Category: Solar

Report reveals Tokyo electric plan to build solar plant in California

Tokyo Electric Power Co. will build a solar power plant in the state of California through its subsidiary Eurus Energy Holdings Corp., according to a recent report. The company apparently plans to begin operations at the 1000 kilowatt plant by 2010 on a site yet to be selected, the Nikkei business daily reported. {pagebreak} Eurus,… Read more »

Schreiner offers specialized, high-performance labels for the solar industry

Southfield, MI – Schreiner ProTech is now marketing an array of specialized labels and identification-preparation equipment for solar panels and components. Drawing on its extensive solar product experience in Europe, Schreiner is nowaggressively seeking new customers in North America for its UL/CSA-approved solar labeling solutions. {pagebreak} The manufacturing of photovoltaic (PV) solar modules makes exacting… Read more »

Space solar power within a decade?

The notion of Space-Based Solar Power (SBSP) is not new. There has long been talk of 24-hour-a-day solar power beamed from space via microwave to any point on earth. However, a new company named Space Energy, Inc. believes it well placed to develop SBSP satellites to generate and transmit electricity to receivers on the Earth’s… Read more »

Fool’s Gold could cut cost of solar power

Scientists at Berkeley University (USA) have this week released research revealing that alternative raw materials, such as iron pyrite – or Fool’s Gold – could offer a far cheaper alternative to silicon for solar panel manufacturers. The rapid growth of the global solar market has been repeatedly hampered by shortages of silicon, which is used… Read more »

It pays to use your own solar power

24. February 2009. Raphael van Hövell is one of the first system operators in Germany to finance their PV installations with the new tariff for private consumers under the German Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG). With the EEG amendment on 1 January this year the German government introduced the new type of payment for PV… Read more »

Solar tool ensures safety in the face of strong winds

Developers from DEGERenergie have created a so-called design tool which planners and operators of solar plants can use to safeguard against storm damage – providing a standard of safety that is currently not demanded by legislators or insurance companies. Tracking systems from the company increase the energy yield of photovoltaic systems by up to 45… Read more »

Trina Solar signs sales agreement with GA Solar

CHANGZHOU, China, Jan. 29 /PRNewswire-Asia-FirstCall/ — Trina Solar Limited (NYSE: TSL) (“Trina Solar” or the “Company”), a leading integrated manufacturer of solar photovoltaic products from the production of ingots, wafers and cells to the assembly of PV modules, today announced that its subsidiary, Changzhou Trina Solar Energy Co., Ltd., {pagebreak} entered into a sales agreement… Read more »

KUKA innovation at the Photovoltaic Technology Show 2009

KUKA innovation at the Photovoltaic Technology Show 2009Solar modules for a perfect frame (of mind) Augsburg, 17 February 2009 (pk) – KUKA Systems is presenting its new ROBO FRAME module (for which a patent application has been filed) at this year’s PTS (Photovoltaic Technology Show) trade fair in Munich. Furthermore, KUKA Systems will also be… Read more »

3S Industries AG develops new soldering technology

3S Industries AG develops new soldering technology to connect the cells for Solar Impulse Engineers from all fields are working together on the first prototype of the solar airplane planned to fly night and day with no fuel and zero polluting emissions. Important know-how for the solar propulsion system is being supplied by 3S Industries… Read more »

Scientists develop spray-on solar

Inspired by the beauty industry, scientists have devised a way to make solar panels cheaper and more efficient – by spraying them on. Researchers from the Australian National University (ANU), solar company Spark Solar Australia, and Finnish materials company Braggone Oy are collaborating on a three-year project that could transform the production of solar cells…. Read more »

Cost of solar power could fall 40% by 2015

Technological advances are driving down photovoltaic panel prices by as much as 10% each year, Dutch sustainable energy provider Econcern recently announced. The company claimed that system prices are decreasing by 7% to 10% a year as a result of technological innovation and increased production capacity. {pagebreak} According to Econcern board member Kees van der… Read more »

Tax credits fuel boom

According to research done by The Solar Electric Power Association (SEPA), in 2008, over 5,000 megawatts of new photovoltaic and concentrating solar power projects were announced, and with the eight-year extension of the US federal investment tax credit (ITC), the market is expected to grow significantly. {pagebreak} Along with the tax credit extension, the revised… Read more »

