President Barack Obama was one of the attendees of the commissioning of Florida Power & Light’s 25MW solar array – the largest in North America. The DeSoto, Florida plant is equipped with more than 90,000 SunPower c-Si modules and will provide energy for more than 3,000 homes.
Camstar Systems has extended its global reach with the acquisition of Singapore-based Technology Resources Group, a systems integrator for the solar and semiconductor industries. The company, which has offices in China and Malaysia, provides manufacturing execution equipment automation, manufacturing applications development and program management for enterprise solution deployments.
A solar module prototype developed by SunPower has clocked a 20.4% efficiency in tests, confirmed by the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL). The 333W full-sized solar panel consists of 96 third-generation cells with a total panel area of 1.6m2. The prototype was funded the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) under its Solar America Initiative (SAI), which was awarded to SunPower approximately two years ago.
A sum of $500,000 CND has been granted by the National Research Council (NRC) to Day4 Energy, the reportedly ailing module manufacturer. The Canadian Government's R&D organization granted the funding to allow further development of the Day4(R) Electrode platform, a set of cell manufacturing technologies that offer increased conversion efficiencies at lower cost.
As Pakistan faces an energy shortage, Suntech’s collaboration with the local Alternative Energy Development Board (AEDB) is well timed. Suntech aims to bring solar power to Pakistan via rural electrification programs, solar-powered pumping systems and telecom projects, and signed a memorandum of understanding with AEDB to work together to achieve these goals.
Eyeing up the region of sub-Saharan Africa, solar thermal company eSolar has teamed up with Johannesburg-based Clean Energy Solutions (CES) to form eSolarSA. This new entity will endeavour to expand sales operations across the region, in seven countries including the Republic of South Africa, Namibia and Botswana.
A recent awards ceremony organised by the Aberdeen Group, a market research company that focuses on the global technology industry, saw Komax USA receive a prestigious award for its process technology. The Service Management Achievement Awards bestowed the title of winner of the 2009 Process Excellence Award on the automation company for its “process ingenuity, agility, flexibility and scalability to address evolving business requirements.”
Building on the companies’ successful collaboration on the recently announced 10MW Dunhuang City power plant, Enfinity and China Guangdong Nuclear Power Corporation (CGNPC) have embarked on a joint venture agreement to promote and actively develop solar power projects in China, Europe and worldwide.
As the company ventures down the road of product development expansion, Evolution Solar has appointed Robert Hines as its new president of US operations. Mr. Hines is a financial executive who owns an entrepreneurial consulting firm, Robert Hines & Associates, LLC.
Satcon has signed a collaborative deal with Canadian Solar that will see the companies market their products to customers as a “best-in-class system solution”. Canadian Solar’s solar PV systems will be marketed with Satcon’s solar inverters, providing a single solution for rooftop solar energy generation. The agreement also complies with the Ontario government’s domestic content requirements in its recently announced feed-in-tariff program.
