It wasn’t that long ago when candidate Obama wooed us with pledges to get the country on track with an aggressive renewable energy program and serious carbon emissions controls. Times have changed. Now, we don’t think anyone really expects to see an extensive climate and energy bill from Congress this year. At best, advocates are… Read more »
Arabic script is about to appear on television sets across the country, with the Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens helpfully reading an English translation, Clifford Strauss writes in The New York Times. “Go back to sleep, America; the oil crisis is over,” Mr. Pickens intones, deadpan, in the new video. Seductive Middle Eastern music plays… Read more »
Installation of the largest wind turbine in the history of Long Island was completed last month. The 100-kilowatt turbine stands 121 feet tall but the tip of its rotors will reach a height of 156 feet above the ground. The clean-energy device was installed at a 1,200-acre wholesale nursery in Laurel, in Riverhead Town, at… Read more »
What’s that on the sixth-floor deck of Adobe headquarters in downtown San Jose? Those slender silver spires, spinning quietly in the breeze, are actually turbines producing environmentally friendly electric power. Workers installed the 20 wind turbines over the December holidays at Adobe Systems’ high-rise offices at Park Avenue and Almaden Boulevard. Officials at the big… Read more »
The Blaine County Commission on Tuesday unanimously approved an ordinance that will permit and regulate wind-energy facilities, bringing to an end a process that has taken about a dozen public hearings and witnessed multiple drafts. At a regular meeting at the Old County Courthouse in Hailey, the commission made minor editorial changes to the draft… Read more »
On August 7th, 2009 SGS China officially opened its laboratory for natural stone and homogeneous material in Xiamen in response to the high demand for testing and certification services in the region. Strategically positioned in the port of Xiamen, one of the main stone production and export bases in China and a leading base in… Read more »
The development of a new European industry – offshore wind power – took an important step forward today with the announcement by the British government of the go-ahead for offshore wind farm development areas with a capacity ten times greater than Europe’s existing European offshore wind energy capacity. A total of nine development zones –… Read more »
MaxVisio displays the daily values of a photovoltaic plant in a single view. Sputnik Engineering launched the new display unit shortly before Christmas. It features a colour touch-screen and can be hung on the wall or placed on a desktop. It can display both the actual output of a photovoltaic plant as well as a… Read more »
Applied Materials, Inc. (Nasdaq:AMAT) announced today that it has completed its acquisition of Semitool, Inc. (Nasdaq:SMTL). This acquisition expands Applied’s capability to address emerging opportunities in the high-growth wafer packaging market and provides complementary systems and technology for advanced semiconductor manufacturing. On December 21, 2009, Semitool was merged with a wholly-owned subsidiary of Applied. As… Read more »
The EU should continue leading by example despite the failure of the UN climate talks, the wind industry says. Christian Kjaer, Chief Executive of EWEA, said: “The world needs global climate leadership from the EU in 2010 more than ever, now that the other super-powers have shown their lack of ambition.” The Copenhagen Accord is… Read more »
Phoenix Solar AG, a leading photovoltaic system integrator listed on the TecDAX, has founded Phoenix Solar L.L.C. in Muscat which is the capital city of the Sultanate of Oman. Phoenix Solar AG holds 70 percent and Silver Circle Overseas L.L.C. (SCO), its local partner in Oman, 30 percent in Phoenix Solar L.L.C. The newly founded… Read more »
On September 23, 2009, the SGS Wind Competence Center presented Norderland Projekt GmbH with a Statement of Compliance (SoC) for the design basis of their two offshore wind farms – Northern Energy Global Tech II and Northern Energy Global Tech III. The Statement of Compliance for the design basis is the conclusion of the first… Read more »
Harmonised and clear rules for the connection to the electricity system are necessary due to the dramatic increase in wind power penetration across Europe, says the wind industry. Harmonised rules will lower wind energy production costs, contribute to an efficient management of the system, and lower the cost of the electricity for consumers. The European… Read more »
Phoenix Solar AG, a leading international photovoltaic system integrator listed on the TecDAX, has been building Germany’s largest photovoltaic power plant on a carport in Berlin over the last weeks. Moreover, this is currently Berlin’s largest photovoltaic power plant. The carport, the roof of which is covered with solar modules, is located on property belonging… Read more »
Rickmers-Linie, the Hamburg based breakbulk, heavylift and project cargo specialist, has been successfully re-certified in accordance with the latest ISO standards ISO 9001:2008, OHSAS 18001:2007 and ISO 14001:2004. Rickmers-Linie’s new integrated quality management system incorporates statutory and regulatory requirements for quality, occupational health and safety as well as environmental management. The certificates became valid with… Read more »
Didier Jeannelle is the new managing director of Sputnik’s French subsidiary Sputnik Engineering France S.A.R.L. Today, at the Energaia Trade Fair in Montpellier, he will take over from Daniel Freudiger, who has headed the French subsidiary since its founding last year. Freudiger will now move to Sputnik’s Swiss headquarters to become head of sales and… Read more »
The European Investment Bank (EIB) has agreed to provide €300m for the construction of the BritNed Interconnector, a new electricity transmission cable between the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. Paul Wilczek, EWEA’s Regulatory Affairs Adviser, commented: “Today’s decision by the EIB is a small but highly significant step towards what everyone in the business knows… Read more »
Commenting on the political declaration signed by nine countries to cooperate on the development of a North Sea supergrid today, Justin Wilkes, EWEA Policy Director, said: “These nine countries have taken a step in the right direction. The building of a supergrid in the North Sea is vital for fully exploiting Europe’s biggest energy source… Read more »
