News of the year 2014

Date: 25.03.2014



Photovoltaics

SunPower cracks China PV market with 120MW of planned CSP projects

Tuesday, 3.25.2014 - 23:09 (PV-Tech)

Major PVEP (PV Energy Provider), SunPower is to supply its C7 solar concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) technology to several power plant projects planned for Inner Mongolia, China through a consortium of Chinese partners. Read more

SunPower cracks China PV market with 120MW of planned CPV projects

Tuesday, 3.25.2014 - 23:09 (PV-Tech)

Major PVEP (PV Energy Provider), SunPower is to supply its C7 solar concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) technology to several power plant projects planned for Inner Mongolia, China through a consortium of Chinese partners. Read more

Motech, Gintech chosen to represent Taiwan in U.S. anti-dumping investigation

Tuesday, 3.25.2014 - 14:35 (Solarserver)

The U.S. Department of Commerce (DoC) has chosen Motech (Taipei) and Gintech (Zhunan, Taiwan) to act as respondents for Taiwanese solar photovoltaic (PV) makers in its anti-dumping investigation, according to TrendForce's (Taipei) EnergyTrend division. Read more

EMCORE supplying ZTJ triple-junction solar cell modules to NASA satellite

Tuesday, 3.25.2014 - 14:15 (PV-Tech)

CPV solar cell producer, EMCORE will make the modules for a NASA satellite using its ZTJ triple-junction III-V solar cells. Read more

Heliatek touts organic solar cell with 7.2% efficiency with 40% light transparency

Tuesday, 3.25.2014 - 14:02 (PV-Tech)

Organic thin-film producer, Heliatek, has claimed a lab-based OPV solar cell has achieved a conversion efficiency of 7.2% with 40% light transparency to meet the needs of glass manufacturers for both building integrated PV (BIPV) and automotive roof markets. Read more

Trina Solar: All in-house produced solar cells PID-free

Tuesday, 3.25.2014 - 13:26 (PV-Tech)

Trina Solar has said that all of its in-house produced solar cells will conform to IEC62804 Ed.1.0 (82/685/NP) standards, also known as the PID Test from April 2014 onwards. Read more

White paper looks at best practices for PV mounting systems

Tuesday, 3.25.2014 - 8:22 (Solarserver)

A group of four solar photovoltaic (PV) companies and Solar Marketing Group LLC (Oakland, California, U.S.) have produced a white paper which explores reliability in PV mounting systems and looks at best practices. “The Importance of Reliable Solar Mounting Systems” states that mounting systems should be designed for PV, and not general equipment installations. It also states that roof attachments must include flashings designed for the solar mounts, and that wiring and grounding components should be designed and UL-listed for hot and wet rooftop conditions. Read more


Thermal Power/Heating

Japan solar: METI approves feed-in tariff reductions

Tuesday, 3.25.2014 - 19:59 (Solarserver)

Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) has accepted the proposal of an expert committee and approved feed-in tariff reductions for solar photovoltaic (PV) plants for the nation's fiscal year beginning April 1st, 2014. Feed-in tariff levels for PV plants larger than 10 kW will fall 11% to JPY 32 (USD 0.31) per KWh, and levels for plants smaller than 10 kW will fall 2.7% to JPY 36 (USD 0.35) per kWh. Read more

Japan’s 2014 FiT rates confirmed

Tuesday, 3.25.2014 - 16:46 (PV-Tech)

Japan’s feed-in tariff (FiT) rates for the forthcoming year have been confirmed and will come into effect from 1 April, including solar FiTs set at ¥32/kWh (US$0.32) for commercial customers and ¥37/kWh (US$0.36) for residential PV system owners. Read more

Soitec commissions first half of 44 MW solar CPV plant in South Africa

Tuesday, 3.25.2014 - 16:14 (Solarserver)

Soitec SA (Bernin, France) has commissioned the first 22 MW of its Touwsrivier concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) plant in South Africa. The company expects to complete the entire 44 MW plant “in the coming months”. Soitec notes that the event confirms that the power plant performs in accordance with specifications under its contract, and validates the power purchase agreement (PPA) for the entire plant. Read more

SolarCity garners financing for 200MW of PV projects

Tuesday, 3.25.2014 - 15:02 (PV-Tech)

Led by BofA Merrill Lynch, SolarCity has secured US$250 million in a new financing facility to support the roll-out of more than 200MW of PV system installations in the US. Read more

Tata Power’s PV modules pass UL PID testing

Tuesday, 3.25.2014 - 14:41 (PV-Tech)

Tata Power Solar’s crystalline PV modules have passed PID (Potential Induced Degradation) testing by Underwriters Laboratories (UL). Read more

Renusol America to supply solar mounting systems to 36 PV installations in Kansas City

