Shunfeng posts losses higher than revenue in 2013; name change due

Thursday, 3.27.2014 - 18:00 (PV-Tech)

China-based wafer manufacturer and operator of Wuxi Suntech, Shunfeng Photovoltaic International, has reported full-year 2013 revenue of approximately US$246.2 million, compared to US$170.5 million in the previous year. Read more

SMA reports 2013 loss on falling inverter sales

Thursday, 3.27.2014 - 16:30 (Solarserver)

SMA Solar Technology AG (Niestetal, Germany) reports a sharp fall in inverter sales, both by volume and revenue in 2013. The company's sales volume fell 25% to only 5.4 GW, and revenues fell 36% to EUR 932 million (USD 1.28 billion). SMA cites declining European demand and high price pressure for its falling revenues, and the company's share of international sales grew from 56% to 71% during the year. Read more

Wuxi Suntech chief calls for end to US-China row

Thursday, 3.27.2014 - 13:04 (PV-Tech)

The US and China must end their ongoing trade row or jeopardise the solar industry’s global growth, the CEO of Chinese module manufacturer Wuxi Suntech has warned. Read more

Kansas Will Plant Its First Community-Owned Solar Farm

Thursday, 3.27.2014 - 16:13 (Renewable Energy World)

Customer-owned utility Midwest Energy and community solar developer Clean Energy Collective (CEC) have signed an agreement to build a 1 megawatt community solar photovoltaic array, the largest in Kansas, with panels owned by Midwest Energy members throughout central and western Kansas. The 4,000-panel solar garden will be located within the Midwest Read more

NRG Buys Installer Roof Diagnostics in Rooftop Solar Push

Thursday, 3.27.2014 - 16:00 (Renewable Energy World)

NRG Energy Inc. (NRG), the largest independent U.S. electricity producer, bought rooftop solar installer Roof Diagnostics Solar Inc. as it seeks to capitalize on the growing decentralized power market. Read more

Top Inverter Maker SMA Loss Wider Than Expected after Solar Market Shifts

Thursday, 3.27.2014 - 15:58 (Renewable Energy World)

SMA Solar Technology AG, Germany’s biggest solar maker, reported a wider-than-expected loss because demand shifted from its home market in Europe toward Asia. Read more

CCCME: Chinese solar PV module exports to the EU fall in 2013

Thursday, 3.27.2014 - 14:33 (Solarserver)

China's solar photovoltaic (PV) module exports contracted in 2013, including a collapse in sales to the European Union, according to figures published by the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products (CCCME). CCCME estimates overall Chinese PV module exports at 16 GW during 2013, noting a 27% fall by value to USD 10 billion. Read more

SMA Solar’s market share continues decline in loss-making year

Thursday, 3.27.2014 - 13:44 (PV-Tech)

Market conditions in the PV industry continued to impact PV inverter leader, SMA Solar Technology in 2013, with the company registering a loss of €89.1 million for the full year. Read more

Sale of Komax JV in China marks company’s first step away from solar

Thursday, 3.27.2014 - 13:36 (PV-Tech)

Komax Group has taken its first step away from the solar industry, selling its 51% stake in joint venture (JV) company Komax Jinchen to its Chinese JV partner, Yingkou Jinchen. Read more

New survey finds 14,000 full-time jobs associated with UK PV industry in 2013

Thursday, 3.27.2014 - 13:35 (Solarpowerportal)

The Building Research Establishment (BRE) National Solar Centre (NSC) has completed an extensive survey and report of the UK solar power industry in 2013. Read more

PassivSystems to join Macquarie in rolling out free solar for UK homes

Thursday, 3.27.2014 - 13:07 (Solarpowerportal)

PassivSystems announced it has won a contract to provide its monitoring systems for Macquarie’s free PV roll-out. Read more

Swinerton to build 40 MW-AC of solar PV projects for Duke Energy

Thursday, 3.27.2014 - 12:23 (Solarserver)

