GE Capital, NRG Energy and ConocoPhillips have jointly committed US$300 million in capital for a new joint venture: Energy Technology Ventures. The JV will fund around 30 venture-and growth-stage companies over the next four years, including the next generation photovoltaics developer Alta Devices. Although details about financial details of the JV and the initial investments have not been disclosed, the JV will focus early investments in companies developing “game-changing” technologies.
Two of IKEA’s German stores have recently been fitted with solar installations and connected to the grid thanks to the partnership between the home furnishing company and REC Solar. IKEA selected REC Solar out of 200 solar installation providers, who then provided the modules and installed the solar systems on IKEA’s store roofs.
Siemens Energy and Suntech Power Holdings have entered into a framework agreement wherein Suntech will provide solar PV modules for various European solar installations. Siemens notes that over the past seven months, the company has received orders for PV plants that have a combined capacity of over 80MW in six countries.
Green Earth Energy and Technology has signed a contract with Ascent Solar to distribute its CIGS thin-film modules in Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Germany.
The exotic animals and plants at the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden will soon be vying for visitor attention with a new attraction – America’s largest publicly accessible urban solar panel array.
MRL Industries has a new name--Sandvik Thermal Process. The California-based diffusion and inline solar furnace manufacturer was bought by Sandvik in 1999, but had kept its own name until the rebranding. MRL will continue to be used as a trademark for certain items in the Sandvik product line.
After examining its results for the past fiscal year, Schott Solar has decided to augment its global PV module production capacity to reach 800MW during 2011. To help facilitate its wafer capacity expansion, Schott has formed a joint venture with China-based Hareon Solar Technology. The first phase of the JV will add 300MW of Schott’s module manufacturing capacity to its existing 500MW capacity in place at its New Mexico and Czech Republic facilities.
Enfinity has begun development on three solar PV projects in California and also announced that work is underway on its 36MWp Stardale installation in East Hawkesbury, Ontario. The California projects include solar installations for the City of Parlier, Greenfield Union School District (GUSD) and the Muroc Joint Unified School District (MJUSD). The three projects combined will have a yearly energy generation of 4 million kWh and over 80 million kWh throughout the next twenty years. Enfinity will supply the financing and development services for all the California projects.
China’s drive to consolidate its leading position in PV manufacturing has been reinforced with a credit facility offered to JinkoSolar from the Bank of China that could be worth approximately US$7.6 billion over a five-year period.
A New Hampshire pub, whose history dates back to the 1930s, is getting a 21st century overhaul, with the addition of a 126-panel solar array. Construction of the system for the Flying Goose Brew Pub & Grille will be carried out by groSolar and get underway in the coming weeks.
