Solar could provide one-sixth of Scotland’s electricity

Monday, 5.19.2014 - 19:15 (Solarpowerportal)

Solar PV could help meet one-sixth of Scotland’s electricity requirements, according to energy experts at University of Edinburgh. Read more

STA: Solar farm review is ‘utterly unjust and unfair’

Monday, 5.19.2014 - 18:54 (Solarpowerportal)

The government’s move to curtail support under the renewable obligation for solar farm projects over 5MW from April 2015 is “unjust and unfair”, according to the Solar Trade Association’s CEO Paul Barwell. Read more

Chinese military hacked into sensitive SolarWorld files, US claims

Monday, 5.19.2014 - 18:15 (PV-Tech)

A US grand jury has filed charges against five members of the Chinese military for hacking into US-based companies including SolarWorld Americas. Read more

Three Key US Commercial Solar Tax Incentives Fighting for 2014 Extension

Monday, 5.19.2014 - 15:49 (Renewable Energy World)

You can never truly predict what legislation will actually pass through Congress and get signed by the President. Nevertheless, there are several expiring solar tax benefits in the EXPIRE Act of 2014 that we hope will get extended and continue to benefit commercial solar installations. The Expiring Provisions Improvement Reform and Efficiency (EXPI Read more

When Solar Property Taxes Get Personal

Monday, 5.19.2014 - 15:47 (Renewable Energy World)

On the long and winding road of solar project development, property taxes are frequently an afterthought. Yet, the presence, or lack, of a property tax on a solar energy system has significant implications for a project’s profitability. According to SEIA, 38 states in the U.S. have property tax exemptions for solar, and there are more states that a Read more

Ingenious finances £27 million solar farms project

Monday, 5.19.2014 - 15:42 (Solarpowerportal)

Ingenious Clean Energy, a division of UK investment and advisory group, Ingenious, has announced that it has completed the financing of three solar farms in the south west of England. Read more

Indian Government to Bring Solar Lighting to Every Home by 2019

Monday, 5.19.2014 - 15:34 (Renewable Energy World)

India’s new government led by Narendra Modi plans to harness solar power to enable every home to run at least one light bulb by 2019, a party official said. Read more

Japan's solar PV market falls slightly in February 2014 to 532 MW

Monday, 5.19.2014 - 15:30 (Solarserver)

Japan installed 88 MW of residential and 444 MW of “non-residential” solar photovoltaics (PV) under its feed-in tariff during February 2014, according to statistics released by the nation's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). This is a 6.5% fall from January 2014 installation levels, as the fourth month of decline from a peak of 655 MW in October 2013. Read more

Fukushima, Japan Rebuilding Communities with Solar, Commits to 100 Percent Renewable Energy by 2040

Monday, 5.19.2014 - 14:37 (Renewable Energy World)

Fukushima experienced the world’s worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl when a 9.0 magnitude earthquake hit three years ago. Now, the region is trying to turn the “lost landscape” into massive renewable energy fields. The prefecture has declared “zero dependency on nuclear energy” and created a goal to meet 100 percent of its electricity needs with renewable energy, such as solar, by 2040. The prefectures also believes that investing in renewable energy will spur economic development and create jobs to help its recovery and rebuilding efforts. Read more

Aleo Solar sale to consortium confirmed

Monday, 5.19.2014 - 13:45 (PV-Tech)

The long-expected sale of troubled Robert Bosch subsidiary Aleo Solar has been confirmed, transferring ownership of the company’s ‘aleo’ brand and factory in Prenzlau, Germany, to Hamburg-based consortium SCP Solar. Read more

Foresight Solar adds £100 million debt acquisition facility

Monday, 5.19.2014 - 13:31 (Solarpowerportal)

Foresight Solar Fund has announced a debt acquisition facility worth £100 million which will enable the fund to purchase further solar farm assets. Read more

Foresight solar adds £100 million debt acquisition facility

Monday, 5.19.2014 - 13:15 (Solarpowerportal)

Foresight Solar Fund has announced a debt acquisition facility worth £100 million which will enable the fund to purchase further solar farm assets. Read more

Foresight ‘yield co’ adds $168 million debt acquisition facility

Monday, 5.19.2014 - 12:41 (PV-Tech)

One of Britain’s solar ‘yield cos,’ Foresight Solar Fund, has announced a debt acquisition facility, worth £100 million (US$168 million) , which will enable the fund to purchase further solar farm assets. Read more

Finnish utility eyes solar pilot scheme after nuclear withdrawal

Monday, 5.19.2014 - 12:21 (PV-Tech)

