Trina CEO first president of China PV association

Friday, 6.27.2014 - 14:15 (PV-Tech)

Jifan Gao, chief executive of PV manufacturer Trina Solar, has been elected the first president of the China Photovoltaic Industry Association (CPIA). Read more

LDK Solar’s liquidators scrape enough funds together to further restructuring

Friday, 6.27.2014 - 15:09 (PV-Tech)

The lack of cash within LDK Solar’s holding company, registered in the Cayman Islands has been highlighted by its Joint Provisional Liquidators (JPLs), which are still seeking sufficient funds to carry out planned restructuring duties. Read more

Solarwatt expands into Netherlands and France on acquisition of CentroSolar subsidiaries

Friday, 6.27.2014 - 14:15 (PV-Tech)

Germany-based PV module manufacturer and project developer, Solarwatt has acquired two operation centres of bankrupt PV project developer CentroSolar to further boost its European expansion plans. Financial details were not disclosed. Read more

Orix begins construction of 8.7MW solar plant in Japan

Friday, 6.27.2014 - 13:15 (PV-Tech)

Japanese financial group, Orix, has begun the construction of an 8.7MW solar power plant in Yokkaichi City, Mie Prefecture, Japan. Read more

Listen Up: SEIA Explains New Tariffs on Chinese Solar Products

Friday, 6.27.2014 - 13:09 (Renewable Energy World)

Earlier this month, the U.S. Commerce Department announced new tariffs on solar products from China, including both solar panels and solar cells. Another upcoming case may result in tariffs on Taiwanese solar products. There are two things we can be sure of related to these tariffs. First, these tariffs will cause the prices of Chinese and Taiwanese solar panels shipped to the U.S. to increase. Second, these tariffs will make it more attractive to manufacture solar products in the U.S. Read more

Lessons from Australia: How to Reduce US Solar PV Costs through Installation Labor Efficiency

Friday, 6.27.2014 - 13:02 (Renewable Energy World)

In 2013, the United States installed more solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity than either Germany or Australia for the first time ever. (the U.S. has triple their combined population, so arguably this should have happened long ago…). With the decline of feed-in tariffs and other incentives in Germany, it is likely that the U.S. will continue to outpace that country in new PV installations. However, the U.S. continues to lag behind global PV leaders Germany and Australia in another important category: prices for residential systems installations. As of Q2 2013, the average installed residential system price was $4.93/W compared to Germany’s $2.21/W and Australia’s $2.56/W. Read more

First Solar set to start work on Chile mega-project

Friday, 6.27.2014 - 12:51 (PV-Tech)

US developer First Solar has said it is poised to begin work on the 141MW Luz del Norte PV power plant in Chile after finalising an investment package. Read more

France’s GDF tops 100MW of PV with 13.9MW project

Friday, 6.27.2014 - 12:21 (PV-Tech)

French energy company GDF Suez has completed a 13.9MW solar project, taking its PV capacity past 100MW. Read more

Duke Energy approves ‘largest’ solar farm in North Carolina

Friday, 6.27.2014 - 12:15 (PV-Tech)

The largest electric power holding company in the US, Duke Energy, has approved an 80MW solar power plant in North Carolina. Read more

Singulus announces EUR 15 million order from Hanergy Solar for the supply of a CIGS PV production machine

Friday, 6.27.2014 - 11:40 (Solarserver)

Singulus Technologies AG (Kahl am Main, Germany) signed an agreement with Apollo Precision (Fujian) Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hanergy Solar Group (Hong Kong), including the supply of a production machine with the brand name TENUIS II for buffer layer deposition. This machine is a central component for the manufacturing of CIGS solar photovoltaic (PV) thin-film modules. Read more

Etrion Corporation: Proposed changes of the current Italian feed-in-tariff will reduce solar power producers’ revenues, foreign direct investment in Italy

Friday, 6.27.2014 - 11:30 (Solarserver)

