European solar manufacturers have officially launched their own initiative to urge the European Commission into investigating what it considers unfair trade practices by Chinese solar manufacturers. The EU ProSun initiative states that its goal is to “maintain a sustainable and vibrant solar manufacturing base in Europe.”
Credit Suisse, which just announced its US$200 million partnership with Solar City, has additionally advised that it has committed US$200 million to Sunrun. The investment will help support the purchase and installation of thousands of residential solar systems in the US. Sunrun noted that it installs over US$1.5 million in solar every day and has more than 24,000 customers in ten states.
Upsolar advised that it had completed the installation of its latest project, which also happens to be the company’s largest project in the US to date: a 2.2MW solar plant in Sharon, Vermont. Talmage Solar Engineering oversaw the construction of the project, which uses Tigo Energy’s Module Maximizer technology and the company’s digital monitoring services at the module level.
Just two days after IKEA’s Atlanta store officially turned on its rooftop solar array, the company announced that two of its Chicago-area stores, in Bolingbrook and Schaumburg, Illinois, now sport new rooftop PV projects. The two projects cover a total of 248,700 square feet and have a combined generating capacity of 1,989kW. Together, the two installations use 8,463 panels, which were provided by SolarWorld. SoCore Energy was responsible for the development, design and installation.
Solar stocks in Chinese companies have been under increased pressure following reports that SolarWorld’s anti-dumping case against Chinese OEMs is progressing to the European Union. Jefferies has predicted that if the anti-dumping verdict is passed, it will be negative towards Chinese cell/module suppliers, positive to Taiwanese cell suppliers, SunPower and First Solar and neutral to poly and wafer suppliers (assuming the scope is largely limited to cells as in the US).
The latest global PV inverter market report from IMS Research paints a mixed business environment for the sector that has more than 150 active suppliers. Although having defended reasonably well against price declines, compared to the rest of the supply chain, the market research firm is forecasting inverter sector revenues to only increase by 3% in 2012, while shipments increased nearly 25%.
After a rebound in polysilicon sales in the first quarter of 2012, Wacker’s polysilicon sales declined 22% in the second quarter due to customers delaying or reducing delivery quantities. Sales in the second quarter reached €286.8 million, down from €366.6 million in the prior quarter. However, the major reason for the sales decline was due to the substantial reduction in polysilicon prices, which will also result in lower sales being achieved this year than in 2011, according to the company.
China Sunergy announced that it had recently signed a 7.8MW solar modules sales contract with the energy unit of Urban Group Australia, Urban Group Energy. The solar modules are scheduled to complete delivery by the end of August. China Sunergy noted that during Q1 2012, Australia accounted for 18% of its total shipments.
Working with solar investor Sistema Solare, SolFocus has completed a 1.25MW solar park in Italy. The project spans two sites in central Italy, one in Aveani and the other in Savini, which combined are said to form one of the largest CPV power plants in the country. The CPV plants were developed and designed by Ren It and built by EPC company Delta.
Sitting in the middle of the San Francisco Bay is one of the most iconic US prisons, Alcatraz, and while it hasn’t served as an operating prison for several decades, it does now serve as host to a 307kW PV system. Developed by the National Park Service (NPS) and the U. S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) the solar project brings clean energy to another national landmark.