A small utility firm in Finland that sold its 1% interest in the country’s new nuclear power plant has announced plans to develop a solar pilot scheme. Read more

Canadian Solar beats guidance, delivers strong revenue growth in Q1 2014

Monday, 5.19.2014 - 9:03 (Solarserver)

Canadian Solar's (Guelph, Canada) first quarter 2014 results have come in above guidance, including a 77% year-over-year growth in revenue to USD 466 million, with a 5.7% operating margin. The company also reported progress with its PV projects business, which grew to 27% of revenues during the quarter. Canadian Solar shipped 500 MW of PV modules during the first quarter and has expanded its PV module capacity to 3 GW annually, with an additional PV cell facility planned. Read more

Solar PV equipment orders recover as Applied's EES division returns to profitability

Monday, 5.19.2014 - 8:46 (Solarserver)

During its most recent financial quarter, Applied Materials Inc. (Santa Clara, California, U.S.) more than doubled new orders and revenues on a year-over-year basis to USD 88 million each in its Energy and Environmental Services (EES) division. Applied's second quarter of fiscal year 2014 ended on April 30th, 2014. The company's EES division, which makes solar photovoltaic (PV) manufacturing equipment, also reported a 6% operating margin. This is the division's first positive operating margin in more than two years. Read more

Hanwha SolarOne completes 31 MW of distributed rooftop solar PV in Southern China

Monday, 5.19.2014 - 8:42 (Solarserver)

Hanwha SolarOne Co. Ltd. (Shanghai) has completed construction of a 31 MW solar photovoltaic (PV) project located on multiple rooftop sites in Southern China's Guangdong Province. The company describes the project as part of a business development agreement with a “large, well-established” state-owned company. The agreement includes plans for Hanwha SolarOne and the company to build additional PV plants across China. Read more

UK coal, gas and oil will run out in five years: GENR 19 May

Monday, 5.19.2014 - 19:39 (Solarpowerportal)

In Monday’s Green Energy News Review, the Global Sustainability Institute warns of a serious fossil fuel shortage for Britain, which will result in high energy prices. Also, The Times warps the facts over a new climate change paper. Read more

UK coal, gas and oil will run out in five years: GENR 15 May

Monday, 5.19.2014 - 19:39 (Solarpowerportal)

In today’s Green Energy News Review, the Global Sustainability Institute warns of a serious fossil fuel shortage for Britain, which will result in high energy prices. Also, The Times warps the facts over a new climate change paper. Read more

UK coal, gas and oil will run out in five years: GENR 19 May

Monday, 5.19.2014 - 19:39 (PV-Tech)

In today’s Green Energy News Review, the Global Sustainability Institute warns of a serious fossil fuel shortage for Britain, which will result in high energy prices. Also, The Times warps the facts over a rejected climate change paper. Read more

UK coal, gas and oil will run out in five years: GENR 15 May

Monday, 5.19.2014 - 19:15 (PV-Tech)

In today’s Green Energy News Review, the Global Sustainability Institute warns of a serious fossil fuel shortage for Britain, which will result in high energy prices. Also, The Times warps the facts over a rejected climate change paper. Read more

GCL-Poly to build 25,000 MTY polysilicon plant based on FBR technology

Monday, 5.19.2014 - 16:21 (Solarserver)

GCL-Poly Energy Holdings Ltd. (Hong Kong) is building a polysilicon production facility with the capacity to produce 25,000 metric tons annually (MTY), according to a notice by the company. The plant will be based on fluidized bed reactor (FBR) polysilicon technology, as one of the largest FBR facilities announced to date. Read more

Australia Renewable Target Cuts Would Deter Investment, Say Manufacturers

Monday, 5.19.2014 - 15:17 (Renewable Energy World)

Vestas Wind Systems A/S said scaling back Australia’s renewable energy target would cut the value of more than A$10 billion ($9.4 billion) in large projects across the industry and discourage international investors. Read more

Renewable Energy Stocks by the kWh

Monday, 5.19.2014 - 14:42 (Renewable Energy World)

I recently sized up five renewable energy power producers using the metric that’s most often used for solar panels: Dollars per Watt ($/W). It’s an intuitive metric, but has serious flaws both for evaluating solar installations and stocks. Slightly better is Watts per Dollar (or W/$100 to make the numbers look nice) as shown in the chart from that article below. Read more

Obama Bid to Cut Greenhouse Gases Divides Utility, Coal Industries

Monday, 5.19.2014 - 13:24 (Renewable Energy World)

Bracing for greenhouse-gas rules from the Obama administration, two industries are staking out different positions. Coal companies are pledging to sue. Electric utilities are ready to talk. Read more