Tool Order: Meyer Burger confirms SmartWire deal with Polish start-up Hanplast

Monday, 6.30.2014 - 19:15 (PV-Tech)

Major PV equipment supplier, Meyer Burger has officially confirmed the recent deal, exclusively revealed by PV Tech to supply plastic mouldings engineering firm, Hanplast with a complete turnkey ‘SmartWire’ module assembly line. Financial details were not disclosed. Read more

Smartenergy ramping dual-glass c-Si modules for utility markets

Monday, 6.30.2014 - 12:43 (PV-Tech)

German-based PV manufacturing start-up, Smartenergy Renewables said that recent success with its glass/glass utility market crystalline modules would lead to ramping production higher and that it had strengthened its management team to further exploit downstream business opportunities. Read more

Trina Solar CEO elected first president of newly-established China Photovoltaic Industry Association

Monday, 6.30.2014 - 9:07 (Solarserver)

Trina Solar Limited (Changzhou, China) on June 27th, 2014 announced its chairman and chief executive officer, Jifan Gao, has been elected as the first president of the newly-established China Photovoltaic Industry Association ("CPIA") during its inaugural founding ceremony and member congress held in Beijing on June 27th, 2014, for a term of 5 years. The members elected Jifan Gao as CPIA's first president on the basis of his strong credentials and long standing dedication to advancing the development of the solar industry in China. Read more

AS Solar files for insolvency

Monday, 6.30.2014 - 18:55 (PV-Tech)

German installer and distributor AS Solar has filed for temporary insolvency with a district court in Hannover. Read more

Hareon Solar selling two PV plants in Italy to China Merchants subsidiary

Monday, 6.30.2014 - 17:54 (PV-Tech)

PV module manufacturer and project developer, Hareon Solar expects to sell two small PV power plants in the province of Cassano in southern Italy to China Merchants New Energy Group affiliate for a total of €35.33 million (US$39.85 million). Read more

Canadian Solar secures 12.6MW order from Turkey

Monday, 6.30.2014 - 14:15 (PV-Tech)

PV energy provider Canadian Solar has agreed a 12.6MW module deal with a consortium of Turkish companies. Read more

Hevel Solar starts tandem-junction a-Si thin-film production in Russia

Monday, 6.30.2014 - 13:15 (PV-Tech)

Russian thin-film module manufacturing start-up, Hevel Solar has started trial production of its Oerlikon Solar supplied turnkey tandem-junction ‘Micromorph’ a-Si plant. Read more

Government claims 1GW of solar will be £243 million cheaper under CfDs

Monday, 6.30.2014 - 12:41 (Solarpowerportal)

Government claims that 1GW of solar under the new Contracts for Difference (CfD) mechanism will be £243 million cheaper than under the previous Renewable Obligation (RO) scheme. Read more

REC targets commercial market with new partnerships

Monday, 6.30.2014 - 12:15 (PV-Tech)

Module manufacturer REC Solar is increasing its capabilities in the rooftop commercial market with two new partnerships. Read more

Duke Energy approves 80 MW solar PV farm in North Carolina

Monday, 6.30.2014 - 11:58 (Solarserver)

Solar PV farm developer Innovative Solar Systems (Asheville, NC) has received approvals by Duke Energy ((Charlotte, NC) for an 80 MW solar photovoltaic (PV) project in North Carolina The Innovative Solar 37 project will be located in the middle of the state to be built on approximately five hundred acres of leased land and will supply enough solar electricity to power approximately 20,000 small to medium size homes. Read more

Indian solar REC trading still depressed

Monday, 6.30.2014 - 11:52 (Solarserver)

The Indian Renewable Energy Certificates (REC) trading session for June 2014 concluded on June 26th, 2014. The major story in May was the booming solar REC trade numbers which indicated growing interest in solar REC, RESolve Energy Consultants (Chennai, India) reports. However, solar REC trading dropped by about 22% in June 2014 compared to May’s numbers. Read more

SunEdison secures USD 190 million financing for one of the largest solar PV plants in Latin America to sell solar power on the spot market

Monday, 6.30.2014 - 8:56 (Solarserver)

SunEdison, Inc. (St. Peters, Missouri, U.S.), on June 27th, 2014 announced the closing of a USD 155 million non-recourse debt financing arrangement with the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), the U.S. Government's development finance institution, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the largest multilateral lender to Latin America and the Caribbean, the Clean Technology Fund (CTF), and CorpBanca, one of the most important Chilean commercial banks. The debt proceeds will be used in Chile for the construction of a 72.8 MWp solar photovoltaic (PV) plant, to inject solar power directly into the Sistema Interconectado del Norte Grande (SING), selling all its Read more

