Test and measurement company Atonometrics has completed the installation and qualification of a continuous solar simulator at Fraunhofer ISE. The system, located at Fraunhofer’s Freiburg, Germany facility, features an integrated I-V measurement system, which will be used for light soak tests on full-size PV modules.
Building upon its success with its 20MW Starwood SSM1, completed in October 2010, and the 30MW Starwood SSM2, expected to be completed during 2011’s third quarter, Starwood Energy Group Global has finalized the financing for the final 10MW of its Starwood SSM3 solar project. The combined 60MW project in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario is contracted under the Renewable Energy Standard Offer Program with its development overseen by the Ontario Power Authority. The project will be connected to the local PUC Distribution grid and is said to be the second largest solar project in North America.
The Avignonet-Lauragais solar park in the Midi-Pyrenees region of France was officially commissioned by Boralex with town and company officials on hand to celebrate. The 4.5MW solar park is the first solar farm that Boralex has completed and sits beside a 12.5MW wind farm making the Avignonet-Lauragais site one of the first mixed renewable energy spots in France.
A new research report by GTM Research, Solar PV Balance of System (BOS): Technologies and Markets, is reporting that in 2012 balance of system costs will surpass PV module costs on a cost per watt scale. The report, written by Manhal Aboudi, identified BOS costs in 2010 at US$1.43 per watt, or 44.8% of a standard, utility-scale crystalline silicon (cSi) solar project. As solar PV module prices continue to drop, GTM suspects that in 2012 the BOS cost for the same project will increase to 50.6%.
The Massachusetts Town of Athol will be benefiting from a 3MW solar project under a newly signed PPA with Smart Energy Capital. Neither the company, nor the Town revealed any financial details under the PPA, but Smart Energy Capital advised that the solar energy the 3MW project produces will be bought by Athol and will meet nearly 90% of the Town’s electrical needs.
QSolar revealed that its Spraytek 79 solar PV modules had been selected for use in Oregon’s Rendata project. The US$3.25 million order will see QSolar deliver 2.5MW of its PV modules to the project once it receives Underwriters Laboratories (UL) certification, which is expected to occur during 2011’s fourth quarter. Once UL certification has been achieved, the company plans to supply modules for two sample houses followed by volume deliveries, which are anticipated to begin in early 2012.
SolarWorld advised that with the sale of its shares in the South Korea joint venture module plant, the company would be focusing on expanding and improving its module production sites in Germany and the US. Financial details regarding the sale of its shares were not released, but the company advised that its Saxony, California and Oregon production facilities are undergoing expansion in order to meet growing demands. Combined, the three plants are expected to have a total production capacity of more than 1GW by the end of the year.
The 6.7MW solar installation at the US General Services Administration (GSA) Denver Federal Center (DFC) is almost complete with all solar installations on the GSA DFC campus anticipated to be online by the end of the year. The latest solar installation has been combined with DFC’s 1.2MW solar park, which was installed in 2007. GSA secured added funding in 2009 to construct the 6.7MW solar installation that is currently being completed.
TecnoSun Solar Systems’ US Division, TecnoSun Solar USA, is settling into its new US headquarters at the University of Toledo’s Nietzsche Commercialization Complex in Ohio. The site will be the home base for the company’s marketing, sales, manufacturing, installation and servicing of its 1 and 2 axis solar tracking systems in North America.
Solar Frontier has won a contract with juwi solar to provide 3.8MW of its thin-film solar modules for a solar project in the northeast US. The solar installation is set to be completed by the end of the year and will be operated by a regulated northeast utility. Solar Frontier’s new Kunitomi plant in Miyazaki, Japan will manufacture the CIS modules for the solar project.
