Hanergy’s Solibro has 20.5% CIGS solar cell verified by NREL

Tuesday, 4.8.2014 - 17:29 (PV-Tech)

Hanergy Solar’s German-based subsidiary, Solibro has achieved a conversion efficiency of 20.5%, which have been verified by the US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Read more

Sungevity raises USD 70 million in new funding round

Tuesday, 4.8.2014 - 8:36 (Solarserver)

Sungevity Inc. (Oakland, California, U.S.) has raised USD 70 million in a new round of equity financing led by Jetstream Ventures (Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.). The company says that it will use the fund to extend its technology platform to service customers in global markets. Investors in the latest round include E.ON SE (Düsseldorf, Germany) and GE Ventures (Menlo Park, California, U.S.), whose initial investment in the company was announced in July 2013. Read more

Will the Chinese Biofuel Market Follow Solar’s Footsteps?

Tuesday, 4.8.2014 - 22:47 (Renewable Energy World)

While the Chinese government attempts to address its pollution problem and deal with ever-growing fuel demand, it has turned its attention towards its biofuels market. Since electric vehicles have not yet achieved a large market penetration, in part due to lack of widely available infrastructure such as charging stations, industry has set its sights on developing viable biofuel technology. Read more

Utility-scale solar PV and CSP meet 5.1% of California electric demand in March 2014

Tuesday, 4.8.2014 - 20:46 (Solarserver)

Renewable energy consultant Bernard Chabot has released a new analysis of renewable energy in California, which finds that utility-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) and concentrating solar power (CSP) plants produced 891 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of electricity in March 2014. Read more

Ukraine solar energy in jeopardy as political turmoil ensues, developer warns

Tuesday, 4.8.2014 - 20:11 (PV-Tech)

Austria-based solar developer, Activ Solar, accounting for most of Ukraine’s installed solar capacity, has warned the continuing political situation in Ukraine is jeopardising its current and future energy investments. Read more

Forecasts out of sync after UK installed record 1.1GW of solar in first quarter

Tuesday, 4.8.2014 - 18:23 (PV-Tech)

According to market research firm, NPD Solarbuzz the UK installed 1,085MW in the first quarter of 2014, bringing PV installations in the last six months to 1.54GW. Read more

Solar Sector Keeping Investors Busy

Tuesday, 4.8.2014 - 17:52 (Renewable Energy World)

Highlighting once again that one of the key stories for renewable energy in 2014 will be renewable energy finance, Q1 2014 shows high growth for investments in solar. Total global corporate funding in the solar sector, including venture capital (VC), private equity (PE), debt financing, and other equity financings raised by public companies, came in at $7 billion, compared to $5 billion in Q4 2013, according to a report just released by Mercom Capital Group. Read more

Chinese Solar Manufacturer Considering US Cell Factory Amid Trade Disputes

Tuesday, 4.8.2014 - 16:29 (Renewable Energy World)

JA Solar Holdings Co., the world’s third-biggest solar-cell maker, is considering building a factory in the U.S. or another country as Chinese producers seek to bypass trade sanctions. Read more

SunEdison secures USD 150 million in solar PV project funding

Tuesday, 4.8.2014 - 16:19 (Solarserver)

SunEdison Inc. (St. Peters, Missouri, U.S.) has closed on the initial USD 150 million in a USD 300 million three-year project finance revolving credit facility arranged by Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. (New York City). SunEdison will use the funds to develop and acquire new PV projects in the United States and Canada. Read more

SunEdison Drops India Solar Project on Cell Supply Concerns

Tuesday, 4.8.2014 - 15:29 (Renewable Energy World)

BlackRock Inc.-backed SunEdison Inc. dropped a solar power project in India as local equipment shortages and prices make it unviable. Read more

Concentrating Solar Power Under Fire: Glaring Planning Oversight or Easily Remedied Issue?

Tuesday, 4.8.2014 - 15:28 (Renewable Energy World)

Currently the world’s largest solar thermal plant, the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System has been in full operation less than two months and already concerns have been raised about its environmental impacts. Complaints from pilots flying near the concentrating solar power (CSP) plant state that on numerous occasions, the intense reflective glare coming from the plant’s heliostat mirrors has caused pilots to become momentarily blinded. Ivanpah is located roughly 40 miles from McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, and approximately 25 miles from the Jean Sport Aviation Center in Jean, Nevada. Read more

UN report: Solar beats trend of falling renewables investment

Tuesday, 4.8.2014 - 14:29 (PV-Tech)

Solar bucked a trend of falling investment in renewables last year, accounting for nearly half of the US$11 billion total for all new investments for renewables in 2013, according to a United Nations report. Read more

German cabinet approves changes to feed-in tariff, including taxing self-consumption of solar PV

Tuesday, 4.8.2014 - 14:20 (Solarserver)

The German cabinet has approved a program of changes to the nation's system of feed-in tariffs, including imposing the feed-in tariff surcharge on owners of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems larger than 10 kW who use the electricity they generate. The bill must now be approved by the German Parliament (Bundestag) and Federal Council (Bundesrat). Read more

Mercom: Solar attracted US$7 billion investment during ‘robust’ first quarter

Tuesday, 4.8.2014 - 13:16 (PV-Tech)

The global solar power industry has enjoyed a strong start to 2014 in terms of corporate funding, attracting US$7 billion in the first quarter alone, according to a new report by clean energy consultancy firm Mercom Capital. Read more