USD 290 million IFC, OPIC loans will allow First Solar to proceed with construction of a 141 MW PV plant in Chile

Monday, 6.30.2014 - 8:51 (Solarserver)

First Solar, Inc. (Tempe, Ariz., U.S.) on June 26th, 2014 announced it has received board approval from the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), the U.S. Government’s development finance institution, and IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, for financing to support construction of the 141 MW(ac) Luz del Norte solar photovoltaic (PV) power plant in Chile’s Atacama Desert. The loans, which are expected to close later this summer, clear the way for First Solar to proceed with construction planning at the site, which is near the city of Copiapo. Terms of the deals were not disclosed. Read more

Pass the Mustard: Why Carinata is Taking Root as Biofuel

Monday, 6.30.2014 - 16:35 (Renewable Energy World)

Navigant Research forecasts that the “global biofuels production will reach 61 billion gallons by 2023, replacing nearly 6 percent of global transportation fuel production from fossil sources and generating $70 billion in new revenue over the next decade.” The demand for an appropriate crop that can provide biofuels, without competing for land use with food crops, is on. The emergence of non-food feedstocks to fuel the international biofuel demand is on the horizon. Read more

SunEdison secures finance for latest Chile PV plant

Monday, 6.30.2014 - 11:57 (PV-Tech)

The dam in Chile’s enormous PV pipeline appears to have well and truly burst now, with US developer SunEdison finalising funding for its latest mega-scale solar power plant in the Latin American country.  Read more

Distributed Renewable Energy Under Fire

Monday, 6.30.2014 - 14:32 (Renewable Energy World)

Adapt or Die read the title of the article suggesting that electric utilities must change their business to survive, or be buried under an onslaught of local renewable energy. But utilities seem to have chosen a third way – Fight – as captured in this map from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance.  A total of 19 states (as accounted for through Ma Read more

Industry Complaints About the New EPA Carbon Pollution Rule? We've Heard It All Before

Monday, 6.30.2014 - 14:29 (Renewable Energy World)

The argument industrial polluters and their friends in Congress are making against the new Environmental Protection Agency plan to curb power plant carbon emissions should sound familiar. After all, it's the same scare tactic they trot out every time the government proposes stricter emission controls: exaggerate the cost, overstate job losses, and completely ignore the benefits. Read more

China Becomes World's Largest PV Market

Monday, 6.30.2014 - 14:16 (Renewable Energy World)

According to the Global New Energy Development Report 2014, China has surpassed Germany as the world's largest PV market. The report, which was prepared by Hanergy Holding Group and China New Energy Chamber of Commerce, provided a comprehensive and authoritative overview of the global renewable energy market. Read more

Doctors’ industry body to invest in renewables

Monday, 6.30.2014 - 14:03 (Solarpowerportal)

The British Medical Association (BMA), representing doctors in the UK has voted to displace fossil fuel investment with renewables. Read more

German parliament approves controversial PV self-consumption charges

Monday, 6.30.2014 - 13:51 (PV-Tech)

The German parliament approved controversial reforms to the country’s energy policy on Friday. Read more

US$550 billion renewables investment needed annually to avert ‘catastrophic’ climate change

Monday, 6.30.2014 - 12:15 (PV-Tech)

US$550 billion of investment is needed every year till 2030 to secure the transition to sustainable energy and to keep below a 2°C rise in global temperatures, according to Adnan Amin, director general of IRENA. Read more

Toshiba to provide battery for 2MW UK energy storage system

Monday, 6.30.2014 - 11:15 (PV-Tech)

Toshiba is to provide a 1MWh lithium-titanate battery for an energy storage system being developed by University of Sheffield in the UK. Read more

German Bundestag passes EEG 2014 reform bill after lively Debate

Monday, 6.30.2014 - 8:45 (Solarserver)

On June 27th, 2014 the German parliament voted in favor of the EEG 2014 reform package, in the form as proposed by the Committee for Economic Affairs and Energy and by the Environment, Nature Protection, Construction and Nuclear Safety Committee. The parliamentary debate ended with a statement from Energy Minister Gabriel rejecting figures for additional staffing requirements for the special equalization scheme, and allegations from the Green party MP Oliver Krischer that Gabriel was the EEG’s “wrecking ball”, claiming that the other side was “a Pinocchio”. The voting on the bills was somewhat delayed due to several roll call vote requests. German Energy Blog, that Read more