Duke Energy's (Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S.) renewable energy division has awarded turnkey engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts to Swinerton Renewable Energy (San Francisco, California, U.S.) for two solar photovoltaic (PV) plants totaling 40 MW-AC in California. Design and procurement of the Pumpjack and Wildwood projects near Bakersfield, California is already underway, and Swinerton expects to commission both by the end of 2014. Duke holds 20-year power purchase agreements (PPAs) with utility Southern California Edison (SCE, Rosemead, California, U.S.) for both projects. Read more

Scatec Solar in line to build 10MW PV plant in Jordan

Thursday, 3.27.2014 - 12:15 (PV-Tech)

Norway based developer, Scatec Solar, is to build a 10MW PV power plant in Jordan. Read more

Spirit Solar focusing on commercial-level PV installations in 2014

Thursday, 3.27.2014 - 11:45 (Solarpowerportal)

Reading-based PV installer Spirit Solar expects that a large sum of its expected work in 2014 will revolve around installing commercial-level rooftop installations across the UK. Read more

16.2MW PV project approved in Wales; two plants proposed in Duckmanton and Hillingdon

Thursday, 3.27.2014 - 11:12 (Solarpowerportal)

The UK may be adding three more PV plants to its growing utility solar power sector, as a 16.2MW project was approved near Llanelli, Wales while two plants with the generating capacity to power over 3,200 homes have been proposed for the towns of Duckmanton and Hillingdon. Read more

Swinerton to build to 40 MW-AC of solar PV projects for Duke Energy

Thursday, 3.27.2014 - 9:07 (Solarserver)

Duke Energy's (Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S.) renewable energy division has awarded turnkey engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts to Swinerton Renewable Energy (San Francisco, California, U.S.) for two solar photovoltaic (PV) plants totaling 40 MW-AC in California. Design and procurement of the Pumpjack and Wildwood projects near Bakersfield, California is already underway, and Swinerton expects to commission both by the end of 2014. Duke holds 20-year power purchase agreements (PPAs) with utility Southern California Edison (SCE, Rosemead, California, U.S.) for both projects. Read more

Solarthermalworld finds costs between USD 0.051–0.14/kWh for solar district heat

Thursday, 3.27.2014 - 8:53 (Solarserver)

Costs for solar district heat range between EUR 0.037–0.088 (USD 0.051– 0.14) per kWh-thermal in Germany and Denmark depending upon interest rates and the availability of subsidies, according to an analysis by Solarthermalworld. The best-case scenario, including a 3% interest loan and a 40% investment subsidy brings the cost down to EUR 0.037/kWh-th, whereas no subsidies and an interest rate of 8% result in a price of EUR 0.088/kWh-th. Read more

Invenergy acquires 7 MW-DC solar CPV project from Soitec

Thursday, 3.27.2014 - 8:42 (Solarserver)

Invenergy LLC (Chicago) has acquired a 7 MW-DC concentrated solar photovoltaic (CPV) project in Southern California from Soitec (Bernin, France). The Desert Green project is located in Borrego Springs, 90 miles from San Diego, California. Construction of the project is scheduled to begin during March 2014, with commissioning expected by the end of 2014. Desert Green will feature more than 2,800 Concentrix CPV modules, which are manufactured at Soitec's factory in San Diego County. Read more

SolarCity enters into USD 250 million distributed solar PV financing facility

Thursday, 3.27.2014 - 8:35 (Solarserver)

SolarCity Corp. (San Mateo, California, U.S.) has received final commitments for a USD 250 million aggregation facility, which it will use to support more than 200 MW of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems for homeowners and businesses. This is the largest aggregation facility for distributed generation PV projects to date, and the third such facility entered into by SolarCity. Lenders include BofA Merrill Lynch (New York City), which served as structuring agent and syndication agent. Read more