First Solar points finger at government as it reconsiders Australia PV projects

Tuesday, 4.8.2014 - 13:15 (PV-Tech)

A review conducted by the Australian government regarding the country’s renewable energy targets has potentially put multiple PV projects at risk. Read more

Inazin connects 73MW of UK solar farms

Tuesday, 4.8.2014 - 11:56 (Solarpowerportal)

Renewable energy project developer Inazin Power has revealed that it successfully connected 73MW of solar farms before the April ROC deadline. Read more

G2 Energy connected 217MW of solar farms for April ROC deadline

Tuesday, 4.8.2014 - 11:06 (Solarpowerportal)

Olney-based electrical and civil engineers, g2 Energy, has revealed that it successfully connected 217MW worth of solar farms to the grid before the Renewable Obligation rate dropped in April. Read more

UK DECC publishes dedicated solar strategy to double residential PV installations

Tuesday, 4.8.2014 - 8:51 (Solarserver)

The UK's Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has published a dedicated strategy for the deployment of solar photovoltaics (PV), which calls for doubling residential PV installations in the nation to one million. The strategy includes measures to deploy solar on mid- and large-scale roofs and plans for 1 GW of PV on government estates, in an effort to move growth in the sector away from utility-scale PV plants. The document also looks at cost reduction and ways that the government can support industry growth. Read more

Solar M&A: Mercom reports strong Q1 2014 with USD 7 billion in corporate funding for solar

Tuesday, 4.8.2014 - 8:43 (Solarserver)

Mercom Capital LLC (Austin, Texas, U.S.) has released its report on first quarter 2014 funding and merger and acquisition (M&A) activity for the solar sector, finding growth in most areas and record levels of acquisitions. Total corporate funding increased from roughly USD 5 billion in the fourth quarter of 2013 to USD 7 billion in the first quarter of 2014. Large-scale project funding represented nearly half of this at USD 3.6 billion, with very large deals in all three major markets. Read more

Cayman Islands court approves LDK Solar offshore restructuring

Tuesday, 4.8.2014 - 8:31 (Solarserver)

A court in the Cayman Islands has authorized two provisional liquidators to restructure the offshore liabilities of LDK Solar Co. Ltd. (Xinyu, China), under an agreement previously released by the company. Joint Provisional Liquidators Tammy Fu and Eleanor Fisher of Zolfo Cooper (Cayman) Ltd. (Cayman Islands) will oversee the restructuring. Under the agreement, LDK will borrow USD 14 million from shareholder Heng Rui Xin Energy Co. Ltd. (Hong Kong) to pay off a portion of its debts. Read more

Adenium secures 10MW PV project PPA in Jordan

Tuesday, 4.8.2014 - 20:12 (PV-Tech)

Dubai-based investment company Adenium Energy Capital is to co-develop a 10MW PV power plant in Jordan. Read more

Postcard From the Future of Energy: Making Markets Work in Texas

Tuesday, 4.8.2014 - 16:22 (Renewable Energy World)

Wind power is booming in Texas, the number-one state for wind. That’s thanks to great wind resources, an early policy commitment by then-Governor George W. Bush, and a deregulated market that creates few barriers to new power companies.  Wind provides about 9 percent of the state’s power, and employs more than 10,000 workers.  And with a new set of Read more

Africa Is ‘Next Big Place’ for Renewables, Says Enel

Tuesday, 4.8.2014 - 16:12 (Renewable Energy World)

Enel Green Power SpA, the clean energy company majority owned by Italy’s largest utility, sees Africa as “the next big place” for renewables as it seeks to expand in markets with faster growth in power demand. Read more

Clean Energy and Climate Resilience Join Forces

Tuesday, 4.8.2014 - 15:28 (Renewable Energy World)

Massachusetts and New Jersey are spearheading clean energy financing programs that also address the need for climate resilience. Both of these programs appear to be partially motivated by the devastation of Hurricane Sandy. The United Nations combines these two funding pools already, but within the United States, this is a new development at both federal and state levels. Read more

Soitec chosen to provide modules for 13 PV projects in France

Tuesday, 4.8.2014 - 14:52 (PV-Tech)

The winning bids for the second call for tenders from the French Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE) for the construction and operation of PV facilities in France with an installed capacity of over 250kW have been announced, resulting in the selection of 16 projects totalling 102.94MW. Read more

Wind Technology: Developing the New Medium-speed 3-MW+ Class

Tuesday, 4.8.2014 - 13:24 (Renewable Energy World)

Rostock-based German engineering consultancy W2E Wind to Energy installed a 3-MW and 3.3-MW sister prototype of its medium-speed flagship model in 2013. Read more

German cabinet approves controversial energy reforms

Tuesday, 4.8.2014 - 13:15 (PV-Tech)

The German cabinet approved changes to the country’s energy reforms on Tuesday that could ramp up the pressure on the county’s PV sector. Read more

Japan delays upgrade to renewable energy targets

Tuesday, 4.8.2014 - 12:34 (PV-Tech)

The first update to Japan’s energy policy since the tsunami and resultant Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011 will not include a definite renewable energy target, according to a leaked draft. Read more

Clenergy plans partnership for commercial rooftop PV in Fujian

Tuesday, 4.8.2014 - 12:06 (PV-Tech)

China-based PV mounting systems producer, Clenergy is partnering with the Xiamen National Hi-Tech Entrepreneurship Center in Fujian, China on commercial rooftop projects totaling around 150MW over the next few years. Read more