Order Focus: Ingeteam wins Cyprus tender for inverter supply

Monday, 2.3.2014 - 18:52 (PV-Tech)

Electrical engineering firm, Ingeteam has a won a tender from the Electricity Authority of Cyprus to supply 175 single-phase PV inverters to planned residential and commercial rooftop projects in the country. Read more

New French feed-in tariff rates announced

Monday, 2.3.2014 - 14:00 (PV-Tech)

The French regulatory commission has announced new solar feed-in tariffs for the first quarter of 2014. Read more

South African R&D centre starts CIGS thin-film pilot line

Monday, 2.3.2014 - 13:32 (PV-Tech)

PTiP (Photovoltaic Technology Intellectual Property), a spin-off from the University of Johannesburg (UJ) has commissioned its pilot CIGS thin-film solar module pilot line in collaboration with equipment supplier, Singulus Technologies. Read more

Etrion announces feed-in tariff and financial details for Japan projects

Monday, 2.3.2014 - 13:14 (PV-Tech)

Independent power producer Etrion, headquartered in Geneva, has announced details of two forthcoming PV projects in Japan and confirmed that both will receive the feed-in tariff (FiT). Read more

Suntech Power Holdings proceeds with restructuring under chapter 15

Monday, 2.3.2014 - 12:08 (PV-Tech)

Bankruptcy winding-up proceedings by a small group of Suntech Power Holdings’ disgruntled bondholders under US chapter 7 rules could be dismissed in the New York courts and reinstated under chapter 15 rules should Suntech’s latest petition be accepted. Read more

Ofgem confirms 3.5% FiT regression

Monday, 2.3.2014 - 11:41 (Solarpowerportal)

Ofgem has announced new feed-in tariff rates applicable from the 1 April 2014. Read more

PV GRID issues recommendations to better integrate distributed solar photovoltaics

Monday, 2.3.2014 - 9:12 (Solarserver)

The European PV GRID project has published a consultation document with key recommendations for means to more easily integrate more solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity into national distribution grids. The project recommends a number of steps including ensuring fair conditions for applying PV curtailment, developing an appropriate PV self-consumption framework and exploiting the capabilities of advanced inverters. Read more

2014 Solar Energy UK roadshows: Government ready to hit go on RHI

Monday, 2.3.2014 - 17:15 (Solarpowerportal)

The government is hoping to support up to 16,000 solar thermal systems in the first year of the new domestic Renewable Heat Incentive scheme due to launch later this year. Read more

Overcoming the Barriers to Rooftop Solar

Monday, 2.3.2014 - 15:34 (Renewable Energy World)

The dramatic decline in the cost of solar energy, combined with a greater understanding of its financial benefits have made rooftop solar more appealing to homeowners across the US. But some clean energy enthusiasts have discovered that installing solar on their property isn’t as easy as it may sound. Trees, skylights, chimneys, roof structures and Read more

Germany installs 3.30 GW of solar PV in 2013

Monday, 2.3.2014 - 15:28 (Solarserver)

Germany installed 166 MW of solar photovoltaics (PV) during December 2013, according to statistics released by the nation's Federal Network Agency. This brings Germany to 3.30 GW installed over the course of the year, within the 2.5-3.5 GW annual corridor which the government intended through feed-in tariff cuts in early 2012. Read more

Listen Up: Jeff Wolfe Talks About National Solar Policies

Monday, 2.3.2014 - 14:58 (Renewable Energy World)

Economics is what drives residential and business solar adoption. While the manufacturing side of our industry has been working hard to reduce equipment costs, the worldwide solar industry has benefitted -- some may say "propped up" -- by the right policies at the right time. Germany FITs, California rebates, New Jersey RECs, the ITC and Net Metering have all combined to drive our industry's growth from 250 MW in 2000 to 33,400 MW in 2013 (SPV Market Research). Read more

PTiP commissions pilot thin-film CIGS solar PV manufacturing facility in South Africa

Monday, 2.3.2014 - 14:46 (Solarserver)

Photovoltaic Technology Intellectual Property Ltd. (PTiP, Stellenbosch, South Africa) has launched a pilot solar photovoltaic (PV) manufacturing facility based on copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) thin-film technology in Stellenbosch. The plant will serve as a research and development (R&D) facility for CIGS technology, as a step towards large-scale commercial thin film PV production in South Africa. Read more

