CMNE raises stake in United PV as business grows

Monday, 6.23.2014 - 14:15 (PV-Tech)

China Merchants New Energy Group (CMNE) has increased its stake in downstream PV projects firm, United Photovoltaics Group (United PV) to 19.18% of its issued share capital. Read more

JA Solar starts mass production of PERCIUM solar cell; Conversion efficiency reaches 20.4%

Monday, 6.23.2014 - 12:38 (Solarserver)

JA Solar Holdings Co., Ltd. (Shanghai, China) on June 23rd, 2014 announced that the company has started mass production of their PERICUM solar cell. PERCIUM is the first P-TYPE solar photovoltaic (PV) cell in the industry to surpass a conversion efficiency of 20%, with an average conversion efficiency of 20.4%, the producer emphasizes. Read more

JA Solar ramping P-type mono PERCIUM solar cells to 350MW

Monday, 6.23.2014 - 10:10 (PV-Tech)

Tier 1 PV manufacturer, JA Solar said it was ramping its P-type monocrystalline solar cells (PERCIUM) to 170MW in 2014 and plans to reach a capacity of 350MW in 2015. Read more

ABB closes on sale of Power-One's Power Solutions business

Monday, 6.23.2014 - 8:57 (Solarserver)

ABB (Zürich) has completed the sale of subsidiary Power-One's (Camarillo, California, U.S.) Power Solutions business to Bel Fuse Inc. (Jersey City, New Jersey, U.S.), which will allow the company to focus on its solar PV inverters. Power-One is currently the world's second-largest maker of inverters for the solar photovoltaic (PV) market. ABB says that the Power Solutions business offered a “limited fit and few synergies” with its other businesses, whereas the inverter business is at the center of its renewable energy strategy. Read more

Northeast U.S. PV markets remain sluggish, but Massachusetts shines in May 2014

Monday, 6.23.2014 - 8:43 (Solarserver)

Solar photovoltaic (PV) markets in the Northeastern United States mostly remained depressed during May 2014, according to market data released by SRECTrade (San Francisco, California, U.S.). However, the Massachusetts market continued its trend of strong growth. Of the six markets in the PJM Interconnect region, only 14.2 MW of new PV and solar thermal projects were certified to create solar renewable energy credits (SRECs) during the month, a 69% year-over-year fall and roughly the same level as the previous month. Meanwhile Massachusetts commissioned 30 MW of SREC-qualified plants. Read more

Second Indian minister calls for solar duties to be scrapped

Monday, 6.23.2014 - 19:15 (PV-Tech)

A second Indian Union cabinet minister has called for the Ministry of Finance not to impose tariffs on solar panels that were recommended last month. Read more

UK solar firms facing audits as part of import duty dodging crackdown

Monday, 6.23.2014 - 18:47 (Solarpowerportal)

The UK solar sector could be set for a round of audits as part of an enforcement effort of the EU-China price undertaking, according to a senior industry figure. Read more

India Will Likely Scrap US and Asian Solar Dumping Tariffs

Monday, 6.23.2014 - 15:48 (Renewable Energy World)

India’s power ministry is seeking to ditch a proposal to impose dumping duties on imports of U.S. and Asian solar equipment, saying tariffs would undermine Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s plans to boost sun power. Read more

Photon Publishing enters insolvency

Monday, 6.23.2014 - 15:15 (PV-Tech)

Photon Publishing, which produces the prominent solar industry periodical, Photon International, has entered insolvency proceedings in the court of Aachen, Germany. Read more

EU-China minimum import price to remain unchanged

Monday, 6.23.2014 - 14:01 (PV-Tech)

The minimum import price (MIP) of Chinese solar equipment into the EU is to remain at €0.53/W during the third quarter of 2014, PV Tech understands. Read more

Fight against Spain’s solar cuts taken to Brussels

Monday, 6.23.2014 - 13:15 (PV-Tech)

A complaint against Spain’s solar cuts has been lodged with the European Commission. Read more

PV in Latin America: IBC SOLAR opens new sales office in Santiago de Chile

Monday, 6.23.2014 - 12:32 (Solarserver)

Solar photovoltaic (PV) system integrator IBC SOLAR AG (Bad Staffelstein, Germany) has opened its first sales office in the Latin American market. The new sales office in Santiago de Chile is to be IBC SOLAR’s key to the emerging PV project market in Chile, the company notes. Given high electricity costs, PV power plants for solar power self-consumption are becoming an attractive opportunity for independent power supply, in particular for Chilean industrial or mining companies, IBC Solar emphasizes. Read more

New US utility-scale PV hits 156MW in May

Monday, 6.23.2014 - 12:21 (PV-Tech)

