Month: April 2010

The Copenhagen Conference: how should the EU respond?

The EU was marginalised at Copenhagen. As a consequence, the Copenhagen Accord neither conceptually nor substantively reflected the EU’s original negotiating position. Joseph Curtin of the IIEA believes that this failure must lead to a re-evaluation of its modus operandi in international negotiations if Europe wishes to match its rhetoric of leadership on climate protection… Read more »

Greece: stormy skies ahead?

A year ago, the future of the PV industry in Greece was looking very bright indeed. After what seemed to be a long time in the mid-table of European renewable energy output, lagging behind the rather less sunny Ireland and Great Britain, it seemed there was a new effort to capture the country’s greatest natural… Read more »

SINGULUS: a transition to solar solutions

With the acquisition of the solar company STANGL Semiconductor Equipment AG in 2007, a foundation was laid to establish SINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES in the growing photovoltaics market. Numerous new products were developed and made marketable at SINGULUS and STANGL, and as from 2010 SINGULUS will pursue an expansion strategy in the solar segment. In the future… Read more »

One-stop partner for solar PV manufacturing

Bottero Group is a global player for the glass industry, with a focus on the design, production and installation of glass technologies and equipment that stretches back over more than 50 years. With the expertise of their 1200 people, seven Research and Development centres in Europe, production facilities in Italy and China, and a service… Read more »

Setting benchmarks as a pioneer of multi-opening technology

In October last year, Hans-Joachim Bender was awarded a German Enterprise Medal (“Wirtschaftsmedaille”) in recognition of his corporate merits and achievements as the managing partner of Robert Bürkle GmbH. The Black Forest plant manufacturer is bucking the recent economic trend by introducing new products and innovations and has aggressively opened up the photovoltaic market as… Read more »

100% renewable energy by 2050

Supporting today’s publication “RE-thinking 2050 – A 100% Renewable Energy Vision for the European Union”, by the European Renewable Energy Council (EREC), Christian Kjaer, Chief Executive of the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA), said: “EWEA fully supports EREC’s vision of Europe moving towards 100% renewable energy by 2050. We have abundant wind, sun and other… Read more »

PROINSO and MECASOLAR awarded the supply of several new solar farms in Greece with an output exceeding 7.5 MW

The Spanish company PROINSO- specialized in the distribution of modules, inverters, trackers and fixed structures for photovoltaic systems, has been awarded the supply of various solar photovoltaic farms in Greece that will all together amount to more than 7.54 MW of installed capacity. The agreements include the supply of 2.65 MW of 2-axis trackers from… Read more »

Offgrid-Specialists Phaesun GmbH present their latest solutions for the offgrid operation of refrigeration containers, street lamps and water pumps at Intersolar Europe

A solar refrigeration container is one of the particular highlights presented at Phaesun GmbH’s fair booth. It has been designed by ILK Dresden for the use in hospitals, medical supply depots and food storage centres in regions with insecure, or unavailable energy supply. The system has a modular structure, including integrated solar modules with a… Read more »

Wind Works Power Corp. Awarded 80MW of Power Contracts in Ontario

Wind Works Power Corp. is pleased to announce that from the first contracts offered through the Ontario Power Authority’s (OPA) Feed-in-Tariff program, we have been notified that we will be offered 7 power purchase agreements for a total of 80 megawatts (MW), for the following projects: Ganaraska: 20 MW Settlers Landing: 10 MW Snowy Ridge:… Read more »

Dow Jones Plans Solar-Power System to Generate Clean Energy

Dow Jones & Company plans to construct a large-scale solar-power installation to generate clean energy for its corporate offices in central New Jersey. At 4.1 megawatts, the system is expected to be one of the largest installations for solar power at a single commercial site in the U.S. “Investing in solar power confirms our commitment… Read more »

BrightView Systems Hosts German Delegation including Prime Minister Mathias Platzeck of Brandenburg and other Senior Government and Business Officials

BrightView Systems, a leading provider of in-line metrology-based process control and optimization tools for thin-film solar cell manufacturing, hosted the Prime Minister Mathias Platzeck of Brandenburg, the Minister of Economic and European Affairs Ralf Christoffers, Klaus-Dieter Licht of ILB (State Investment Bank), and Hinrich Soehlke Director from the Brandenburg Economic Development Board at their facilities in Israel. Germany capital region,… Read more »

