News

United Solar has installed 80kW of its Uni-Solarbrand modules on Royal Caribbean’s Allure of the Seas cruise ship, reports Design-Build Solar. The modules cover 2,000 m2 and will generate 111,108kWh of electricity annually for the ship’s shopping area.

Daqo New Energy has revised its guidance for its 2010 fourth quarter, marking an improvement over what the company previously forecasted for the period that ended on December 31. Combining customer orders with product deliveries, Daqo New Energy approximates that its fourth-quarter shipments of polysilicon are between 930MT and 950MT, far above the 825-850MT the company previously predicted.

JinkoSolar has won the right to supply Premier Power Renewable Energy with 1.3MW of multi-crystalline solar modules during Q1 2011. The agreement sees JinkoSolar make significant inroads into the U.S. solar supply market for the first time and Premier Power add another high-profile name to its list of suppliers.

Technic has appointed Wilson Xia as its Asia-Pacific technical director of photovoltaics. Xia’s new role will see him working on the research and development, applications engineering and distribution of the company’s TechniSol photovoltaic processing technologies.

On Christmas Eve the Spanish Government made the controversial decision to again cut the financial support offered to solar power generators. The unstable budget situation in the country has forced the Government into a corner in which it will now make significant cutbacks to subsidies for PV plants installed on the Iberian Peninsular, with the additional reduction affecting existing as well as new installations over the next three years.

China Sunergy has signed a module supply contract for the world’s largest stand-alone building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) project in Nanjing, China, reports Design-Build Solar. CEEG Solar Energy Research Institute has agreed to purchase 7MW of modules for its rooftop project at Nanjing South Railway Station, which, upon its completion, will be one of the most energy efficient public buildings in China.

North Jersey Media Group has enlisted the help of KDC Solar to build a PV facility to power its Rockaway printing and packaging facility. With 20,400 panels, the plant will be among the largest in New Jersey and generate around 4.2 million kWh of electricity a year; construction work on the site will run from January to December, 2011.

LDK Solar has paid US$33 million for a 70% stake in PV solutions developer Solar Power. LDK's involvement will help with the development and management of Solar Power’s project pipeline, which primarily consists of utility-scale power plants and commercial and industrial generation systems.

On January 1, 2011, Oregon’s Department of Energy put new rules into effect, which have allowed for SolarCity to offer its first residential solar lease in the State. As of the first of this year, Oregon residents who lease their solar systems are able to receive the residential tax credit (RETC), which was previously only offered to customers who had purchased their system. Since the credits cannot be passed onto SolarCity, the company will allow its customers to postpone the remaining system cost that is not covered by the lease payments until the customer receives their RETC.

Led by Austin Venture, Lincoln Renewable Energy (LRE) has closed its most recent round of private funding at US$14 million. Aside from Austin Ventures, contributors also included private investors and LRE management and founding investors. Furthermore, Ken DeAngelis, general partner, and Clark Jernigan, venture partner, and both part of Austin Ventures, will become members of LRE’s board.