The Research Council of Oman, Saudi Arabia, has approved a budget to fund studies on renewable energy in the Sultanate. The study will be conducted by Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) in partnership with the ministries of environment and climate affairs, transport and communications and the regulatory authority for electricity, along with leading international research institutions from the United States. Last summer, the Research Council agreed to support 53 other projects in fields such as healthcare, education and telecommunications.
Skyline Solar, a manufacturer of solar CPV arrays for the commercial, industrial, government and utility markets, has won a US$1.85 million contract from the US Department of Defense (DoD) and has since broken ground on the construction of Skyline Solar X14 CPV power plants at two domestic military sites. Last summer, Skyline was awarded three new patents in relation to its CPV technology through the US Patent and Trademark Office’s Green Technology Pilot Program.
Inverter manufacturer Power-One has installed 25MW of solar inverters on 50 hectares of land, located in Gujarat, India and covered by more than 100,000 polycrystalline solar panels. 73 units of Aurora PVI-330.0-TL indoor inverters have been fitted along with medium voltage switch gears and transformers.
PDI Global will provide an electric energy storage system to a social housing project in the Democratic Republic of Congo. With the intention to supply at least 300,000 homes with solar power, a contract with Korea-based Leo Motors has been concluded. Leo Motors will supply 20,000 units of e-Box to the project.
Lux Research’s latest Solar Demand Forecaster claims Portugal’s installations cap to be the most alluring in Europe to investors. The country’s internal rates of returns (IRR) for the six major solar technologies remain high in 2011 along with Cyprus and Greece, though the financial crisis in Europe could significantly hinder that market.
DNV has acquired 74.3% of KEMA's shares which it claims will create a world-leading consulting and certification company. While DNV becomes the majority shareholder with a 74.3% share, Alliander retains its holding (25.4%) as does Cogas (0.3%). The transaction is subject to the approval of the US, Dutch and German competition authorities.
Oerlikon CEO, Andreas Dill has been appointed a member of the SEMI Europe Advisory Board. Dill comes from an engineering background having joined the Swiss company in 1998 and has served in a succession of senior management positions. He is also a board member of Colibrys and Cicor Technology.
Sunny Day Energy and Silfab Ontario have entered into an agreement to supply approximately 5MWp of high efficiency domestic content modules. A number of rooftop projects in the Greater Toronto area will benefit from the modules which range in size between 200 and 500KWp each.
NPD Solarbuzz’s latest Solarbuzz Quarterly report states that global demand is projected to grow 6% in 2012, with market declines in Europe to be offset by 43% growth outside that region. Therefore, solar companies will face the challenge of re-building margins during a period of increasing diversity in end solar market mix. PV companies will need to shift focus from seeking market share to instead prioritizing a return to profitability after losses incurred throughout the industry following problems with over-production, excess inventories and collapsing market process.
