Thin-film manufacturer DuPont Apollo has singed contracts to supply PV projects in Thailand with a total of 22.75MW of modules, the company has announced. The PV modules will equip two projects, one located in the Chaiyaphum province, owned by Smart Green Energy and a second one located in the Saraburi province, owned by Inifinite Green. DuPont Apollo is already involved in an 8.7MW ground mounted PV project in the Prachin Buri province, in collaboration with L Solar 1.
SPI Solar has obtained the rights to co-develop and construct 68 solar sites in Hawaii, which will total around 29MW and be developed across the islands of Oahu, Kona and Maui. The facilities will mostly be ground-mounted fixtures with some rooftop and shade structures built as well. All of the solar projects will feed into Hawaii’s utility power grids.
Tomorrow, GTM Research and the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) will release their “US Solar Market Insight: Q1 2012” report, which has found that the US solar industry continues to expand at the rapid pace that was seen in 2011. During Q1, the US installed 506MW, more than any other Q1 on record. The stellar growth seen over the first three months of the year is attributed to the strong expansion in the commercial market segment.
SolarCity and US Bancorp have announced a US$250 million fund to finance residential and commercial PV projects. The renewable energy tax equity fund is intended for homeowners as well as businesses, administrative, school and county buildings. The fund will be used to finance the solar panels and installations, while customers pay a discounted amount for the electricity. In the three years that SolarCity and US Bancorp have been collaborating, this is the sixth and largest fund, designed to make PV systems more accessible and affordable.
Energy Finance Company (EFC), using the Funding Solar Energy (FUSE) fund, activated its 625kW solar installation in San Antonio, Texas early last month. The rooftop project is located on a warehouse complex and uses over 2,700 solar panels. It will sell 100% of the power produced to CPS Energy under a 20-year PPA and is expected to generate nearly one million kWh of electricity in its first year of operation.
TE will be showcasing its new connectivity solutions for PV installations at Intersolar Europe, the company has announced. The new connectivity solution allows monitoring of temperature, power and voltage at either panel or system level. The solution also offers the shutdown of individual, faulty panels.
Eltek is showcasing its extended line of THEIA solar inverters at Intersolar Europe, the company has announced. The company will be exhibiting the new THEIA 4.6 HE-t inverter with an output of 4.6kWp. Further, the THEIA TL 3R will be on display, a transformerless solar inverter with an output of up to 15kW.
The Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition (SVTC) has awarded the No.1 spot on its 2012 Solar Scorecard to Trina Solar, the company has announced. In its third year, the SVTC Scorecard system is aimed at improving PV manufacturers' social performance and environmental awareness of the impact of their manufacturing processes and practices.
Molybdenum, commonly used as the back-contact material in CIGS solar cells, has been the subject of an in-depth study by sputtering target manufacturer Plansee, working in collaboration with TU Bergakademie Freiberg. Plansee’s results, presented at the ICMCTF Conference, identified the process errors and defect types present in molybdenum thin films that can have a detrimental effect on electrical conductivity.
Fraunhofer ISE recently confirmed that Kaneka and imec’s six-inch, semi-square, heterojunction silicon solar cell has a certified power conversion efficiency of 22.68%. The solar cell has an electroplated copper contact grid on top of a transparent oxide layer, which essentially replaces the traditional silver screen printing and is said to lead to higher efficiencies with lower manufacturing costs.
