Shunfeng moves forward with acquisition of Wuxi Suntech

Friday, 3.21.2014 - 16:37 (Solarserver)

Following two delays, Shunfeng Photovoltaic International Ltd. (Changzhou, China) has released details of its proposed acquisition of Wuxi Suntech (Wuxi, China) for USD 480 million to shareholders. Shareholders will now vote on the acquisition on April 7th, 2014. In a circular, Shunfeng attempts to distance Wuxi Suntech from troubled subsidiary Suntech Singapore, stating that the company disposed of all of its shares in Suntech Singapore in February 2014. Read more

Wuxi Suntech requires US$1.26 billion in working capital

Friday, 3.21.2014 - 14:49 (PV-Tech)

Shunfeng Photovoltaics is expected to need US$1.26 billion in working capital requirements for the next 12 months once its takeover of Wuxi Suntech is finalised, financial filings reveal. Read more

German LDK subsidiary, Sunways, enters insolvency for second time

Friday, 3.21.2014 - 12:50 (PV-Tech)

Sunways, a German subsidiary of stricken Chinese firm LDK Solar, has entered insolvency proceedings for the second time. Read more

Low Cost Solar Signals Dynamic Shift for Utility Planning

Friday, 3.21.2014 - 14:46 (Renewable Energy World)

Recent news that Austin Energy is looking to sign a 25-year solar energy PPA for less than 5 cents per kilowatt-hour is not just solar notable, it’s utility notable. (Austin Energy is seeking city council approval to execute the PPA at a 3/27/14 meeting.) The two projects totaling 150 megawatts are admittedly larger than typically seen for PV, crea Read more

US government body approves US$250 million loan for CSP plant in Israel

Friday, 3.21.2014 - 13:45 (PV-Tech)

A US$250 million loan for a concentrating solar power (CSP) plant in Israel has been approved by the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), a US government development finance group. Read more

Global PV deployment set to surge by 2018 as profitability returns: Solarbuzz

Friday, 3.21.2014 - 13:42 (PV-Tech)

Falling module prices and system costs will help propel global PV deployment to 500GW by 2018 as the industry returns to profitability, new analysis suggests. Read more

SolarCity: Interconnection charges for PV storage may be ‘illegal’

Friday, 3.21.2014 - 13:15 (PV-Tech)

Some of the fees being charged to interconnect residential storage systems to the grid in California are “not only arbitrary but also punitive”, while some may even be illegal, according to leading US installer SolarCity. Read more

Rochdale Council considers publically owned solar farm

Friday, 3.21.2014 - 13:10 (Solarpowerportal)

Rochdale Borough Council could develop the UK’s first publically owned solar farm in an attempt to become Britain’s greenest local authority. Read more

Hanwha SolarOne signs MOU to build 100 MW of distributed solar PV projects in Wuxi, China

Friday, 3.21.2014 - 13:09 (Solarserver)

Hanwha SolarOne Co. Ltd. (Shanghai) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the local government in Wuxi, China to develop 100 MW of distributed solar photovoltaic (PV) projects in a district of the city. The Wuxi Administrative Committee will provide rooftop space, facilitate local government approvals and grid connection, and assist with taxes and project financing. Read more

OPIC approves loan for 110 MW Ashalim solar CSP project in Israel

Friday, 3.21.2014 - 12:39 (Solarserver)

The U.S. government's Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) has approved a USD 250 million loan for a 110 MW concentrating solar power (CSP) plant planned for Israel's Negev Desert. The Ashalim Thermo Solar Power Plant will be the first CSP project to receive funding from OPIC, and will be larger than any operational CSP plant in the Middle East. Read more

Work starts on largest landfill-sited PV portfolio in US

Friday, 3.21.2014 - 12:12 (PV-Tech)

PV developer American Capital Energy (ACE) has begun construction on nine solar power projects totalling 22MW on Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. Read more

China Solar: New EU Trade Settlement, Defaults Loom

Friday, 3.21.2014 - 12:09 (Renewable Energy World)

China and the European Union have reached a new settlement that should formally end their ongoing dispute over solar panels, contrasting sharply from a more confrontational tack taken by the U.S. in a similar spat. Meantime in other solar news, a looming new bond default by a mid-sized panel maker has become the latest sign that Beijing is prepared Read more

Sempra and ConEdison go halves on 360MW of solar

Friday, 3.21.2014 - 11:19 (PV-Tech)

