Among the companies to be showcasing their products and developments at Solar Power International this year is AU Optronics (AUO). At the conference being held in Los Angeles this week, AUO will be displaying its full line of PV products including the SunForte PM316B00 mono-crystalline solar module, which will be the modules first official viewing.
Direct Grid Technologies revealed that its DGM-S460 series grid tie micro-inverter was given UL1741 certification. The company will be distributing the inverter in the U.S. through its OEM partner, Synergy Energy in New Jersey and is working on further partner agreements, which are to be announced throughout the rest of this year. Direct Grid is showing its DGM-S460 micro-inverter at Solar Power International this week at booth 4101.
Right on the heels of its 184MW supply contract with BP Solar, JA Solar Holdings announced that it has landed another supply agreement for the delivery of over 13MW of its mono-crystalline solar cells to a U.S. solar module manufacturer and systems company. Although the company’s name was not disclosed, JA Solar publicized that delivery of the solar cells begin in the third quarter and will continue through the remainder of this year.
United Solar announced the completion of the848kWp solar installation on the rooftop of Sisley, a luxury cosmetic brand, in Paris, France; considered one of the largest solar installations in Paris. United Solar worked with Soprema using its modified roofing material, SopraSolar, which is powered by Uni-Solar PV laminates and has integrated the PV laminates into the waterproofing function.
During Solarvalue’s annual general meeting, Dr. Christian Bornhauser (pictured), CTO of Solarvalue, announced that the company had created the first solar grade silicon-ingot, which weighed in at around 15kg during several repeated tests on different plants. He assured that the purity levels of phosphorus and boron were less than 1ppmw and within the demanded specifications.
CNPV Solar Power’s crystalline silicon solar PV modules have successfully achieved UL and C-UL certifications, which are needed for the modules’ use in the US and Canadian markets. CNPV now anticipates listing with the California Energy Commission (CEC) to follow its UL certification and is looking into opening a sales office in California and Canada to meet anticipated demands from the North American sector.
In IDC Energy Insights latest report, Technology Selection: Reducing Fire Risk in Rooftop Solar PV Systems, not only are the risks of a fire occurring on a rooftop PV solar system addressed, but so are the methods of prevention. IDC acknowledges that most owners of rooftop PV systems tend to overlook the potential fire risks as PV systems require little maintenance and don’t have moving parts. However, one of the leading risks of a fire on a rooftop system lies in the possibility for electricity to arc across an unwanted gap in the system’s electrical circuit creating an arc-fault.
In order for the Genesis Solar Energy Project and the Imperial Valley Solar Project to qualify for federal stimulus funds, they needed the approval of the California Energy Commission before December 31 and as the clock counted down, the Energy Commission gave their final approval for the two new solar projects in Southern California this week. The two projects are the fifth and sixth solar power plants that the Commission has given their approval for over the past five weeks...
Satcon Technology and GCL Solar Systems signed a manufacturing agreement to boost production of Satcon’s 500kW PowerGate Plus solar PV inverters in the Asia Pacific market. GCL will develop a manufacturing facility in Nanjing, China, which they expect will produce over 500MW of the inverters in 2011. Satcon will supply GCL with the manufacturing processes and technologies for the PowerGate Plus in order to complete final assembly at the GCL solar plant.
centrotherm photovoltaics announced its newest supply order, which has been made by two unnamed Chinese customers, for 60MW of its turnkey lines used in the manufacturing of crystalline solar cells. Payment amounts were not published, but centrotherm advised that both customers were “investing a double-digit amount in millions of Euros.” Prepayment has already been accepted for one of the two orders and centrotherm advised that the two companies, one of which is a Chinese state operation, are new in the solar cell production division.
