Power Partners MasTec has chosen Solectria Renewables to provide its Megawatt Solar Stations (MSS) for MasTec’s 5MW True North solar farm in Salisbury, Massachusetts. The companies noted that the solar farm will be the largest solar installation in New England and the first direct-to-grid farm in the state.
Kyocera Solar announced that it has been tapped to deliver 30MW of its solar modules for a utility-scale solar plant being constructed in the northern prefecture of Hokkaido, Japan. Nearly 135,000 modules will she shipped for the project, which is being designed and constructed by Yonden Engineering.
Sundog Energy and Kier Construction have officially turned on the 204 kWp rooftop BIPV system at King’s Cross railway station in London, UK. Dubbed as one of the largest and most complex building-integrated PV systems in the UK, it is projected to have an output of around 175,000 kWh per annum.
Power-One advised that it will be taking its partnership with Cologne-based wholesaler Energiebau Solarstromsysteme to international markets. Energiebau will offer Power-One’s Aurora Uno and Trio inverters, as well as the Aurora Assure Plus service, to a more comprehensive network of installers in Germany. The offerings will be available immediately.
The US Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration has released a report on annual PV module shipments in the US. Solar Photovoltaic Cell/Module Shipments Report 2011, states that US shipments reached a record high of 3.77GW, an increase of 43% since 2010. The report lists declining PV cell and module prices, along with an installation rush at the end of the year due to the conclusion of grant programmes amongst its reasons for the increase.
Martifer Solar’s plans to expand its PV power plant projects business remains on-track after completing two of the largest PV power plants in Portugal that have a combined capacity of 22.4MWp. The project developer had around €235 million worth of projects in its backlog at the end of the first-half of 2012, with management expectation of increasing installations by a double digit amount this year, compared with around 200MW installed in 2011.
Already incorrectly type-cast by the mainstream media as the illegitimate love child of failed copper indium gallium di selenide (CIGS) thin-film manufacturer, Solyndra, flexible CIGS thin-film start-up SoloPower has officially opened its first volume production plant in Portland, Oregon. Unlike other CIGS start-ups, SoloPower uses proprietary roll-to-roll processes via electro-deposition processing as its differentiator.
Despite several start-up firm failures and an over-hyped sector, the concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) market is forecast to grow significantly over the next four years, according to the latest report from IMS Research, part of IHS. Though building from a small base, CPV installations are set to almost double in 2012 to around 90MW with a commercial value of US$325 million. By 2016 the market is expected to reach almost 1.2GW.
Efforts by the Chinese government to provide support to its struggling PV manufacturing sector have surfaced in Kenya, Africa, in the form of a government-approved business. Known for its municipal public works, Jiangxi Corporation for International Economic & Technical Co, Ltd. (CJIC), is planning to build a 50MW solar power project near the country’s northwest-located city of Garissa.
Financially constrained PV manufacturers are advised to look at alternative ways other than relinquishing hard-to-find cash to end wafer supply deals with suppliers after a long-standing dispute between Conergy and MEMC was partially resolved via old-fashioned bartering.
