech)

Developer BELECTRIC Solarkraftwerke GmbH has announced that it is changing its name to BELECTRIC GmbH. Read more

RESolve: Off-grid solar solutions important for the developing world, greater support needed

Friday, 2.21.2014 - 9:55 (Solarserver)

RESolve Energy Consultants (Chennai, India) has published a new report, which looks at the more than 1 billion people globally who do not have access to quality electricity, with a focus on solar photovoltaic (PV) lights and other off-grid renewable energy solutions. The report for the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD) finds significant benefits for human and social development. It also finds a number of substantial barriers to market growth, including relatively high up-front costs, financial barriers, and market spoilage by low-quality products. Read more

Higher-power SolarEdge PV inverters to be available in March 2014

Friday, 2.21.2014 - 9:48 (Solarserver)

SolarEdge Technologies Ltd. (Hod Hasharon, Israel) has announced a range of higher-power inverters in its single-phase inverter line, which it will begin shipping in the United States and Canada in March 2014. The company's SE7600A-US, SE10000A-US and SE11400A-US inverters offer nominal AC power ratings from 7.68 kW to 11.5 kW. The inverters are designed to allow larger residential solar photovoltaic (PV) systems to use a single inverter. Read more

Google to fund study on solar lighting and poverty relief

Friday, 2.21.2014 - 9:28 (Solarserver)

Google Inc. (Mountain View, California, U.S.) will provide USD 650,000 in funding for a two-year project to explore the relationship between solar lights and poverty mitigation in Africa, in collaboration with SolarAid (London). SolarAid says that this research will be more robust and in-depth than any previous research in the sector, and will provide a foundation for organizations who seek to work with off-grid lighting solutions. The randomized control trial study will be led by SolarAid Director of Research and Impact Kat Harrison. Read more

Chile reports that the 100 MW Amanecer solar PV plant is online

Friday, 2.21.2014 - 8:39 (Solarserver)

SunEdison Inc. (St. Peters, Missouri, U.S.) completed and commissioned its 100 MW Amanecer CAP solar photovoltaic (PV) plant in Northern Chile during the month of January 2014, according to a statement from the nation's Center for Renewable Energy (CER). SunEdison has not confirmed this, and did not return Solar Server requests for comment by press time. The plant is the largest in Latin America, and will supply electricity to CAP SA's (Santiago, Chile) mining operations under a power purchase agreement. Read more

Intersolar Europe, electrical energy storage (ees) - The industry platform for the growing energy storage market

Friday, 2.21.2014 - 8:33 (Solarserver)

For this reason, Intersolar Europe has chosen to expand its areas of focus this year by introducing the ees - electrical energy storage exhibition and, as a result, now presents a full spectrum of products in the fields of solar power production and electrical energy storage. Dedicated ees sessions ensure that the topic of energy storage systems also takes center stage at the Intersolar Europe Conference. With energy storage systems playing a crucial role in the energy transition, the storage systems market has been heralded as one of the most significant growth sectors of the coming years. In addition to being essential for optimizing on-site energy consumption and ensuring Read more

US Working Towards Energy Independence but Big Challenges Remain, Says Salazar

Friday, 2.21.2014 - 22:04 (Renewable Energy World)

The United States is in a good place in terms of energy, explained former Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar during a keynote session at the MIT Energy Conference in Cambridge, Mass. Oil imports are the lowest since 1991 at 40 percent, carbon emissions are slowly dwindling, Salazar said, and the U.S. is making these positive improvements due to four cornerstones of progress. Read more

China to invest US$20 billion in Pakistan energy infrastructure

Friday, 2.21.2014 - 14:15 (PV-Tech)

On a three day visit to China, Pakistan president Manmoon Hussain and minister for Punjab, Shahbaz Sharif met with financial and development companies and banks in Beijing, and signed MoUs for continued investment in solar projects in Pakistan. Read more

Readers Respond Day 3: Can We Reach 100 Percent Renewable Energy?

Friday, 2.21.2014 - 14:00 (Renewable Energy World)

Several countries have announced ambitious goals to be powered completely by renewable energy, while other nations set smaller, incremental goals. These high aspirations have sparked quite a debate amongst industry experts, and we here at Renewable Energy World are curious to hear what you, our readers, have to say. Read more