SolarCity has appointed Dan Foster as its new vice president of sales. Foster will be in charge of SolarCity’s national sales division and will report to report to CEO Lyndon Rive.
Pure Power Advisors has formed a new tax-equity fund known as the California Solar FIT Fund. The US$100 million tax-equity investment fund is geared towards ground-mounted solar projects throughout California and will supply funding for construction, completion, purchase and operation for qualified projects by means of a structured acquisition of projects from developers. The project acquisitions will use a financing structure influenced by Section 1603 Treasury grants or Section 48 energy tax credits.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has revealed two new initiatives that promote tribal energy development and a better partnership between the DOE and tribal nations. U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu advised that up to US$10 million will become available this year for the DOE’s Tribal Energy Program, which will go towards the evaluation, development and deployment of energy efficiency and renewable energy projects on tribal lands.
Martifer Solar has entered into a binding agreement with Sunflower for the engineering, procurement, construction, operation and maintenance for 13MW of PV plants throughout the Piedmont regions of Italy. Martifer and Sunflower have previously worked together on two recently completed 2.1MW PV plants in the Province of Alessandria.
Constellation Energy is in the process of developing two rooftop solar installations in Maryland, both funded partially by grants through the Maryland Energy Administration’s Project Sunburst initiative. The first installation is a 750kW project at Anne Arundel County’s Combined Support Services Complex in Millersville. The roof-mounted system will have around 3,060 crystalline PV solar panels and produce around 900,000kWh of electricity every year.
Solar3D has revealed the details for its new solar cell and plans to have developed a working prototype by the end of 2011. The three-dimensional micro-photovoltaic cell is inspired by light management techniques used in fiber optic devices and Solar3D claim it has the potential to dramatically change the economics of solar energy.
The latest Solarbuzz ‘PV Equipment Quarterly Report’ highlights that the fourth quarter of 2010 saw a further 1.25GW of quarterly solar manufacturing capacity come online. According to the market research firm, annualized c-Si cell and thin-film module capacity increased by a further 11.5GW, in 2010. Equipment spending grew for the sixth consecutive quarter to reach US$2.9 billion in the fourth quarter. At the end of the year, 20 equipment suppliers to have order backlogs in excess of US$100 million, with the majority of these orders scheduled for shipment during the first half of 2011.
Centrosolar Group is to issue a five-year bearer bond in Austria and Germany with a value of up to €50 million. The corporate bond will accrue interest at 7% per annum, and the securities prospectus required for the bond is expected to be approved by the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BAFin) on January 20, 2011.
Jiangsu Guoxin New Energy and Jiangsu Sainty Solar System have joined forces to build a 4MW rooftop array in Siyang, China. The system, which cost US$14.5 million and covers an area of 52,000 square metres, has the potential to generate in excess of 4.64 million kWh of electricity per annum during its 25-year lifespan.
In an attempt to consolidate its position as one of the world’s leading integrated solar companies, BP Solar has decided to enlist the help of a specialist partner to help manage some of its portfolio of off-grid projects. Control of French BP Solar’s off-grid operations has been handed over to Phaesun.
