In what they hail as being the largest rooftop solar PV project in North America, OYA Solar and Atlas Tube will be partnering on the project, which will be built atop the Atlas facility in Harrow, Ontario. Covering over 65,000 square feet, with a total investment of US$20 million, the companies are working with Polar Racking (Polar), Conergy Canada and Tremco Weatherproofing Technologies to complete 500kW of the project by next spring.
DelSolar is making a move outside of its comfort zone and starting the process to develop compound thin-film solar cells with the help of IBM. The two companies are working towards improving the next-generation thin-film technology and bringing it into commercial production with hopes of making it potentially available for use in vaulted roof tops, curved glass curtain walls, other non-flat BIPV application or extended applications such as curtains or shutters.
Adding to its already established use of renewable energy, PepsiCo’s Frito-Lay North America Modesto, California, manufacturing facility, has had a 1MW rooftop solar PV system installed by Solyndra. The project used approximately 5,600 panels and covers 247,000 square feet. Completed in eight weeks, the 1MW system is, per Solyndra, the largest installation completed by the company in the U.S. This solar installation follows the 2008 installation for Frito-Lay on a five-acre solar concentrator field made up of 54,000 square feet of concave mirrors and 384 solar collectors.
SolarWorld Americas introduced a new no-money-down financing option for the company’s authorized installers and customers. Options include allowing residential customers to lease sunkits solar systems or defer payment until state and federal incentives come to fruition. Commercial customer and non-profit organizations will be able to select different lease opportunities or a power purchase agreement.
Taking a step forward for the advancement of solar energy in the residential sector is United Solar who has agreed to partner with NJR Home Services (NJRHS) and nationally launch Uni-Solar’s PowerShingle and CertainTeed’s EnerGen, which uses Uni-Solar modules. The pilot program in New Jersey will produce a solar product that is fully integrated and blends into the existing asphalt shingle patterns on the home, which is set to provide a more aesthetically pleasing design for homeowner’s.
John E. Bryson, Edison International’s former chairman, president and CEO, will be BrightSource Energy’s new chairman of the board of director’s. Bryon holds over 25 years of industry experience in energy generation, transmission, distribution, infrastructure investment and management of energy assets. BrightSource’s founder, Arnold Goldman, who was the previous chair, will continue with the company as chairman emeritus.
BlueChip Energy revealed that installation and trial runs have been completed for its first production line of PV solar modules, allowing the company to expand its annual module production capacity to 75MW for 2011. The panels will be manufactured under the ASP brand, which already has designated 20MW of production to orders received for delivery at the beginning of next year.
Centrosolar connected its newest solar system installation in Turkey to the grid. Alleged to be the largest thin-film solar power system to date in Istanbul, Turkey, the installation sits on the roof of confection manufacturer, Perfetti Van Melle. The total energy output at peak is 31kW with 38MWh of electricity production expected per year.
Q-Cells reached a deal with LDK Solar allowing the company to repay the remaining amount of, US$224.9 million, which Q-Cells loaned in 2008, in its entirety by the end of 2011. Payments of US$195 million from LDK Solar have been agreed to until the end of this year with an initial payment of US$56.2 million having already been made. Q-Cells has two unpaid convertible bonds with repayment of US$642.3 million for the first bond due in February 2012.
Phoenix Solar Pte created a new subsidiary in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: Phoenix Solar Sdn Bhd. The Malaysian subsidiary will focus on turnkey ground-mounted and rooftop PV plants as well as stand-alone PV systems and building-integrated solar plants. The news comes after July’s announcement by Malaysia’s Ministry of Energy for feed in-tariffs on PV plants beginning in 2011.