Tuesday, 3.25.2014 - 14:29 (PV-Tech)

Renusol America announced that two of its solar mounting systems, the Renusol CS60 and the VS system, have been chosen to be installed on 36 out of 80 buildings that are part of a 2MW PV energy initiative in Kansas City, Missouri. Read more

Soitec South Africa CPV plant 50% complete

Tuesday, 3.25.2014 - 14:09 (PV-Tech)

Concentrator PV (CPV) specialist, Soitec, has said its 44MW Touwsrivier solar power plant in South Africa has reached 50% commissioning. Read more

Mexican retailer signs PPA for 31 MW of distributed solar PV systems

Tuesday, 3.25.2014 - 13:52 (Solarserver)

Mexican retailer Tiendas Soriana SA de CV (Monterrey, Mexico) has signed a 20-year power purchase agreement with Hanwha Q Cells (Bitterfeld-Wolfen, Germany) and Ilioss (Mexico City) for 31 MW of solar photovoltaic (PV) generation at 120 of its stores across Mexico. This is the biggest project of its kind in Mexico to date. Read more

Renewables in North Africa: A Nation-By-Nation Report Card

Tuesday, 3.25.2014 - 13:45 (Renewable Energy World)

Electricity demand is soaring in Northern Africa nations (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Egypt) due to economic development, rising living standards, and other factors, but the existing power infrastructure is severely inadequate to handle it. Supply is plunging because of spiking demand in hot summers, threadbare infrastructure, political instability (especially since the 2011 Arab Spring), financing restrictions, and inadequate regulatory frameworks. Even so, power generation projects and structural reforms to support them are pushing forward in this region — and in many cases renewable energy is the best solution, particularly tapping into solar and wind resources, Read more

German government faces eleventh-hour call to scrap renewables charge

Tuesday, 3.25.2014 - 13:25 (PV-Tech)

German trade association BSW-Solar has made a last-ditch plea to the country’s government to abandon plans for a controversial charge on homeowners self-consuming PV-generated power. Read more

Hanwha Q Cells to install solar across 120 Mexico supermarkets

Tuesday, 3.25.2014 - 13:15 (PV-Tech)

One of Mexico’s largest retail companies, Tiendas Soriana, is teaming up with global photovoltaic company, Hanwha Q Cells, to install solar across 120 of Mexico’s supermarkets. Read more

Former US energy secretary Chu: Utilities need to respond to ‘disruptive’ solar-plus-batteries

Tuesday, 3.25.2014 - 13:15 (PV-Tech)

Former US energy secretary Steven Chu has claimed battery storage technology used in combination with solar could be “as disruptive to electricity distribution and generation as the internet”. Read more

Solar firms start industry’s ‘first TV ad’ campaigns

Tuesday, 3.25.2014 - 13:05 (Solarpowerportal)

A Yorkshire-based PV installer is thought to have become the first solar company in the UK to run a TV advertising campaign. Read more

Philips research centre to transform African ‘society, business and government’

Tuesday, 3.25.2014 - 12:08 (PV-Tech)

Dutch consumer electronics company Philips will open a new innovation centre in Kenya which will look into improving African lives through research and development into technologies including solar power and LED lighting technology. Read more

SolarMax ramps up its UK sales department

Tuesday, 3.25.2014 - 11:57 (Solarpowerportal)

Swiss PV manufacturer Sputnik Engineering (SolarMax) is the latest in a long line of solar power firms to beef up operations in the UK, as the company announced that it has made multiple additions to its UK sales operation. Read more

Listen Up: Let's Talk Solar Grid Storage

Tuesday, 3.25.2014 - 11:20 (Renewable Energy World)

To many of us old timers (solar years ? calendar years) the battery storage industry looks a lot like the solar industry did ten years ago. Energy storage on the grid depends on future battery cost reductions, requires sophisticated management electronics, tricky packaging, favorable government policies, coordination with utility rates and appropriate financing. Not surprisingly, we're seeing successful solar entrepreneurs from the last decade applying their finely-honed skills and tactics to build new energy storage businesses. Read more

UK Schools secure funds for 3MW

Tuesday, 3.25.2014 - 11:15 (Solarpowerportal)

Alternative energy firm Winch Energy’s Power Your Future programme has secured funds for a further 3MW of PV installations under its schools solar initiative, ‘Power Your Schools’. Read more

Japan Approves Solar Power Tariff Cut, Sets Offshore Wind

Tuesday, 3.25.2014 - 10:58 (Renewable Energy World)

Japan approved a cut in tariffs for solar power as a building boom meant the technology made up 97 percent of new renewable capacity since it offered incentives. Read more

SunEdison joins with Samsung to build fluidized bed reactor polysilicon plant in South Korea

Tuesday, 3.25.2014 - 8:53 (Solarserver)

