According to a new report by Pike Research, “Remote Microgrids”, the worldwide market for remote microgrids over the next six years will expand from 349MW of generation capacity to over 1.1GW by 2017. The catalyst behind the increase will be the integration of solar PV, which Pike advised would help reduce diesel fuel consumption.
Lux Research’s latest Solar Demand Forecaster claims Portugal’s installations cap to be the most alluring in Europe to investors. The country’s internal rates of returns (IRR) for the six major solar technologies remain high in 2011 along with Cyprus and Greece, though the financial crisis in Europe could significantly hinder that market.
PV inverter supplier, Satcon Technology is realigning its business operations and significantly cutting operating expenses to reach breakeven mid-year. Europe and Canada business efforts are being scaled back, which includes the closure of its manufacturing facility in Ontario, Canada and an overall headcount reduction of 140 worldwide, or approximately 35%. Satcon will also stop production of its Solstice product line.
SAG Solarstrom has sold its 48MW Serenissima PV plant in Northern Italy to an unnamed institutional investor. The purchase contract, valued “in line with the market rate in the triple-digit million-euro range”, was signed on December 31, 2011 and is subject to the usual conditions precedent. Payment will be made to SAG Solarstrom sometime in Q1.
Weak pricing, especially on the spot market, has forced REC to reduce monocrystalline wafer production at its Glomfjord, Norway facility by 50%. The announcement comes soon after reducing multicrystalline wafer production at its facility in Herøya, Norway by 60% in late November, 2011. REC said that the temporary shutdown would affect approximately 65 employees at its Glomfjord facility.
New Energy Technologies advised that it had appointed Dr. Scott Hammond as principal scientist and Dr. Christopher Harris to its board of advisors. Both Hammond and Harris join New Energy from the US DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), which has been partnering with New Energy through a cooperative research and development agreement for the advancement of the company’s SolarWindow technology.
Taiwan-based solar wafer producer, Green Energy Technology (GET) reported net sales for December 2011 of NT$880 million (US$29.05 million), down approximately 57%, compared to the same month in 2010. Total net sales for 2011 reached NT$18,615 million, (US$614.5 million) up 7.6% from 2010.
Activ Solar has finished the fifth and final construction phase of its 100MW Perovo Solar Power Station in Ukraine. This last development stage, completed on December 28, added a further 20MW to capacity, thus making the Perovo Europe's largest PV system.
Renewable energy project developer, juwi is looking for 40 apprentices as it prepares to expand operations in 2012 after a successful 2011, according to the company. The project developer is currently building a third office block at its headquarters in Wörrstadt, Germany, which is expected to house a total of 400 employees when the new office expansion is completed.
Japan-based Tanaka Precious Metals has taken-out licenses from the National Central University, Taiwan to manufacture and supply ruthenium-based dye compounds for next generation dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC). The ruthenium complex dye was developed by Professor Chun-Guey Wu and post-doctoral researcher, Chia-Yuan Chen, with reported conversion efficiencies of 11.4%, reported in the scientific journal, ACS nano in 2009, operating in the visible light wavelength range of approximately 400 to 750 nanometers.