Etrion Corporation (Geneva, Switzerland), an independent solar power producer, on June 26th, 2014 commented on the Italian Government’s Proposal on retroactive changes of the current Feed-in-Tariff (FiT) regime. The Italian decree, effective June 25th, 2014, is subject to Parliamentary approval, which is expected to take place within 60 days of the decree's publication, during which time, the new decree may be amended or fully rejected. Read more

Trust and Ratings Trump Price in Residential Solar Sales

Friday, 6.27.2014 - 10:00 (Renewable Energy World)

At what price would you buy solar from this guy?   You probably wouldn’t, would you? And that’s one reason why building trust and conveying quality can trump price, even in a highly price competitive residential solar market — and that’s not just me saying that. I just did a very informative webinar with Judy Ash, Enphase’s Senior Director of Globa Read more

Canadian Solar to construct Canada's largest solar farm; 140 MW PV project developed by Samsung in Ontario

Friday, 6.27.2014 - 9:43 (Solarserver)

Canadian Solar Inc. (Guelph, Ontario) on June 26th, 2014 announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Canadian Solar Solutions Inc., has entered into an Engineering, Procurement, and Construction ("EPC") agreement with Kingston Solar LP, a solar energy project developed by Samsung Renewable Energy Inc. (Mississauga, Ontario) for the construction of a 140 MW DC (100 MW AC) utility-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) farm. The 140 MW DC utility-scale solar farm will produce approximately 173,000 MWh of electricity per year and power approximately 16,409 Canadian homes according to Canadian Solar. In addition, this project supports over 700 manufacturing jobs at Canadian Solar manufacturing Read more

Solar power on the up in latest U.K. Government figures

Friday, 6.27.2014 - 9:37 (Solarserver)

New Government figures published on June 26th, 2014 have revealed that compared to this time last year solar photovoltaic (PV) generation is up 77%, the British Solar Trade Association (STA, Milton Keynes, U.K.) announces. Renewable electricity capacity was 20.8 GW at the end of the first quarter of 2014, a 15 per cent increase on a year earlier. Two-thirds of the increase compared to the first quarter of 2013 was due to new, mainly large-scale, solar PV capacity. Read more

Mitsubishi invests in 52MW PV project in Jordan

Friday, 6.27.2014 - 3:15 (PV-Tech)

First Solar’s 52MW PV plant in Jordan has a new partner going forward. Mitsubishi Corporation, through their subsidiary Diamond Generating Europe, Ltd., will operate a 35% equity share of the Shams Ma’an plant. Read more

Construction commences on New York’s first PV plant built on a landfill

Friday, 6.27.2014 - 1:53 (PV-Tech)

PV systems provider OnForce Solar has started construction on a large-scale, 2.316MW PV array that will be built on 5.2 hectares of decommissioned landfill in West Nyack, New York, that will benefit the town of Clarkstown. Read more

REC Solar begins construction on 12MW PV array in Hawaii

Friday, 6.27.2014 - 1:00 (PV-Tech)

US-based PV installer REC Solar has started construction on a 12MW AC PV installation that will be located in Anahola, on the northeast side of the island of Kaua’i, Hawaii. Read more

Brazil's Cosan Sees Potential to Triple Biomass Power Generation

Friday, 6.27.2014 - 16:20 (Renewable Energy World)

Billionaire Rubens Ometto’s Cosan SA has the potential to triple its power generation by burning sugar-cane leftovers if the government offers power-purchase contracts for biomass producers. Read more

California Bill Approved in Assembly Utilities and Commerce Committee to Advance Geothermal

Friday, 6.27.2014 - 13:52 (Renewable Energy World)

On June 23, the California Assembly Committee on Utilities and Commerce approved SB 1139 by a 8-5 vote and now heads to Assembly Appropriations Committee. The bill requires energy retailers to procure a combined 500 MW of geothermal power by 2024, and has been passed in the Senate. Read more

German Lawmakers Vote to Reduce Renewable Energy Subsidies

Friday, 6.27.2014 - 16:36 (Renewable Energy World)

German lawmakers backed an extensive revision of the country’s EEG clean-energy law to curb subsidies and slow gains in power prices that are the second-costliest in the European Union. Read more