Your daily dose of photovoltaic technology developments and solar news

TÜV Rheinland has issued its Safety Class II certification to Solar EnerTech's photovoltaic modules, which will enable the company to sell its products to a wider spectrum of customers primarily based in Europe. The Menlo Park, CA-based solar cell and panel design firm has a 50MW manufacturing line in its 63,000-square-foot facility in Shanghai.

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.

Bank of America, Mendocino College and SunPower Corp. have announced the completion of a of a 929kW solar power system on Mendocino's Ukiah campus. Bank of America financed the solar power system, which is expected to save Mendocino College US$14 million in electricity costs over the next 25 years. The system was built in four months and uses SunPower solar panels equipped with the SunPower Tracker system.

Sanyo Electric has announced that with the European region improving its demand for solar panels, it will increase its solar panel production capacity in Europe by 90% or 315MW by next summer. Nikkei.com reports that the added production will be happening at the Sanyo Hungary facility using the space that has been released since the company ended the lithium ion battery pack production. The total investment for the additional panel production will be between two and three billion Yen.

Xandex Solar and DC Power Systems signed a memorandum of understanding to enter a partnership in which the companies will jointly market and provide training for the SunMizer DC power optimizer in addition to the sales and distribution of the product.