Imec claims a fullerene-free OPV cell record conversion efficiency

Tuesday, 3.11.2014 - 20:15 (PV-Tech)

Having dropped organic solar cells (OPV) that used fullerenes as the acceptor materials, imec has reported in ‘Nature Communications’ that it has produced a fullerene-free OPV cell with a record conversion efficiency of 8.4% and a 156cm2 module with a conversion efficiency of 5.3%. Read more

Neo Solar Power February revenue hardly dips

Tuesday, 3.11.2014 - 19:44 (PV-Tech)

Major Taiwan-based solar cell manufacturer, Neo Solar Power (NSP) revenue in February barely dipped due to Chinese New Year and less working days in the month. Read more

Greece ‘reboots’ solar market

Tuesday, 3.11.2014 - 18:10 (PV-Tech)

The Greek government has presented a new bill to shake up the renewable energy market with mixed results for solar. Read more

SEIA applauds new net metering legislation in Massachusetts

Tuesday, 3.11.2014 - 17:00 (PV-Tech)

The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) announced its support for new legislation presented in the Massachusetts State Senate and House of Representatives that would permit public and private distributed generation (DG) projects to continue, while also expanding the solar energy industry across the state. Read more

California peaks at over 4 GW of utility-scale solar generation, meeting 18% of demand

Tuesday, 3.11.2014 - 15:11 (Solarserver)

The state of California has set a new record for peak utility-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) and concentrating solar power (CSP) generation at 4.093 GW on March 8th, 2014, according to the state's grid operator. This breaks the record of 3.926 GW set the previous day. Read more

Laos signs MOU for the study of 50 MW solar PV project

Tuesday, 3.11.2014 - 14:09 (Solarserver)

Laos' Ministry of Science and Technology has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the AL-PNTC Consortium towards the building of a 50 MW solar photovoltaic (PV) plant in the nation. The MOU specifies that AL-PNTC will conduct a feasibility study of the 50 MW project and the potential to transfer technology, with the aim of creating the foundation of a renewable energy industry in the nation. Read more

Chaori bondholders could force repayment through the courts

Tuesday, 3.11.2014 - 14:01 (PV-Tech)

Bondholders of Shanghai Chaori Solar Energy Science and Technology could use the courts to force through repayments, according to a filing issued to the Shenzen stock exchange. Read more

UK expected to install 2.5GW of solar in 2014: NPD Solarbuzz

Tuesday, 3.11.2014 - 13:45 (PV-Tech)

Market research firm NPD Solarbuzz has hiked its forecast for the UK PV market in 2014, due to increased project activity and the stable business environment for PV through to the next general election in 2015. Read more

Nevada power monopoly issues plea for solar sites

Tuesday, 3.11.2014 - 12:58 (PV-Tech)

Nevada utility NV Energy has put out a call to developers to help it find suitable sites for the development of solar energy. Read more

California solar power hits new production record

Tuesday, 3.11.2014 - 12:17 (PV-Tech)

Solar power production in California hit a new record on 8 March 2014, as output peaked at 4,093MW. Read more

Juwi wins planning permission for 8.2MW solar farm near Exmoor National Park

Tuesday, 3.11.2014 - 11:55 (Solarpowerportal)

North Devon District Council has granted planning permission to an 8.2MW solar farm project that lies two kilometres from Exmoor National Park. Read more

Indian state signs deal for 7.5GW of solar

Tuesday, 3.11.2014 - 11:10 (PV-Tech)

The MoU is for 7.5GW of solar installations, with 5GW in the region of Ladakh and 2.5GW in the town of Kargil. Read more

SunEdison and partners create fund to build solar PV at California prisons, hospitals

Tuesday, 3.11.2014 - 8:28 (Solarserver)

SunEdison Inc. (St. Peters, Missouri, U.S.) has announced a USD 50 million fund to build 13.4 MW of solar photovoltaic (PV) plants at prisons and hospitals in the state of California. The initiative is a collaboration with Nationwide Mutual Insurance (Columbus, Ohio, U.S.), Sol Systems (Washington D.C.) and National Bank of Arizona (Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.). SunEdison notes that the collaborative investment involved the use of innovative financing structures. Read more

Yingli to supply modules for 27.5 MW solar PV plant in Israel

Tuesday, 3.11.2014 - 8:22 (Solarserver)

