Belectric and Smart Energy Capital said that they have created a joint venture to develop and finance utility-grade photovoltaic power plants. The partnership will focus on multimegawatt sites in the United States, and will develop projects on a greenfield basis as well as through acquisitions from qualified developers.
Borrego Solar Systems revealed that its solar consulting and development services division has reached a milestone by advising on over 180MW of utility-scale solar project for independent power producers (IPP) and private landowners. The unit was created so that customers would be able to receive an analysis of a solar project’s viability, thereby helping IPPs and landowners possibly avoid a process that, over time, can cost millions of dollars while a customer looks into installing a utility-scale solar project.
Canadian Solar said its new ELPS solar cell technology can achieve up to 19.5% conversion efficiency for its monocrystalline cells and up to 18% for polycrystalline. During the fourth quarter, the high-efficiency cells are expected to be in production and modules incorporating them to ship, according to the company. These products and more will be among the firm's offerings at Intersolar Europe.
Toyota Motor Manufacturing UK has partnered with British Gas for a 4.6MW installation in Derbyshire, England. Costing a total of £10 million, the ground-mounted system will feature 17,000 Sharp 245W monocrystalline panels covering an area of 90,000m2 at Toyota’s UK-based vehicle plant.
Schott Solar’s Poly 225 PV modules received top honors after TÜV Rheinland completed its 2010 energy yield testing. The Schott module beat out 12 other competitors in a test that used real energy yield instead of climatic chamber tests and power measurements with a sun simulator. The test was carried out for a full year under real solar radiation conditions, with Schott’s Poly 225 placing first.
PvXchange has named Michael Mueller as CEO and Olaf Emmerich as CMO after the recent investment round from WHEB Partners. Mueller will oversee the company’s new international unit, pvXchange, in Zug, Switzerland. The company intends to continue recruiting and expanding its international reach while further developing its trading technology.
Swiss PV solution company HopSol has entered into a three-year contract with Solar Frontier. The deal will have a market focus in Southern Africa with Solar Frontier delivering double digit megawatts of its CIS solar panels for solar projects in countries such as Namibia, Botswana and the Republic of South Africa. The companies did not reveal the financial details of the supply deal.
Despite changes expected to the UK feed-in tariff that would make large-scale projects uneconomical, while retaining incentives for the residential rooftop market, First Solar has gained Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) certification for its CdTe thin-film modules.The MCS accreditation applies to First Solar’s Series 3 modules FS-370 to FS-385.
In a move that will help bolster the company's bankability, JinkoSolar's panels are now under warranty with PowerGuard Specialty Insurance Services. Noted insurance broker Marsh facilitated the agreement between the Chinese PV manufacturer and the renewable energy insurance/risk management firm.
Recent reports that indicated PV inverters are responsible for 59% of total PV project failure costs - a startling statistic – underscore the relevancy of a new in-depth assessment of the PV inverter market and technologies by GTM Research. However, the good news is that GTM’s analysis suggests that a new wave of next-generation inverter technologies (both for large-scale and residential markets) are expected to offer significant improvements and, importantly, provide for greater adoption of utility-scale PV as well as better returns for the residential customer as feed-in tariffs decline.