NextEra Energy Resources remains nation’s No. 1 wind energy owner, according to new AWEA report

NextEra Energy Resources, the competitive energy subsidiary of FPL Group, Inc., remained the nation’s largest owner of wind farms at the end of 2009, according to the Annual Wind Industry Report released today by the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA). NextEra Energy Resources ended 2009 with more than 7,500 megawatts of installed wind capacity in… Read more »

Sputnik France : Expansion and Move to Lyon

The French subsidiary of the Swiss manufacturer of inverters for photovoltaic systems Sputnik Engineering AG is moving today from Paris to Saint Priest near Lyon . “In the south-east of France there are the largest number of solar plants, especially in the Rhône-Alpes region. Lyon has also become a magnet for the solar industry. Roughly… Read more »

Phoenix Solar completes a 400 kWp photovoltaic project on the company building of Applied Materials in Singapore

Singapore based Phoenix Solar Pte Ltd, a subsidiary of TecDAX listed Phoenix Solar AG, Germany, has completed Singapore’s largest photovoltaic plant built with thin-film modules with a peak output of 380 kilowatts (kWp) on the new company building of Applied Materials Inc. in Singapore. The thin-film modules used in construction are the world’s largest, with a surface area of 5.7… Read more »

Saudi Arabia’s Big Bet on the Sun

In the hot desert kingdom of Saudi Arabia, finding fresh drinking water has always been a great challenge. For decades now, the state has been providing clean water by converting millions of gallons of seawater via desalination plants that remove salts and minerals from the water. Now the country plans to use one of its… Read more »

Ontario announces new phase of green-energy push

Ontario announced 184 contracts for green energy projects on Thursday that it says will lead to thousands of jobs and billions of dollars of investment in Canada’s most populous province and top energy consumer. When completed, the solar, wind, water and biofuel projects will power 600,000 homes, generating more than 2,500 megawatts of electricity, the… Read more »

Merck KGaA and Plastic Logic Jointly Develop New-Generation Organic Semiconductors

Merck KGaA and Plastic Logic GmbH today announced plans to jointly develop, test and commercialize Merck’s new organic semiconductors in Plastic Logic’s displays. The production and launch of these new materials are planned for 2011. Merck recently invested in the expansion of the Chilworth Technical Centre, its chemicals research site in Southampton, UK, by adding… Read more »

No slow-down for global wind energy

Global wind energy markets are expected to continue their rapid growth, with the world’s wind power capacity increasing by 160% over the coming five years, according to the annual industry forecast presented by the Global Wind Energy Council today. GWEC expects that the global installed wind capacity will reach 409 GW by 2014, up from… Read more »

Working With Sunshine Merck Kgaa At Photons 6th Photovoltaic Technology Show 2010 Europe

For the first time, Merck KGaA will be presenting its photovoltaics product portfolio under the heading “Working with SunshineTM” at PHOTON’s 6th Photovoltaic Technology Show 2010 Europe (Stuttgart, April 27-29). The main focus of Merck’s presentation will be the eco-friendly isishape® range of printable etching pastes. These highly efficient products are designed for smart and… Read more »

DEK supplies Ningbo Solar with even more metallization lines

As a leading global supplier of high quality solar cells, Ningbo Solar has reinforced its commitment to driving business growth with the purchase of a further 50MW worth of photovoltaic metallization lines from DEK Solar. The announcement comes just months after Ningbo Solar’s purchase of eight metallization lines from the mass imaging leader. Following an… Read more »

Rickmers appoints Telemar for Broadband Satellite Communication for its fleet of more than 100 vessels

The Telemar Group through its German subsidiary Telemar GmbH is to provide broadband satellite communication for the entire Rickmers fleet. The Rickmers Group, operating a fleet of 102 vessels, is a diversified group with activities in the business fields of ship owning and ship management, liner shipping, investment and real estate as well as maritime… Read more »

Widening horizons for new energy investors

A struggle for dominance in the fast-growing electric-vehicle charging business is pitting some of China’s biggest state-owned companies, as a domestic “new energy” movement — from battery-making to wind power — gathers steam. One battle is being played out in Shenzhen, where China National Offshore Oil Corp. (Cnooc) and Putian Group have teamed up to… Read more »

Rehm Thermal Systems will showcase advanced drying and firing processes for Solar Cell Metallization at SNEC

