Large-scale solar in India was given a showcase last week when Honourable Chief Minister of Gujarat, Narendra Modi, dedicated over 600MW of commissioned solar projects to the nation. The celebration of Indian solar innovation and ambition was delivered to over 10,000 people at the Charanka Solar Park – a 200MW facility in the North Western state of Gujarat, close to the Pakistan border.
Shanghai-based, solar PV module supplier Upsolar has announced an expansion to its technology division, to offer a suite of testing, auditing and consultation services to local organizations in an effort to strengthen technical support for emerging PV companies.
Scandinavian solar power company REC has sold a German ground mounted 6MW PV plant in Bitterfeld to two Chorus Group investors, including Chorus Cleantech. REC took over the project in 2011 from the plant’s former developer, Grüne Energien, and successfully developed, financed and constructed the project with project financing from the Deutsche Kreditbank (DKB). Construction was finished in December 2011 to ensure the project’s eligibility for the higher 2011 FiT.
Rainer Ott, sales director at DEGERenergie since early 2011, will take charge of the company’s global sales with immediate effect. Since joining DEGERenergie Ott has impressed as the business manager of the company’s US, Spanish and Greek subsidiaries. His new responsibilities will include the research of new markets for potential investment and developing the company’s international distribution network.
Energy Conversion Devices (ECD) has announced that the auction date for the sale of United Solar Ovonics (USO) will be put back to 10:00 a.m. (Eastern Time) on May 8, 2012. The auction was previously set for 10:00 a.m. (Eastern Time) on April 24, 2012 following the company’s entry into Chapter 11 proceedings in the Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Michigan in February 2012.
Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) has announced the achievement of 19.7% conversion efficiency for its copper-contact solar cells. The record, for a selective-emitter cell, was obtained using standard 156mm commercially available p-type silicon wafers and has been verified by Fraunhofer ISE.
Solarhybrid Israel, subsidiary of Solarhybrid, recently sold 201MWp of project rights, which it originally bought in January for US$2,391,705, to Summit Energy of Israel. Under the agreement, current liabilities of Solarhybrid Israel amounted to US$398,617.50, while earn-out-payments in connection with the acquisition of the project rights totaled US$5,580,645.
During the latest round of auctions by state-run Karnataka Renewable Energy Development (KREDL), Welspun Group and Sunborne Energy Holdings were awarded contracts to build solar PV plants in Karnataka, India. According to Bloomberg, Welspun plans to build a 7MW PV project while Sunborne will develop a 10MW solar thermal project.
A Japanese government panel is said to be on its way to setting a feed-in tariff of ¥42 per kilowatt hour (approximately US$0.51), according to a Reuters report that in turn cited the Nikkei business daily. The new subsidy scheme is to come into play from July and is a response to the global disapproval of the country’s handling of the Fukushima nuclear crisis in March 2011.
According to a Hindu Business Line report, eight PV developers have been selected to install a total of 60MW in the Indian state of Karnataka.
In total the state will see the installation of 80MW of solar energy, of which 20MW will be solar thermal and 60MW PV energy. The Karnataka Solar Mission aims to install and connect 350MW by the year 2016. The developers were selected in a reverse bidding process. A second set of auctions is scheduled for October.
