Rocky Mountain Supercomputer Centers (RMSC) and Northrop Grumman have come together to introduce their maximizing and optimizing renewable energy (MORE) Power initiative. The new service is a technology that uses a laser-communications network optimization model by Northrup to help select the most effect sites for renewable energy projects. The MORE initiative will take worldwide wind and solar radiation data, which is collected by Northrop, and use it as a historical foundation in order to choose a site that will be the most productive for an alternative energy project.
China Technology Development Group (CTDC) has outlined the plans for its crystalline PV module production capacity expansion. The company aims to achieve 150MW production capacity by the end of 2011 and 300MW by the end of 2012. CTDC cites an increase in market demand and its desire to maximize their value for their shareholders as reasons for their planned expansion. Additionally, the company stated that in order to further facilitate company growth, it will be actively seeking out mergers and acquisitions to complete an overall expansion.
Solyndra has signed an EPC agreement with Photon Energy, which will see the installation and development of 18 rooftop PV systems in Prague for a total of 1.23MWp. Installations have already begun with Novacento securing the authorization to install the solar projects on the roofs of municipal buildings; mainly schools and nurseries.
Schott Solar has declared the development of a new manufacturing technique for multicrystalline solar cells, which augments Schott’s Solar Champion multicrystalline module efficiency to 17.6%. The company maintains that the new cell uses a standard front side and passivated backside with different dielectric layers utilizing local contacts along with traditional screen-printing technology to create contacts.
Sempra Generation agreed to a 20-year power purchase agreement with PG&E during which it will sell 150MW of solar power produced at its Mesquite Solar I project. The Mesquite project is the first phase of Sempra’s solar complex in Arlington, Arizona and is expected to begin construction in 2011 with completion in 2013. The PPA awaits final approval by the California Public Utilities Commission.
Upon completing internal production development and testing, Ascent Solar announced that Johns Manville (JM) will begin beta testing on its CIGS laminated modules at the JM Technical Center (JMTC) in Littleton, Colorado. The IEC 61646 modules, which have been certified and are awaiting UL certification, will be compared against existing thin-film modules that are installed at JMTC.
Sustainable Energy Technologies announced that it will be moving its North American inverter assembly and test center to Guelph, Ontario, with an expected 4MW per month production of its Sunergy inverters by the first quarter 2011. Melitron, a Guelph based manufacturer, will run the facility and also provide enclosures for the Sunergy inverter.
Satcon Technology’s Solstice will be used in the 63MW CIRO One solar PV plant being built in the U.S. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The project will use 126 Satcon Solstice 500kW applications, at its 180 acre site in the Lapas District of Salinas, producing approximately 116 million kW hours of energy per year. Construction on the project is to begin this month.
Evergreen Solar is aiming to expand its European reach with four new sales managers to service each of its key European regions: Germany, Italy, Spain and France. All the new sales managers will be charged with continuing to broaden the company’s presence in Europe while also maintaining current sales relationships in each region. The new managers will report directly to Thomas Hofmann, Evergreen’s director of sales for Europe.
Andrew Chen has been selected as the successor for the CFO position at Canadian Solar, while Arthur Chien, the company’s previous CFO, will continue with the company as special advisor to the CEO’s office until the end of this year. Chen comes from Shengda Tech where he was chief financial officer from April 2009 until September 2010. He also served as CFO to Trony Solar Holdings between September 2008 and March 2009. Chen’s appointment as CFO for Canadian Solar will begin immediately.