SunEdison, Inc. (St. Peters, Missouri, U.S.) has announced a series of agreements with Samsung Group (Seoul), including a joint venture to build a polysilicon plant in South Korea. SunEdison will hold a 35% share in SMP's new polysilicon facility, which will utilize a fluidized bed reactor design, and Samsung's Fine Chemicals subsidiary will retain a 15% share. The company plans to complete the plant in the second half of 2014, upon which it will supply solar grade polysilicon to SunEdison and later semiconductor grade polysilicon to newly independent semiconductor business SunEdison Semiconductor Ltd. (SSL). Read more

pvXchange: Solar PV module prices remain stable, demand for thin-film outstrips supply

Tuesday, 3.25.2014 - 8:40 (Solarserver)

pvXchange GmbH (Hamburg, Germany) reports that European solar photovoltaic (PV) prices have remained stable during February and March 2014. The company also finds that while inexpensive PV modules are in demand, that few are available. pvXchange's Martin Schachinger states that the price increases for Southeast Asian crystalline silicon PV modules has ceased, but that a lack of low-cost modules is hampering the market. “Altogether though, prices are still too high to step up demand,” notes Schachinger. Read more

Yingli to supply solar PV modules for plant at World Cup stadium in Brazil

Tuesday, 3.25.2014 - 8:31 (Solarserver)

Yingli Green Energy Holding Co. Ltd. (Baoding, China) has supplied 1 MW of solar photovoltaic (PV) modules to Grupo Neoenergia SA (Rio de Janeiro) for a plant to supply electricity to a football stadium which will be used for 2014 FIFA World Cup Matches. The fixed-tilt, ground mounted system is located on 15,000 square meters adjacent to the parking lots of Arena Pernambuco in a suburb or Recife, the capital of Pernambuco state. The system is projected to generate more than 1,500 megawatt-hours (MWh) of electricity annually and supply roughly 30% of the facility's electricity demand. Read more


Biomass/Pellets

Giant King Grass To Fuel Bioenergy Plants in California

Tuesday, 3.25.2014 - 18:58 (Renewable Energy World)

An 18-MW biomass plant is set to reopen in Imperial, California as part of the ML Energy Park after a 2010 earthquake damaged the facility. Viaspace signed a contract with Mesquite Lake Water and Power LLC to supply the plant with its Giant King Grass (GKG) feedstock, which will be mixed with wood waste. Read more


Wind Energy

Siemens to Invest $264 Million in UK Offshore Wind Plant

Tuesday, 3.25.2014 - 12:04 (Renewable Energy World)

Siemens AG, Europe’s largest engineering company will invest 160 million pounds ($264 million) in a wind turbine factory in northern England to tap the world’s biggest offshore wind market. Read more


Hydropower

There are no news available

 



Hydrogen/Fuel Cell

There are no news available

 



Geo Thermal/Heat Pump

There are no news available

 



Energy Policy/Climate/CO2

The Wrong Answer to Tax Reform

Tuesday, 3.25.2014 - 17:39 (Renewable Energy World)

For many years, and particularly since the Energy Policy Act of 2005, U.S. federal income tax policy has served a dual function as both tax and renewable energy policy. However, last month House Ways and Means Chairman David Camp (R-MI) released an expansive tax reform proposal in which a number of credits and deductions for renewable energy technology were recommended for repeal, effectively rewriting renewable energy policy by a proposed elimination of renewable energy from the federal tax code. Read more

Swinerton awarded EPC services for construction of 40MW of PV projects in California

Tuesday, 3.25.2014 - 13:52 (PV-Tech)

Duke Energy Renewables has granted turnkey engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services to Swinerton Renewable Energy for its Pumpjack and Wildwood PV projects located in Bakersfield, California. Read more

Name change expected for GCL-Poly

Tuesday, 3.25.2014 - 13:47 (PV-Tech)

The holding company of polysilicon producer, GCL-Poly, is planning to change the name of the group to GCL New Energy Holdings Limited to better reflect its move into the downstream PV project business and renewable energy in general. Read more

Greek Government Proposes More Cuts to Renewable Energy Feed-in Tariff

Tuesday, 3.25.2014 - 12:43 (Renewable Energy World)

In a move reminiscent of Spain, the Czech Republic, Australia and even Germany, the Greek government has proposed cuts to the country’s successful Feed-in Tariff (FIT). Read more


Solar-/Electromobil

Massachusetts Makes Progress for Finalizing SREC-II Regulation

Tuesday, 3.25.2014 - 19:37 (Renewable Energy World)

Solar stakeholders in Massachusetts are beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel.  On Monday, March 17th, the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER) announced that they have initiated the last review necessary before finalizing the Solar Carve-Out II program.  The Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities, and Energy Read more


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