As the Middle-East becomes an emerging solar market, more companies are set to seek business opportunities in the region. PV wholesaler and project developer, Antaris Solar is latest to announce it has opened trading posts in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar. Antaris Solar already operates in Italy, France, the United Kingdom and the USA.
Construction has begun of the initial stage of the 2MW CPV solar plant in Mildura, Victoria. The 2MW plant will serve as a form of demonstration facility for what the developers are planning could eventually be a 100MW solar farm by 2016. As equipment supplier to the facility, Solar Systems will provide its "Dense Array" CPV technology which is said to use triple-junction solar cells to yield a 40% conversion efficiency.
Thin-film solar cells manufacturer AQT Solar has received US$18.7 million from investors to double production at its headquarters in Sunnyvale, California, US. Details of the investors have not been disclosed.
First Solar will use the Waste Management Phoenix Open, as part of the PGA Tour, in Scotsdale, Arizona, US, to showcase its solar PV arrays to power the event, including the waste management hospitality tent at the 18th hole. The company will have exclusive rights to the event as the only solar energy provider.
The government of Qinghai Province's Tibetan autonomous prefecture of Hainan has teamed up with GSF Capital to construct a 1GW solar power plant in inland Qinghai. Renewables investment firm GSF Capital signed an MOU with the government body recently for the development of the plant, the cost of which was undisclosed.
According to Solar Novus Today, the Gestore dei Servizi Energetici (GSE) of Italy will allow TÜV Rheinland to conduct design qualification and type approval testing on PV modules and systems. The organizations noted that the agreement specifically calls for the testing of crystalline silicon flat-plate PV modules according to the IEC 61215 standard, thin-film flat plate PV modules under the IEC 61646 standard and CPV modules and assemblies in compliance with the IEC 62108 standard.
SunPower and Salt River Project (SRP) recently announced that they will be developing a 1MW solar PV plant at Arizona State University’s (ASU) Polytechnic campus in Mesa, Arizona. The organizations advised that this will be the first commercial deployment of SunPower’s C7 Tracker technology. SunPower will lead the engineering and construction of the plant while additionally operating and maintaining it upon completion.
SolarWorld is planning to expand its fight against China-based solar module rivals currently being played out in the US to Europe. According to reports from German publication, Handelsblatt and reported by various news agencies, SolarWorld’s CEO, Frank Asbeck was said to be seeking support from other European-based companies to take an anti-dumping case to the European Commission’s competition agency.
Die Sonnenfirma has finished construction of a 1.46MWp solar project in the Bavarian city of Würzburg. The system, which is the largest in north Bavaria, has already passed the EEG test and grid connection will be achieved in the coming weeks.
The record PV installation figures of 7.5GW for Germany in 2011 have two separate leading market research firms agreeing on total new PV installations topping 26GW for the year, around a 50% increase of 2011 installations of over 17.5GW. Both IHS iSuppli and IMS Research feel confident that 2011 will be another record year for the industry.
