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The French daily publication, Les Echos, claims energy provider EDF Energies Nouvelles and the Franco-Italian company STMicroelectronics have entered into a non-disclosure agreement with Photowatt to secure financial information regarding the activities of the bankrupt solar manufacturer.
Better than expected revenue figures have been reported by aleo solar, though previously guided losses of €25-€30 million are still expected for the full-year 2011, according to the company. aleo solar had previously guided revenue to be in the region of €440 million but this has been raised to €462 million, down 17% compared to 2010 revenue of €554 million.
Spanish scientists and students have developed a biosynthetic water purification system that is powered by solar PV energy. Eurener has donated modules producing 60-80W to operate the system.
PV Evolution Labs (PVEL) has received the much-coveted ISO/IEC 17025:2005 accreditation for its range of testing and calibration services. The Berkeley, California-based lab aims to promote best practices across the North American solar market, and with this new accreditation, gains the recognition required to deliver approval of technical system competence for PV products both across the region and on a global scale.
A broad-range of PV equipment suppliers are expected to have reported record revenues for 2011, after a year of continued capacity expansions. However, that is expected to be contrasted in a significant cut-back in capital expenditures in 2012 as the PV industry struggles with over capacity and falling prices, according to the latest NPD Solarbuzz PV Equipment Quarterly report.
A 11.7 MWp PV power plant, completed late last year by Masdar PV in Thuringia, Germany, used dual-junction ‘micromorph’ silicon technology and amorphous technology with over half being full sized modules.
Westinghouse Solar’s latest white paper, The Revolution in Solar Power Mounting Systems, takes a look at the financial, engineering and customer benefits of rooftop solar power systems with integrated racking, wiring and grounding, including those units from Westinghouse and Zep Solar. The publication details how the standard in rooftop solar system installations has been a field assembly process that uses different “components that must be sourced, kitted, and assembled onsite,” which leads to a high assembly cost.
Chinese module manufacturer, Talesun has adopted PowerGuard Specialty Insurance Services ‘PowerClip’ extended warranty protection. PowerGuard offers a 25-year non-cancellable quality and performance guarantee solution on top of any manufacturer’s own warranty terms.
Having already installed a total 12 rooftop PV systems at its US stores, IKEA has plans to add another five stores to its PV program in the Midwestern region. Currently, around 85% of its US stores have been fitted with systems. Collectively, the five Midwestern stores total 4.8MW of new solar generating capacity, using approximately 20,400 modules. IKEA will own and operate each system.
According to Solar Novus Today, the Gestore dei Servizi Energetici (GSE) of Italy will allow TÜV Rheinland to conduct design qualification and type approval testing on PV modules and systems. The organizations noted that the agreement specifically calls for the testing of crystalline silicon flat-plate PV modules according to the IEC 61215 standard, thin-film flat plate PV modules under the IEC 61646 standard and CPV modules and assemblies in compliance with the IEC 62108 standard.
