Roth & Rau losses increase but new orders rebounding

Wednesday, 2.5.2014 - 12:42 (PV-Tech)

Roth & Rau, a subsidiary of Meyer Burger, reported a 50% drop in revenue for 2013 compared to the previous year, with increased losses. Read more

France sets new PV feed-in tariff rates

Wednesday, 2.5.2014 - 8:54 (Solarserver)

France's Energy Regulatory Authority (CRE) has announced new feed-in tariff rates for solar photovoltaics (PV) through March 2014 at EUR 0.0736–0.2851 (USD 0.099–0.385) per kWh. The highest rate of EUR 0.2851 per kWh is reserved for building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV), with roof-mounted PV receiving EUR 0.1381–0.1454 (USD 0.1867–0.1965) per kWh depending on size. Ground-mounted PV plants up to 12 MW in size will receive the lowest rate of EUR 0.0736 per kWh. Read more

Balfour Beatty buys 20MW of solar assets from Anesco

Wednesday, 2.5.2014 - 19:18 (Solarpowerportal)

Balfour Beatty Infrastructure Partners (BBIP) has bought 20MW of solar assets from project developer Anesco. Read more

Shared Solar Financing Goes Local

Wednesday, 2.5.2014 - 15:37 (Renewable Energy World)

The sizable up-front cost of solar has long been a challenging hurdle.  So has rooftop siting — roofs are often shaded, in the wrong orientation, not owned by the people who live there, or otherwise unable to host a solar system.  What if we could overcome both of these obstacles with one solution — one local solution? A Colorado credit union and s Read more

RGS Energy and Altus Power form US$150 million JV fund for solar projects

Wednesday, 2.5.2014 - 14:43 (PV-Tech)

A joint venture investment fund has been created between RGS Energy and Altus Power America Management commercial PV projects in the US. Read more

What to Look for in an Off-grid Solar Inverter

Wednesday, 2.5.2014 - 14:39 (Renewable Energy World)

The modern solar industry was born through off-grid solar, a market which continues to be an important aspect of the industry. Around the world, one in six people live beyond the reach of utility power, but they can rely on off-grid solar systems for electricity. In North America, off-grid solar is especially popular for buildings in remote locatio Read more

RGS Energy, Altus Power create JV to fund and own commercial solar PV projects

Wednesday, 2.5.2014 - 14:35 (Solarserver)

Real Goods Solar Inc. (RGS Energy, Louisville, Colorado, U.S.) and Altus Power America Management (Old Greenwich, Connecticut, U.S.) have formed a new joint venture (JV) to develop, finance and manage up to USD 150 million in commercial solar photovoltaic (PV) projects. Read more

Spain’s FiT replacement scheme cuts PV support by 25%

Wednesday, 2.5.2014 - 13:46 (PV-Tech)

Spain’s antitrust authority Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia (CNMC) has revealed the scale of the cuts in support for solar farms. Read more

REC Solar to focus on commercial market, residential arm acquired by SunRun

Wednesday, 2.5.2014 - 13:08 (PV-Tech)

US installer REC Solar has announced that it is set to focus its future efforts solely on the commercial PV market, offloading its residential segment to solar developer and financier SunRun. Read more

REC Solar to focus on commercial market, residential arm acquired by Sunrun

Wednesday, 2.5.2014 - 13:08 (PV-Tech)

US installer REC Solar has announced that it is set to focus its future efforts solely on the commercial PV market, offloading its residential segment to solar developer and financier Sunrun. Read more

Australian Solar Council launches ‘David vs Goliath’ campaign to save solar

Wednesday, 2.5.2014 - 12:40 (PV-Tech)

Industry advocacy body, the Australian Solar Council, has launched a ‘save solar’ campaign. Read more

Moroccan government denies investors are shunning US$9 billion solar project

Wednesday, 2.5.2014 - 12:05 (PV-Tech)

The Moroccan government has denied that all investors are shunning a US$9 billion solar project in the Western Saharan region following reports that banks were shying away from the disputed territory. Read more

Consortium led by Taiwanese and Japanese firms to acquire aleo solar

Wednesday, 2.5.2014 - 10:49 (PV-Tech)

Robert Bosch subsidiary, PV module manufacturer aleo solar is to be acquired by Taiwan-based solar cell producer, Sunrise Global Solar Energy and Japanese manufacturing machinery producer, CHOSHU Industry. Read more

Advanced Energy Solar Energy sales increase in Q4 2013 with rollout of 1 MW inverter

Wednesday, 2.5.2014 - 9:50 (Solarserver)

Advanced Energy Industries Inc. (AE, Fort Collins, Colorado, U.S.) has released results for the fourth quarter of 2013, reporting an 8.9% year-over-year increase to USD 64.9 million in revenues in its Solar Energy division. The division's operating margin fell to -3.7%. Read more

aleo solar AG sells significant parts of its operating PV business to Asian investors