Yingli Green Energy Holding Co. (Baoding, China) has announced that it will supply its multicrystalline silicon solar photovoltaic (PV) modules to a 27.5 MW PV plant in Israel. This is the company's largest supply deal to date in Israel and the Middle East. Yingli began deliveries of its YGE 72 cell NH series modules in February 2014 and will complete them in April 2014. The plant will participate in the nation's feed-in tariff, and has been prioritized as a national infrastructure project by the Israeli government. Read more

SolarBridge raises USD 42 million in funding

Tuesday, 3.11.2014 - 8:13 (Solarserver)

Microinverter maker SolarBridge Technologies (Austin, Texas, U.S.) has closed on a USD 42 million round of funding led by Exelon Corp.'s (Chicago) Constellation Technology Ventures. The company plans to use the funding to expand its sales and marketing and continue its focus on research and development (R&D). SolarBridge sells its Pantheon microinverters incorporated into “AC modules” through partnerships with solar photovoltaic (PV) module makers. Read more

Putin Cannot Turn Off Europe’s Wind Energy, Says EWEA Chief

Tuesday, 3.11.2014 - 20:01 (Renewable Energy World)

The President of the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) has told delegates at its annual conference that the threat to Europe’s energy security can be neutered by investment in the EU’s wind energy sector. He told his audience, “Mr Putin cannot turn off the tap that supplies our wind, our free indigenous fuel.” Read more

Green Energy Technology’s higher ASPs hold up February revenue

Tuesday, 3.11.2014 - 20:12 (PV-Tech)

Major Taiwan-based solar wafer producer, Green Energy Technology (GET,) increased high-performance wafer prices in February 2014, supporting a revenue decrease of only 3.9% in the shorter working month and Chinese New Year period. Read more

Green Energy Technology’s higher ASPs hold-up February revenue

Tuesday, 3.11.2014 - 20:12 (PV-Tech)

Major Taiwan-based solar wafer producer, Green Energy Technology (GET) increased high-performance wafer prices in February, 2014 supporting a revenue decrease of only 3.9% in the shorter working month and Chinese New Year period. Read more

Was Your Senator #Up4Climate or In Bed with the Oil Industry?

Tuesday, 3.11.2014 - 15:34 (Renewable Energy World)

Though likely impossible to find anyone in the climate justice or environmental community to say that any sitting U.S. senator — Republican or Democrat — has been an adequate leader on the issue of global warming, 28 Democrats (and two Independents) were garnering soft applause for their overnight effort on Monday into Tuesday as they pulled an all night session focused exclusively on climate change. Read more

Three Years after Fukushima: Lulled into the Myth of Safety?

Tuesday, 3.11.2014 - 15:07 (Renewable Energy World)

World sentiment seemed to steer away from nuclear energy and toward more renewables following the disaster at Japan's Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear plant on March 11, 2011. Three years later, have we forgotten? Read more

Can a Novel City-Utility Partnership Green a Big City Grid?

Tuesday, 3.11.2014 - 14:43 (Renewable Energy World)

In pursuit of a cleaner energy future last August, the city of Minneapolis came to the brink of putting a city-owned utility on the ballot. It was the culmination of a grassroots effort to get cleaner energy and local investment from the city's energy utilities. It won't be a city-owned utility on the agenda this spring, but Minneapolis may launch Read more

Mexico’s electric utility and private companies to partner up on renewables

Tuesday, 3.11.2014 - 13:57 (PV-Tech)

The general director of Mexico’s state-owned electric utility, the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE), has announced plans to promote renewable energy generation in the country by forming strategic public-private partnerships. Read more

IRENA to develop electricity storage roadmap

Tuesday, 3.11.2014 - 12:35 (PV-Tech)

The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) will host a workshop later this month aimed at kick-starting the production of a roadmap for the future deployment of energy storage. Read more

Duke Energy acquires 40 MW of PV projects in California

Tuesday, 3.11.2014 - 8:18 (Solarserver)

Duke Energy's (Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S.) renewable energy subsidiary has acquired two 20 MW-AC solar photovoltaic (PV) projects in California's Central Valley from Infigen Energy (Sydney, Australia). Duke will sell the electricity generated by the Pumpjack and Wildwood PV projects through 20-year power purchase agreements to utility Southern California Edison Inc. (Rosemead, California, U.S.). When the two projects are complete, Duke will own and operate more than 65 MW of PV in California. Read more