Specialist PV system monitoring firm, Solare Datensysteme said that sales had reached almost €7 million in the first quarter of 2012, a 118% increase over the same quarter in 2011. The company guided sales in the second quarter of 2012 would be inline with the first quarter. The increase in sales was said to be due to sales success in a wider number of countries, including Canada and the US.
In a joint venture, NYSE Euronext and research company Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) have developed three new sector indices covering solar and wind energy as well as energy smart technologies (EST). Each index is produced using the different global stock market values of 70–200 industry companies, and a minimum threshold exposure to applicable renewable energy sectors is also calculated.
Ikea continues to make its stores more sustainable. The company has connected a 1,063kW PV system at its store in Paramus, New Jersey to the grid. The system is 132,000 square feet in size and utilizes 4,620 PV panels. This is Ikea’s 17th solar power installation in the US.
Ikea does not have any PPAs but operates every store’s system itself. Just like with former projects, REC Solar was responsible for the design, development and installation of the system.
Bidding for the real estate, patents and facility inventory of failed Dutch thin-film PV cell manufacturer Nuon Helianthos BV, will begin on April 16. The company announced that the pilot plant, located in Arnhem, would be closed last year after failing to reach commercial production due to lack of investment.
Zentric has announced that is has withdrawn from an EPC agreement with Matinee Energy. The agreement, dated January 7, 2012, was for the provision of EPC services for a 20MW solar power plant in Benson, Arizona.
PV project developer, Premier Power reported 2011 full-year revenue results of US$70.2 million, including fourth quarter revenue of US$15.5 million. Fourth quarter revenue was down 66% or US$30.6 million from US$46.1 million achieved in the same period in 2010. Full-year results were down 19%, compared to 2010, while non-GAAP operating loss increased to US$3.8 million in 2011, up from US$2.8 million in 2010. This decrease in revenue was said to be mainly due to project delays in Bulgaria that were pushed into the first quarter of 2012.
Big funding deals maybe a thing of the past but overall VC funding deals remain at record levels, according to the latest quarterly report of solar VC funding activity by Mercom Capital Group. Citing a slow start to 2012, VC funding in the first quarter of 2012 reached only US$329 million the lowest dollar amount recorded since Q4 2010. However, 34 deals were reported, suggesting VC’s are taking a lower risk approach to the sector, according to the report authors.
Cogenra Solar and SunWater Solar have installed the largest roof-top PV system in the US on the roof of Kendall-Jackson’s Kittyhawk winery in Windsor, California. The 241kW installation uses 96 solar modules in a hybrid thermal and PV system.
National Solar Power has entered an agreement with solar manufacturer SolarWorld, in which SolarWorld will supply National Solar Power with several millions of solar panels for the company’s projects in Florida. The aim is to build projects totaling 700MW.
A subsidiary of MX Group, Solarday has gone into liquidation, according to a brief statement on its website. The company had opened it module assembly plant in Mezzago, Brianza, Italy in 2006 and had employed over 100 people, claiming it had achieved turnover in 2009 of over €60 million. MX Group had acquired a majority ownership of Solarday in 2011.