Rickmers-Linie, the breakbulk, heavylift and project cargo specialist headquartered in Hamburg, has appointed Zurich based O Brunoni SA as its Swiss agent with effect from 1 January 2010. Brunoni will take over the agency activities for Rickmers-Linie from Cargonautic AG, which had been acting as Rickmers’ agency since 1998 but unfortunately will close down its… Read more »
Introducing Rehm Pyrolysis The most effective Residue Management solution for your Reflow Soldering Process Pyrolysis from Rehm delivers these production benefits: 12 month maintenance intervals Removal of unpleasant odors Clean and dry process chamber Lower energy costs Higher process stability and reduced downtime Rehm Pyrolysis in the pre-heating and peak area eliminates crystalline residues. Condensate… Read more »
Company boss Philipp Müller left the Swiss inverter manufacturer Sputnik at the end of November. Henceforth, Christoph von Bergen is the sole managing director and also takes over the company shares of Müller. For Sputnik will continue to rely on the strength of a company led by its owners. Company structure and organisation fundamentally remain… Read more »
Use of Wind Energy – Future Development The share of renewable energy sources in total energy consumption is to be increased to 20 % in 2020. To achieve this extremely ambitious target, the share of renewable energy sources in electricity generation in the European Union has to be increased to approximately 34 % by 2020…. Read more »
In the run-up to the crucial climate change talks in Copenhagen, the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) has published a league table showing which EU countries are best at exploiting CO2-cutting wind energy. Top of the table is Denmark, with the highest amount of wind energy capacity per square kilometre of national territory. Germany comes… Read more »
Meyer Burger (SIX Swiss Exchange: MBTN) and Oerlikon Systems signed a strategic distribution, cooperation & license agreement for the SOLARIS thin-film coating equipment. As part of the agreement, Meyer Burger’s sales & service organization will represent the SOLARIS equipment for crystalline Silicon PV application in most regions, such as China, Taiwan, Europe, Middle East, India… Read more »
Record sales in November in the Components & Systems segment 16 photovoltaic power plants under construction Phoenix Solar AG’s largest solar park to date being built on a military land for redevelopment Sulzemoos, 3rd December 2009 / Phoenix Solar AG, a leading photovoltaic system integrator listed on the TecDAX, is experiencing a strong year-end rally,… Read more »
On December 2, 2009, the first solar thermal plant for warm water supply and central heating on Palestinian territory has gone into operation near Beit Jala. The solar plant has been realized by MAN Ferrostaal AG and the Deutsche Energie-Agentur GmbH (dena) – the German Energy Agency – within the framework of the “dena Solar… Read more »
Today, as European Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs speaks to the European Parliament’s Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) Committee on the European Economic Recovery Plan, the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) warned that the EU needs to speed up its stimulus package. The €5 billion plan, approved by the European Parliament last May, includes €565 million… Read more »
With effect from today, Hans-Georg Schweikardt is the new manager in charge of Sputnik’s product management department at the company’s headquarters in Biel . Schweikardt has been employed at the German branch of the Swiss solar inverter manufacturer Sputnik Engineering GmbH since 2004, first as a sales engineer, then as head of sales. “Through moving… Read more »
Adopts Linde’s on-site generated fluorine to eliminate use of greenhouse gases Munich, Germany, 1st December 2009 – Linde Gases, a division of The Linde Group, and Masdar PV GmbH, a manufacturer of large-scale thin-film solar modules, have signed an agreement to qualify and adopt Linde’s on-site generated fluorine – a zero global warming solution for photovoltaic (PV) module… Read more »
Sulzemoos 30 November 2009 / Phoenix Solar AG (ISIN DE000A0BVU93), an international photovoltaic system integrator listed on the TecDAX, is in the process of preparing its entry into the market of the United States of America. On 30 November 2009, the Supervisory Board approved the proposal of the Board of Directors for the founding of… Read more »
SGS Statutory Services Belgium becomes Authorized Inspection Organization (AIO) for the Certification of Belgian Offshore Installations for the Production of Electrical Energy from Renewable Energy Sources In October 2009, SGS Statutory Services Belgium received authorization to conduct the certification of Belgian offshore installations for the production of electricity from renewable energy. This authorization clearly demonstrates… Read more »
Nobility Solar Projects a.s. plans to build PV plants with a total output of 40 megawatts next year. For its plants, the Czech company relies solely on SolarMax inverters from the Swiss inverter manufacturer Sputnik Engineering AG. Biel , 25. November 2009. By the end of 2010 the company Nobility Solar Projects plans to more… Read more »
SGS is sponsoring the Conference on Project Lifecycle Risk for Offshore Renewables, which will take place from January 26 – 27, 2010 in London. It has become increasingly important to identify and mitigate project lifecycle risks for wind energy investments. Jale Cairney, Business Development Manager of SGS Wind Energy Services, will hold a presentation on… Read more »
While the Swiss manufacturer Sputnik Engineering has mostly sold central inverters for free-standing systems to Spain in the last few years, since mid-2009 the Solar Max string inverters have become a new best-seller. Biel, 18 November 2009. Since the middle of 2009, fitters have increasingly installed PV plants on industrial roofs in Spain , a set… Read more »
SGS Wind Energy Competence Center presented its services at the Global Wind Power Conference 2009 in China. Marcel Poodt, Lead Engineer of the SGS Wind Energy Technology Center (WETC), introduced the Full-Scale Blade Testing services offered by SGS. Participants showed great interest in the services provided by the newly established center. Reliability of structures and… Read more »
Completing Osaka Nishikinohama Factory to increase production of solar cells Tokyo, November 17, 2009 – SANYO Electric Co., Ltd. (SANYO) is pleased to announce the completion of the third factory building (Bldg. C) of Nishikinohama Factory (Kaizuka City, Osaka), already a mother factory for SANYO’s photovoltaic system business. Bldg. C is expected to start high-volume… Read more »