Your daily dose of photovoltaic technology developments and solar news

Solon SE is expanding its global reach with a strategic partnership agreement with Czech turnkey project developer Energ Servis. Solon has also agreed to, under the terms of the agreement, supply Energ Servis with 5MW of PV modules throughout 2010.

Golden, Colorado-based National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) is to test Alcoa’s new CSP parabolic trough system for efficiency and to evaluate its structural performance. NREL has installed one of Alcoa’s systems for the round of tests, which follows similar tests carried out at the Alcoa Technical Center outside of Pittsburgh, PA.

Solar Power, Inc. has embarked on a new solar system installation project that will see the company set up eight PV systems at seven schools and a district office in Baldwin Park, California. The Baldwin Park Unified School District (BPUSD) has commissioned the project, which will total 2.24MW on completion, with the aim of saving an estimated $22.6 million in electricity costs.

Phaesun, along with its partner Ikratos Africa, is constructing 10 solar power plants in Koudougou Region in Burkina Faso, which is one of the poorest regions in the world. The plants are due to be completed at the end of March 2010 and will provide renewable electricity for telecommunications plants.

The U.S. Navy's Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) has awarded a $200 million contract to build up as much as 40MW of solar photovoltaic power plants at Navy and Marine Corps installations throughout the southwestern United States. Five solar developers/integrators--SunEdison, AECOM Energy/Solar Power Partners, SunPower, SunDurance Energy, and Chevron Energy Solutions--will compete for individual projects ranging in size from 1MW to 15MW.

Iberdrola recorded a net profit of €2,824 million in 2009, sustained by the group's success with regulated business and renewables throughout the year, which together counted for two thirds of the company's total operating profit.

The École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) has announced that its Photovoltaics and Thin Film Electronics Laboratory is running a two-day introductory course that will provide intensive training on the world of photovoltaics. Participants will accumulate a high level understanding of photovoltaic devices, processes and market challenges during the course, which will take place at the Institut de Microtechnique IMT at EPFL in Neuchâtel in Switzerland.

Puglia, south-east Italy is the site for the new solar power plant that is to be constructed by Iberdrola Ingeniería y Construcción following the company’s successful bid for the title of developer for the project. The 8MW facility will cost in the region of €27 million, which is being financed by Unicredit Mediocredito Centrale and commissioned by Pugliasolar.

The state of Pennsylvania has announced new grants totaling more than $5 million in 13 solar energy projects, which will add more than 4.25MW of photovoltaics installations in 11 counties. The projects have a total value of more than $23 million and will include rooftop, parking structure, and ground-mount systems, ranging in size from 20KW to 1MW, to be deployed at schools, condos, businesses, and other commercial and industrial sites.

Samsung C&T, based in South Korea, has agreed to build and run solar power plants in California for 25 years under a deal with utility PG&E.