The US saw 156MW of utility-scale solar installed last month, up from 52MW in April, data from the country’s Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) shows. Read more

California property tax exemptions for PV systems extended to 2025

Monday, 6.23.2014 - 12:04 (PV-Tech)

A property tax exemption for solar power systems in California has been extended to 2025, following the passing of a bill as part of the annual state budget. Read more

High Court overturns Pickles’ ‘perverse’ decision to block solar farm

Monday, 6.23.2014 - 11:46 (Solarpowerportal)

The High Court has overturned a decision by Eric Pickles, the communities and local government secretary, to block a 24MW solar farm in Suffolk, calling his original decision “perverse”. Read more

Hanwha Q Cells supplies 30 MW of solar PV modules to Martifer Solar, for EU projects

Monday, 6.23.2014 - 9:19 (Solarserver)

Hanwha Q Cells (Thalheim, Germany) reports that it has supplied more than 30 MW of its solar photovoltaic (PV) modules to Martifer Solar (Oliveira de Frades, Portugal) for projects across Europe. This includes the supply of more than 42,000 of its Q.PRO-G3 PV modules for an 11 MW PV plant in the South of France. Martifer Solar provided engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services for the Ginasservis PV plant, and is providing operations and maintenance (O&M) services. Read more

Share of third-party solar PV systems in residential U.S. market to peak in 2014

Monday, 6.23.2014 - 8:54 (Solarserver)

The share of third-party-owned (TPO) solar photovoltaic (PV) systems will peak in the U.S. residential market at 68% in 2014 and fall in the following years, according to a new report by GTM Research (Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.). “U.S. Residential Solar Financing: 2014–2018” predicts that the rise of residential solar loan programs and other financing mechanisms such as property assessed clean energy (PACE) will bring the market back towards direct ownership, which it expects to return to 37% of installations in 2018. Read more

pvXchange: Demand for solar PV modules to spike in June, July 2014 on German demand

Monday, 6.23.2014 - 8:48 (Solarserver)

PvXchange is predicting a “run” on solar photovoltaic (PV) modules during June and July 2014, driven by pending changes to Germany's feed-in tariff law. While these changes are still being debated in the nation's parliament, pvXchange's Martin Schachinger and others expect multiple, unfavorable policy changes to come into effect on the target date of August 1st, 2014. Read more

Renewables Provide 88 Percent of New US Electrical Generating Capacity in May 2014

Monday, 6.23.2014 - 15:20 (Renewable Energy World)

According to the latest "Energy Infrastructure Update" report from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's Office of Energy Projects, wind, solar, biomass, and hydropower provided 88.2 percent of new installed U.S. electrical generating capacity for the month of May. Two new "units" of wind provided 203 MW, five units of solar provided 156 MW, 1 unit of biomass provided 5 MW, and 1 unit of hydropower provided 0.2 MW. Read more

The Ugly Duckling: Can Duckweed Find Its Way to Bioenergy Commercialization?

Monday, 6.23.2014 - 13:13 (Renewable Energy World)

Greater Duckweed (Spirodela polyrhiza) — one of the smallest and simplest freshwater plants known — generally gets a bad rap. That’s because the millimeter-sized floating plant thrives on the worst sort of livestock and human wastewater, basically garden-variety sewage. In fact, in the South Pacific, New Zealand and Australia, it’s frequently used to clean such wastewater. Read more

Ohio's Clean Energy Law is Key to Unlocking Carbon Reductions

Monday, 6.23.2014 - 13:26 (Renewable Energy World)

The question on people’s minds as we dig into the carbon pollution reduction standards proposed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is – what does it mean for Ohio? Read more

Green Power EMC agrees 20MW Georgia PPA

Monday, 6.23.2014 - 13:10 (PV-Tech)

Georgia-based renewable energy supplier Green Power EMC has agreed to buy power from a 20MW PV plant due to be built in the state by developer Silicon Ranch. Read more

French State Bank Sets Aside 5 Billion Euros for Green Projects

Monday, 6.23.2014 - 13:01 (Renewable Energy World)

Caisse des Depots et Consignations, a French state bank, is setting aside 5 billion euros ($6.8 billion) for green projects after the government proposed a law to spur use of renewable electricity and boost efficiency. Read more

ADB invests USD 50 million into Welspun Renewables; largest direct equity investment in the renewable energy sector

Monday, 6.23.2014 - 12:21 (Solarserver)

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has invested part of a US$50 million commitment of equity capital into Welspun Renewables Energy Private Limited (WREPL, New Delhi, India). This deal will help demonstrate that profitable investments are achievable in the renewable energy space and will help catalyze more private investments, Welspun emphasizes. Read more