New York Steps Up Its Solar Game

Monday, 2.3.2014 - 14:00 (Renewable Energy World)

The recent announcement by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo that the state plans to add nearly $1 billion to its two-year-old NY-Sun Initiative is undoubtedly a huge step forward for solar deployment in the state. It not only reflects state legislators’ long-range view on solar deployment but is also a testament to the healthy appetite New Yorkers have for solar adoption. The goal of NY-Sun is to support the deployment of three gigawatts of solar by 2023; thus far, it has propelled hundreds of megawatts of solar installs and has helped employ more than 3,300 New Yorkers. Read more

US installed record 2.3GW utility-scale solar in 2013, says SNL Energy

Monday, 2.3.2014 - 13:33 (PV-Tech)

The US installed a record 2.3GW of utility-scale solar in 2013, according to analysts SNL Energy. Read more

Germany stutters to 3.3GW of new PV in 2013

Monday, 2.3.2014 - 12:47 (PV-Tech)

Germany’s total installed solar capacity for 2013 was 3.3GW according to new data from the federal network authority, Bundesnetzagentur. Read more

Yingli JV develops more than 100 MW of solar PV in Hainan, China

Monday, 2.3.2014 - 9:17 (Solarserver)

Yingli Green Energy Holding Co. Ltd. (Baoding, China) reports that joint venture (JV) Hainan Solar Power Co. Ltd. (HNSP) has developed more than 100 MW of solar photovoltaic (PV) projects in China's Hainan Province since it was established in 2009. This makes HNSP the largest solar developer in Hainan, and Yingli is the sole provider of PV modules for all of these projects. The projects are a mixture of utility-scale PV plants, residential and commercial rooftop PV, agricultural PV, building-integrated PV (BIPV) and off-grid applications, with 2/3 of the projects connected to the grid. Read more

France's solar PV market falls again in 2013 to 743 MW

Monday, 2.3.2014 - 9:04 (Solarserver)

France installed 743 MW of solar photovoltaics (PV) in 2013, according to a report by the nation's grid operator RTE (Paris). This is the second year of market decline from a high of 1.69 GW in 2011, and brings the nation to 4.30 GW of installed PV. RTE also reports that French PV generated 4.6 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity in 2013, meeting 0.97% of the nation's electricity demand. This is a 15% increase over 2012 PV output. Read more

NPD Solarbuzz: Solar PV equipment spending to rebound in 2015

Monday, 2.3.2014 - 8:59 (Solarserver)

NPD Solarbuzz Inc. (Santa Clara, California, U.S.) has released a report which predicts that capital equipment expenditures are going to enter a new period of growth in 2015. The company forecasts that PV equipment spending could reach up to USD 10 billion in 2017. This would follow three years of depressed spending. PV equipment revenues peaked at USD 13 billion in 2011 and fell to only USD 1.73 billion in 2013, the lowest level in eight years. New orders fell to less than USD 1 billion during the year, indicating that 2014 will also be lean. Read more

Vestas Forecast to Return to Profit After Two Years of Cost Cuts

Monday, 2.3.2014 - 15:38 (Renewable Energy World)

Vestas Wind Systems A/S, the biggest wind turbine maker, may report its first quarterly profit in 2 1/2 years following a turnaround plan that aimed to reduce costs and slash 30 percent of its workforce. Read more

Natural Gas Isn’t a Bridge Fuel, It’s a Gateway Drug

Monday, 2.3.2014 - 17:53 (Renewable Energy World)

In his State of the Union, President Obama added to the conventional wisdom that supplanting coal with natural gas will act as a bridge toward a climate solution. Unfortunately, gas is more of a gateway drug than a bridge to a clean energy future. 1) It’s still a major greenhouse gas.  Sure, natural gas is cleaner than coal, but that’s setting a pr Read more

Softbank to enter Japanese commercial electricity retail market

Monday, 2.3.2014 - 13:53 (PV-Tech)

Japanese mobile telecommunications company Softbank will enter the Japanese commercial energy retail market, selling electricity generated from renewable sources including solar and wind power. Read more