Suntech crosses 1gw milestone

Chinese solar panel maker, Suntech Power Holdings, has crossed the all-important milestone of being able to produce 1 gigawatt of solar panels a year. The company celebrated the accomplishment last week, along with the opening of a new headquarters in the city of Wuxi that comes with 1-megawatt solar panels built into building’s facade in… Read more »

Italian demand for green energy prompts massive investment

A consortium of manufacturers is to invest almost $3 billion in Italian solar power ventures. Japan’s Sharp Corp, Italy’s Enel SpA and a third manufacturer hope to tap growing demand for cleaner energy. {pagebreak} Sharp, the world’s second largest maker of solar cells, said it and Italy’s largest power company Enel planned to spend about… Read more »

Catholic church leads the way on climate change action

The Vatican, the world’s smallest sovereign state, has stepped up its fight against global warming by installing a huge rooftop solar energy system. More than 2,000 photovoltaic panels have been fixed to the roof of one of the city state’s main buildings, enabling the Holy See to cut its carbon dioxide emissions by about 225… Read more »

Solar energy supersearch facility unveiled in Milan

A new ‘Solar Totem Tracker’, which makes it possible to track the progress of the sun and direct light to PV panels, has been unveiled in Italy. Enerqos plc, a leading photovoltaic system and solar power plant construction company and ESP, which designs and construction of metal structures for the photovoltaic sector, showcased their tracker… Read more »

New product line aims for PV efficiency

A new line of PV products from Rohm and Haas is set to help increase solar cell efficiency across Europe. Enlight photovoltaic products use innovative materials to improve the efficiency of solar cells, enhancing their ability to convert the sun’s light into electrical energy. The company’s technology also helps solar cell manufacturers more quickly produce… Read more »

Sharp to bring thin film solar cells to US

Sharp Corp, one of the world’s biggest makers of silicon-based solar cells, will introduce next generation thin film solar cells in the U.S. market in August next year. The lower cost of thin film solar is seen by Sharp and its competitors as the best way to create utility-scale solar panel arrays because they can… Read more »

Barack ‘bounce’ sends green energy stocks skyward

The bounce that the election of Barack Obama has brought to America was reflected in a soar in the price of green energy stocks. Solar Integrated Technologies rose by 30 per cent the day after the election, following increases of 22 per cent by Renewable Energy Corporation and 16 per cent by the wind turbine… Read more »

Former landfill is used to produce solar energy

German company DEGERenergie has just opened its third solar park on a former landfill site. The new park, in Rexingen, Kreis Freudenstadt, joins established parks in Heiligenfeld and Oberiflingen. Enough power will be generated to cover the energy needs of the entire town. {pagebreak} In total 190 kWp are installed on 1.5 hectares. Fifty four… Read more »

Glory days of steam are back for Siemens

Industrial giant Siemens Energy is to supply a steam turbine for one of the world’s first commercial solar tower power plants. The Spanish company Sener will build the innovative solar thermal power plant with a capacity of 19 megawatts (MW) at a site near Seville in Andalusia. {pagebreak} For the “Solar Tres” project Siemens will… Read more »

Wine growers turn to solar wattage for hopes of vintage harvest

High efficiency PV panels are to be installed on the roof of a Californian warehouse to create one of the world’s largest solar projects at a winery. The 1.2 megawatt solar system installation at Constellation Wines US’ Gonzales Winery in Monterey County, will cover approximately 170,000 square feet of the main winery warehouse roof, and… Read more »

EPIA organises its first international Thin Film Conference

EPIA organises its first international Thin Film Conference More than 300 experts from the thin film sector are expected to gather in Munich on November 13 for the first European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA) International Thin Film Conference. {pagebreak} With a growing demand for PV products in the European and American markets, all technological solutions… Read more »

Delays and doubts curbing Italy’s solar potential

Excessive bureaucracy and long waits to connect plants to the grid is slowing down the potential for enormous growth in Italy’s solar energy market. Although the country is a solar power hot spot, with 17,000 plants tapping its plentiful sunlight, approval for such plants can drag very slowly, taking months of painstaking decision-making. {pagebreak} “The… Read more »

