News

Although the official ceremony to celebrate the installation of the 1.1MW solar energy system installed by Perpetual Energy Systems at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) won’t take place until the end of October, both organizations are celebrating not only the systems completion, but Caltech’s solar milestone. With this installation, Caltech has reached its goal to install 1.3MW of solar power by 2010 and will benefit from 1,646,668kWh of renewable energy in one year from the new system alone.

As Vern Heinrichs (pictured), the current CEO, retires from his executive position he’s held since 2009, Arise Technologies’ board has chosen his successor in Daniel Shea. The management change is effective as of October 21, with Heinrichs agreeing to be a consultant for the company for three months. In addition, as Heinrichs is also stepping down from his position as director, Shea is to be nominated as his replacement.

The first wave of solar park announcements in the UK is in full swing. Many planned projects are designed to take advantage of the highest irradiance levels in the country, which are found in Cornwall. However, one of the pioneering sites, which is backed by a core team of experienced PV project developers and Q-Cells cofounder and former CEO Anton Milner, is planning a 5MW crystalline-based plant in Bourn, Cambridge.

Although the official ceremony to celebrate the installation of the 1.1MW solar energy system installed by Perpetual Energy Systems at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) won’t take place until the end of October, both organizations are celebrating not only the systems completion, but Caltech’s solar milestone. With this installation, Caltech has reached its goal to install 1.3MW of solar power by 2010 and will benefit from 1,646,668kWh of renewable energy in one year from the new system alone.

The first wave of solar park announcements in the UK is in full swing. Many planned projects are designed to take advantage of the highest irradiance levels in the country, which are found in Cornwall. However, one of the pioneering sites, which is backed by a core team of experienced PV project developers and Q-Cells cofounder and former CEO Anton Milner, is planning a 5MW crystalline-based plant in Bourn, Cambridge.

Constellation Energy will be developing a 5.2MW DC solar PV system with Johnson Matthey and Preferred Unlimited on the Johnson Matthey facility in West Deptford, New Jersey. Constellation Energy will not only own the system, but also be responsible for its financing, operation and maintenance. In turn, Johnson Matthew will be able to purchase the electricity produced on the site under a 20-year PPA.

Suntech and Calisolar have signed a letter of intent to construct a solar silicon manufacturing facility in Ontario, Canada, in order to significantly expand the existing manufacturing operations in Vaughan. The plant will add new operators and engineers, doubling total employment at Calisolar's wholly owned subsidiary, 6N Silicon, to more than 350.

The UK's Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, announced the coalition government's Comprehensive Spending review, revealing that there will be no immediate cuts to the country's solar feed-in tariff, according to PV-Tech's UK sister site, Solar Power Portal.

Adding to over 200MW of orders already announced this month, JinkoSolar has signed a follow-up supply agreement with Enfinity Asia Pacific for the supply of 100MW of photovoltaic modules throughout 2011. The companies had already signed an agreement earlier in 2010 for the delivery of 24MW.

Taking on the task of spreading the word of the UK’s potential in the solar market, Solar Power UK organised the hugely successful conference on October 18-19. The conference, the theme of which was “Enabling the UK Solar Market for 2011,” drew over 450 delegates from all facets of the solar PV industry, including installers, suppliers, manufacturers, investment companies, and members of the media.