Panasonic unveils solar PV and energy storage product for off-grid areas

Thursday, 3.27.2014 - 8:31 (Solarserver)

Panasonic Corp. (Osaka, Japan) has developed a new combined solar photovoltaic (PV) and energy storage product based on its HIT PV modules and lead-acid batteries for areas without electricity. The Power Supply Container comprises 12 HIT 240 PV modules and 24 deep-cycle 12 volt lead-acid batteries, which will supply 3 kW of electricity and 17.2 kWh of energy storage. The unit will also contain the company's Power Supply Control Unit to provide energy management. Read more

Offshore Wind Updates: Cape Wind Financing, Deepwater Proposal, Massive UK Project Approvals

Thursday, 3.27.2014 - 18:06 (Renewable Energy World)

The offshore wind industry saw some action from both sides of the pond this week, with several announcements coming from projects off the coast of Massachusetts, New York and Scotland. Read more

Shared Clean Energy Program Advances in Connecticut Legislature

Thursday, 3.27.2014 - 16:22 (Renewable Energy World)

Connecticut could become the 11th state to pass shared renewables policy, the new approach to renewable energy that gives renters and others a way to go solar for the first time. Read more

West Sussex ‘fracking’ village launches PV co-op

Thursday, 3.27.2014 - 16:03 (Solarpowerportal)

The residents of Balcombe, the small West Sussex village best known for being at the centre of a hectic 2013 protest against UK fracking in the surrounding area, have launched their own renewable energy co-operative in an effort to generate their own power through community-owned facilities. Read more

Germany’s $2.8 Billion Power Link With Norway Threatened

Thursday, 3.27.2014 - 14:59 (Renewable Energy World)

Talks between Germany and Norway about how to boost the trading of electricity from renewable sources are being held up by concerns that the power cable running under the North Sea won’t ever make money. Read more

The Future of Chile's Energy Sector Lies with Renewable Energy, New Report Shows

Thursday, 3.27.2014 - 14:58 (Renewable Energy World)

The Chilean Renewable Energy Center recently released its annual report for 2013, and the numbers send a clear message: Chile’s non-conventional renewable energy sector is where the action is. (In Chile, the term “non-conventional renewable energy” is used to exclude large hydroelectric plants, i.e. hydroelectric plants with an installed capacity over 20MW, from the category. Large hydro is considered conventional energy. For the sake of brevity, I use “renewable” in this blog in place of “non-conventional renewable.”) Read more

Global Energy Storage Alliance launched at Düsseldorf event

Thursday, 3.27.2014 - 14:33 (PV-Tech)

A new international body to promote and develop energy storage around the world was formally launched this week. Read more

PG&E hits 22.5% renewable energy provision

Thursday, 3.27.2014 - 14:21 (PV-Tech)

California utility, Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), claims to have passed a milestone by drawing over 20% of its power from renewable energy sources in 2013. Read more

Can Europe Achieve a Clean, Affordable Power Balance?

Thursday, 3.27.2014 - 12:24 (Renewable Energy World)

Change is sweeping the European power industry as the integration of renewables gains pace. How Europe eventually navigates through these dramatic changes will fascinate power decision makers globally. The debate over whether renewables would form a significant part of the future power generation infrastructure has moved on considerably within the last two years: the question is no longer ‘if’ the transition will take place, but ‘how’ an industry traditionally comprised of large units of coal, gas or nuclear power generation running 24/7 as base load is going to adapt to accommodate it. Read more

Renewable Energy Crowdfunding Hits the Runway

Thursday, 3.27.2014 - 12:07 (Renewable Energy World)

E-commerce visionary Elon Musk and British punk-fashionista Vivienne Westwood see eye-to-eye on a new wave in clean energy: You need to find investors online. Read more

Ofgem calls for competition review of energy market

Thursday, 3.27.2014 - 11:38 (Solarpowerportal)

Energy watchdog Ofgem has said it will refer the UK’s energy market to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). Read more