Phoenix Solar AG Introduces Solyndra Solar Panels to the European Market

Phoenix Solar AG Introduces SolyndraTM Solar Panels to the European Market • The new shape of solar electricity• Innovative thin-film module for flat rooftops {pagebreak} Sulzemoos 07/10/2008 / One of the solar industry’s best kept secrets has been unveiled. Photovoltaic solar system manufacturer Solyndra, Inc., headquartered in Fremont, California U.S.A., today announced its unique CIGS-based… Read more »

Agreement on PV demand levels for the next decade

Photovoltaic energy could provide 12% of European electricity demand by 2020, a conference has heard. More than 4,000 scientists and 750 companies gathered in Valencia recently to present significant innovations in the field of solar photovoltaic energy to EPIA, the European Photovoltaic Industry Association. {pagebreak} The industry unanimously agreed that the evolution of solar photovoltaic… Read more »

UK CO2 reduction buyout ‘appalling’ says scientist

A plan by the British government to buy its way out of half its CO2 reduction targets weakens efforts to reverse climate change, a top scientist has claimed. Dr Keith Allott, head of the WWF-UK’s climate change programme, said a leaked report which suggested EU nations should be allowed to trade away 50 per cent… Read more »

Trina Solar and Gestamp-Asetym announce Inauguration of 26 MW PV plant

Trina Solar Limited (NYSE: TSL; ”Trina Solar” or the ”Company”), a leading integrated manufacturer of solar photovoltaic (PV) products from the production of ingots, wafers and cells to the assembly of PV modules, founded in 1997, today announced the inauguration of a 26 MW PV plant, consisting of an installation which uses primarily PV modules… Read more »

Trina Solar to power North America’s largest rooftop installation

Trina Solar Limited, a leading integrated manufacturer of solar photovoltaic products from the production of ingots, wafers and cells to the assembly of PV modules, founded in 1997, announced today that shipments began this month to provide more than 13,400 solar PV modules to power the Atlantic City Convention Center (“ACCC”) in New Jersey, United… Read more »

EU a ‘world leader’ in climate change policy

The EU has chosen a more efficient, sustainable and affordable future through its policies to use renewable energy and fight climate change, says a new report. The International Energy Agency says the EU is a world leader in beginning to mitigate the effects of global warming through ambitious proposals on climate change and energy policies…. Read more »

Cinema goes solar

A slice of California’s rich cinematic history will soon be undergoing the solar treatment, the first cinema of its kind in the United States to do so. The Fairfax 5 Theatres complex in the town of Fairfax will install a PV system, resulting in savings of more than $600,000 over its 30-year life span. The… Read more »

Germany scales back feed-in tariff

Renewable energy consumers in Germany are celebrating after the government said it would scale back the feed-in tariff by only 9-10 per cent each year until 2011. The news is a huge boost for renewables in Germany, as it was expected that a 30 per cent scale back would be implemented. {pagebreak} In 1999, the… Read more »

Renewables staffing shortage?

The need to recruit people with the right skills is causing worries in the renewables sector as demand for good employees far outstrips supply. With the cost of energy rising rapidly, the need for alternative supplies and people with relevant skills to produce it is producing challenges says Stuart Brown, Practice Head of Energy and… Read more »

Brit firm highly praised

Pioneering UK green electricity firm Ecotricity has been highly commended in a national awards ceremony that honours green business. The company, which introduced green electricity as a consumer choice for the first time when it was launched in 1995 was praised for its efforts at the 2008 Barclays Commercial Bank Green Leaders in Business Awards…. Read more »

Dynamic demand

Technology launched to cut unnecessary power generation Dynamic demand for electricity is a step closer with the launch of innovative new technology from energy company RLtec. Dynamic demand is a way of managing electricity consumption that delivers significant cost and carbon savings, and is increasingly recognised as a key technology for reducing carbon dioxide emissions…. Read more »

Energy awards

Entries sought for 2009 awards European and global companies in the renewable energy sector are being asked for submissions to the second annual Rosenblatt New Energy Awards. The Awards are being staged at London’s Natural History Museum on Wednesday 25th February 2009 to recognise the achievements of management teams, companies and projects that have made… Read more »