Advanced processes for the drying and firing of solar cell metallization will be center stage at Rehm Thermal Systems’ booth at the SNEC International Photovoltaic Power Generation conference and Exhibition in Shanghai May 5-7. Key members of the Rehm team will be on hand at Booth 5021/2 and will explain to visitors ways in which… Read more »

Siemens gets Thunder Bay wind turbine contract

Siemens Energy announced Wednesday that it has been contracted to supply 43 wind turbines for a clean energy project near Thunder Bay, Ont. Siemens said the turbines will be delivered to Montreal-based Renewable Energy Systems Canada Inc., which also purchased 43 turbines last fall for a project near Chatham, Ont. Financial terms of the deal… Read more »

GE Leads U.S. Wind Market But Faces More Competition

General Electric Co. installed more wind turbine capacity than rivals in the U.S. last year, but faces new competition from Asian companies, according to a report from the Washington, D.C.-based American Wind Energy Association, scheduled for release Thursday. GE installed nearly 4 gigawatts, or 40% of new U.S. wind turbine capacity in 2009, up from… Read more »

Merck KGaA and Schiller Automation Unveil Innovative Solar Cell Edge Isolation Concept at PTS 2010 in Stuttgart

Etching paste isishape SolarEtch® offers a lower cost per watt alternative for edge isolation of silicon wafers Schiller and Merck present fully automated SE lab line for mass production The partnership announced last September between Merck KGaA and Schiller Automation GmbH & Co. KG has led to a new concept for edge isolation. Schiller Automation… Read more »

BlueChip Energy Signs 10 MW Solar Power Purchase Agreement in Florida

BlueChip EnergyTM, a provider of complete solar power solutions for residential, commercial, government and utility applications, today announced a power purchase agreement (PPA) to supply Progress Energy Florida with renewable solar photovoltaic (PV) power from the Rinehart Solar Farm, a 10 MW utility-scale solar PV facility the company is developing in Central Florida. The Rinehart… Read more »

Fraunhofer research: moving ahead with wind energy

Just over 60 years ago, on March 26, 1949, the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft was founded in the large conference hall of the Bavarian Ministry of the Economy. At the time, the idea was to develop new structures for research after the war’s destruction, and to spur reconstruction of the economy. Today, the globally-respected institute analyses current macro… Read more »

The standard in safety

Underwriters Laboratories’ time-tested system supports governmental product safety regulations, and helps companies meet the challenge of accessing global markets while bringing safer products to consumers. Building on the company’s product safety heritage, UL has expanded into environmental claims verification and sustainability standards development, as well as verification services supporting supply chain integrity. Wind energy is… Read more »

Price is important, but service and reliability are decisive factors

It’s fair to say that for certain ancillary industries, trading has been tough. The logistics and transportation sectors have suffered in recent months, stifled by a slowing of new wind projects. Nevertheless, Matias Setälä, Director of Silvasti Logistics, is one of many executives who remains bullish about the future. PES asked him why he believes… Read more »

Oceans provide ultimate solution for German transport pioneers

Hamburg-based COLI Schiffahrt & Transport GmbH & Co KG has been in the break bulk business for more than 35 years, gaining an enviable reputation as a specialist in transporting wind power components by sea. Felix Peinemann, Director of Shipping, explains how the company has built its success on customised solutions for the wind power… Read more »

Dependable power plants for a clean environment

Economic prosperity, progress and environmental protection – for the turbine manufacturer, Nordex, these go hand in hand. Since 1985 the company has been developing increasingly efficient turbines that help meet the global demand for energy while reducing the impact on the environment. PES investigates. As an internationally expanding company, Nordex has a footprint in all… Read more »

Turkeys Wind May Answer Energy Problems

Earlier this year American trend forecaster Gerald Celente, who has an interesting track record of accurate economic predictions, pointed to a bright future for Turkey. The country, he said, was in an excellent position to ride out the world’s current financial woes because ‘it has learnt from past experiences’. “Turkey owes this potential to a… Read more »

Managing risk

Although the wind energy industry is booming, the sector presents several technical, environmental, and financial challenges that investors and developers need to understand thoroughly in order for their businesses to be successful. DNV offers combined expertise in appraising and evaluating such risks and opportunities, as Dr. Claus Fridtjof Christensen, DNV Global Wind Energy, explains. PES:… Read more »