Sempra US Gas & Power and Consolidated Edison Development have announced they will partner on a 360MW solar portfolio in the US. Read more

SEMI: Solar PV module costs to fall to USD 0.52 per watt in December 2016

Friday, 3.21.2014 - 8:38 (Solarserver)

Forecasting ongoing progress in cost reduction for solar photovoltaic (PV) technology, SEMI (San Jose, California, U.S.) has released the fifth edition of its International Technology Roadmap for PV (ITRPV). The study covers the entire value chain of crystalline silicon (c-Si) PV, from crystallization to PV systems. The document provides no “silver bullet”, but instead predicts improvement in almost every aspect of PV production, looking at both increased market share for new technologies and incremental progress with materials. Read more

First Solar, GE launch 1,500 volt solar PV plant design

Friday, 3.21.2014 - 8:32 (Solarserver)

First Solar Inc. (Tempe, Arizona, U.S.) and GE's (Schenectady, New York, U.S.) Power Conversion business have partnered to launch a 1,500 volt utility-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) plant design which combines First Solar's thin-film cadmium telluride (CdTe) PV modules and GE's new 1,500 volt ProSolar inverter/transformer system. First Solar has integrated new technology into its PV modules and optimized them for 1,500 volt-DC applications. The company notes that when combined with GE's 4 MW ProSolar stations, this can enable PV plant designs that increase the size of the PV array served by each inverter and reduce the number of inverter/transformer stations required for each Read more

SunEdison completes 24 MW-DC solar PV plant in California

Friday, 3.21.2014 - 8:23 (Solarserver)

SunEdison Inc. (St. Peters, Missouri, U.S.) reports that it has completed construction of a 24 MW-DC solar photovoltaic (PV) plant in California. The Cascade Solar Power Plant is the largest PV plant built to date under the state's Renewable Auction Mechanism (RAM). The RAM is a reverse auction process created by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to address the market for smaller utility-scale PV projects at a low cost to ratepayers. Projects awarded in the program are usually 20 MW or less. Read more

New Jersey's Offshore Wind Goals Up in the Air After Project Rejection

Friday, 3.21.2014 - 16:36 (Renewable Energy World)

New Jersey's Board of Public Utilities (BPU) has given a thumbs-down to a long-proposed offshore wind project near Atlantic City, casting doubt on the project's future as it seeks crucial funding from the Department of Energy -- and bringing into question the state's commitment to exploring its big untapped offshore energy resource. Read more

Updated: New Jersey's Offshore Wind Goals Up in the Air After Project Rejection

Friday, 3.21.2014 - 16:36 (Renewable Energy World)

New Jersey's Board of Public Utilities (BPU) has given a thumbs-down to a long-proposed offshore wind project near Atlantic City, casting doubt on the project's future as it seeks crucial funding from the Department of Energy -- and bringing into question the state's commitment to exploring its big untapped offshore energy resource. [Updated with info from the BPU proceedings transcript, and comments from Fishermen Energy's CEO Chris Wissemann.] Read more

FERC Approves License for Cutting-edge Tidal Energy Project

Friday, 3.21.2014 - 15:39 (Renewable Energy World)

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on March 20 issued a 10-year pilot license to Public Utility District No. 1 of Snohomish County for the proposed Admiralty Inlet Pilot Tidal Project to be located in the Puget Sound in the state of Washington. Read more

ExxonMobil Acknowledges Climate Change to Shareholders

Friday, 3.21.2014 - 14:05 (Renewable Energy World)

We don’t cover climate change news all that much here on RenewableEnergyWorld.com. The reason for that is that we view climate change as just one bullet point in a list of reasons why renewable energy make sense: energy independence, grid stability through decentralized generation and resource depletion are also on that list. But yesterday we recei Read more

Exploding the Myth that Government Can’t Innovate for Energy

Friday, 3.21.2014 - 14:02 (Renewable Energy World)

Government should not pick winners and losers. Public-sector bureaucracy strangles entrepreneurship and innovation. Government can establish broad policy framework, but then should get out of the way. Read more

Minnesota May Reward Solar Producers for Climate Change Reduction

Friday, 3.21.2014 - 12:01 (Renewable Energy World)

How can utilities account for the climate and financial benefits of solar power? For years, Minnesota has been considering this question. And on Mar. 12, the state authorized a value-of-solar tariff that utilities can use to credit solar power producers for the benefits they are providing to utilities and society. Read more