Your daily dose of photovoltaic technology developments and solar news

Evergreen Solar's String Ribbon crystalline-silicon solar panels have been chosen for a 525KW installation at Patriot Place, a 1.3-million-square-foot shopping, dining, and entertainment complex located adjacent to Gillette Stadium, home of the National Football League's New England Patriots. The photovoltaic system, being installed by Constellation Energy’s projects and services group, will supply about 30% of the power to the complex and more than 12 million KW-hours of electricity over 20 years, according to the Massachusetts-based company.

Evergreen Solar is working with the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) to offer low-interest financing for solar projects using Evergreen String Ribbon  PV panels outside of the United States. The company said that the program is intended to spur the export of U.S.-made renewable energy products and is part of a mandate in Ex-Im Bank’s Congressional Charter.

Evergreen Solar has begun a $60 million public offering of its common stock, with Piper Jaffray acting as the sole underwriter. The PV company says it intends to use the proceeds to help fund a pair of its manufacturing sites and to cover certain corporate outlays. Evergreen also expects to grant an option to the underwriter to buy an additional $9 million of stock.

String Ribbon solar cell manufacturer Evergreen Solar is planning future expansions in China, with the aim of reaching a manufacturing cost of US$1 per watt by the end of 2012. The aggressive goal is in tandem with ramping a new plant in China to 500MW in that time frame. This is being planned with another PV manufacturer, Jiawei Solar (Wuhan) Co., and the Wuhan Donghu New Technology Development Zone Management Committee, part of the Wuhan provincial government in Wuhan, China.