Nicaragua’s Ministry of Energy and Mines has started construction on a 1.38MW project in the west of the country. The solar farm, located 12km from the city of Diriamba, will be partly funded by the Japanese, with an investment of US$12 million. According to Nicaraguan newspaper El Nuavo Diario, the PV installation will become the largest in Central America.
Istanbul, Turkey-based HITTITE Solar Energy has been confirmed as a sponsor of the Solar Technology Acceleration Centre (SolarTAC). HITTITE is currently developing a comprehensive solar thermal system.
SunEdison has announced the connection of a 25MW solar power plant in Gujarat, India to the grid. The plant is located in a solar park. Charanka in the Patan district. The park is home to a variety of PV facilities by different developers, generating over 200MW in total. SunEdison’s plant is equipped with more than 89,000 PV modules and has been completed in only four months. As a participant in the Gujarat solar project, SunEdison has connected a total of 45MW in the Gujarat region.
Waaree Energies has connected a Greentech Power 5MW solar power plant near Kolayat in the Rajasthan region to the grid, the company has announced. The plant is equipped with Waaree crystalline PV modules, produced at the company’s manufacturing plant in Surat.
Canadian Solar and SkyPower Energy have entered a purchase agreement under which Canadian Solar will purchase a majority in 16 of SkyPower’s Ontario PV projects. Fifteen of these projects are included in Ontario’s FiT program while one is part of the Ontario renewable energy standard offer program.
Updated: A severe cost-cutting exercise and manufacturing realignment is underway at First Solar as it plans to axe around 30% of its workforce, permanently close its German manufacturing operations and idle four lines at its facilities in Malaysia. Management blamed the move on the market conditions in Europe and the rapidly changing market demand dynamics within the industry for the restructuring.
The European Photonics Industry Consortium (EPIC) has announced that Carlos Lee will become its new director general with immediate effect. The announcement, made at the association’s recent annual general meeting, will see Lee replace Thomas Pearsall, who has been with the organization since its formulation in 2003.
Founder and Chairman of the Radiant Group, Winston Xu Biao is the newest member of Ascent Solar Technologies’ board of directors. Xu will help the company oversee new market opportunities, as well as its re-entrance into the BIPV and BAPV markets, which it delayed in March 2011.
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the University of Florida and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) will lead the consortia that will form the US-India Joint Clean Energy Research and Development Center (JCERDC), funded by the Department of Energy (DOE) with US$125 million. The US institutions are teaming up with three Indian institutions: the Indian Institute of Science-Bangalore, the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology-Hyderabad and the CEPT University-Ahmedabad.
Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E), San Diego Gas and Electric (SDG&E) and Southern California Edison need to explain their methods in calculating the quantity of net-metered energy to the grid, the Californian Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has announced.