Wednesday, 2.5.2014 - 8:58 (Solarserver)

aleo solar AG (Oldenburg/Prenzlau, Germany) on January 5th, 2014 entered into an agreement to sell the aleo solar Group's material operating business, including the solar photovoltaic (PV) production site in Prenzlau and the aleo brand to SCP Solar GmbH (Hamburg). SCP Solar GmbH is the acquiring company in a consortium comprising Taiwanese company Sunrise Global Solar Energy Co. Ltd., CHOSHU Industry Co. Ltd. and Pan Asia Solar Ltd., who have agreed to contribute EUR 13.5 million in equity capital to SCP Solar GmbH. Read more

SunEdison, Saudi Arabia plan 3 GW solar PV factory

Wednesday, 2.5.2014 - 8:50 (Solarserver)

SunEdison Inc. (St. Peters, Missouri, U.S.) has signed an agreement with the government of Saudi Arabia and its investment company to jointly fund a feasibility study for a vertically integrated solar photovoltaic (PV) manufacturing facility in the nation. The proposed factory would cover all steps of crystalline silicon PV manufacturing from polysilicon through modules. The beginning of production is envisioned in 2017, and the facility would ramp to 3 GW of annual PV module output. Read more

California ISO data shows Ivanpah CSP project not online in January 2014; PV output continues to grow

Wednesday, 2.5.2014 - 8:47 (Solarserver)

California showed minimal electricity production from concentrating solar power (CSP) during January 2014, according to an analysis by renewable energy consultant Bernard Chabot. This indicates that the Ivanpah CSP project was not yet online during the month. Chabot's analysis of data from California's grid operator shows that CSP produced more than 500 megawatt-hours (MWh) of electricity for only three days during the month, which may also be due to the Solar Energy Generating Systems (SEGS) being taken offline for maintenance. Read more

Nordex Sees Wind Installs Climbing in Germany Even as State Aid Is Cut

Wednesday, 2.5.2014 - 14:30 (Renewable Energy World)

Nordex SE, the best performer among Germany’s biggest stocks in 2013, expects its wind-turbine installations in the country to gain as much as 30 percent this year as developers rush to beat a reduction in state subsidies. Read more

Israel adds 290MW to PV development quota from other renewables

Wednesday, 2.5.2014 - 13:50 (PV-Tech)

Israel’s development quota for PV projects has increased by 290MW, after quotas for concentrated solar power (CSP) and wind farm projects were shifted to solar PV. Read more

Branson’s Virgin island in line for renewables mini-grid

Wednesday, 2.5.2014 - 13:32 (PV-Tech)

The Caribbean island owned by Virgin tycoon Sir Richard Branson is to be fitted with a solar and wind powered mini-grid installed by US-based NRG Energy. Read more

EPC firm SunEnergy1 completes five PV plants using Array Technologies mounting systems

Wednesday, 2.5.2014 - 17:15 (PV-Tech)

SunEnergy1, a preferred EPC to Duke Energy Renewables has completed five PV projects in North Carolina totalling 56MW (dc). Read more

European Parliament calls for binding 30% EU renewable energy target by 2030

Wednesday, 2.5.2014 - 16:01 (Solarserver)

The European Parliament has voted for a 30% renewable energy target for the EU by 2030, 3% higher than that proposed by the European Commission. More significantly, this target must be binding and implemented through individual national targets. Read more

Ten Clean Energy Stocks For 2014: February Update

Wednesday, 2.5.2014 - 15:41 (Renewable Energy World)

The stock market has had a rough five weeks since I introduced my annual Ten Clean Energy Stocks model portfolio on December 27th. My broad market benchmark (the iShares Russell 2000 index) is down 5.6% for the period. Clean energy stocks fared better, with the Powershares WilderHill Clean Energy ETF (NYSE:PBW) down only 0.5% as I write. My model portfolio of ten clean energy stocks is up 0.9% in local currency terms, but the weak Canadian dollar (down 3.5%) and Euro (down 1.5%) turned this into a US dollar decline of 1.0%. Read more

Nevada Hydro Clears Up Interconnect Issues for 600-MW Project

Wednesday, 2.5.2014 - 15:22 (Renewable Energy World)

The Nevada Hydro Co. filed a tardy Feb. 3 update with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that said it is making progress on a 600-MW pumped storage hydro project in California. Read more

Energy Storage Update: WattJoule, Primus, Green Charge Networks

Wednesday, 2.5.2014 - 14:00 (Renewable Energy World)

A busy couple of days for energy storage on both sides of the meter: WattJoule says it's figuring out how to finally solve the puzzle for reliable cost-competitive vanadium redox flow batteries, Primus Power lands more funding for its own flow batteries, and Green Charge Networks tallies up new customer installations, including many tied to solar energy systems. Read more

Primus Power grid-scale storage secures US$20 million in venture capital funding

Wednesday, 2.5.2014 - 7:02 (PV-Tech)

Grid-scale electrical energy storage (EES) company Primus Power announced that a Series C funding round has secured US$20 million worth of investment, including a “major contribution” from Anglo American Platinum. Read more