Opel Solar will build a 446kW solar power plant at the headquarters of Toray Plastics in North Kingstown, Rhode Island. Construction work on the facility, which will be made up of 1650 PV panels mounted on 50 of Opel's TF-800 trackers, is scheduled to begin in spring 2011 and when completed it is expected to generate around 625MWh of electricity every year.
Under a 6MW distribution agreement, Focused Energy is to offer Upsolar's line of modules to its North American customers throughout 2011, with an option to extend the contract by an additional 2MW. Focused Energy began shipping Upsolar's modules in June 2010 on a trial basis and has now opted to expand the distribution agreement into 2011.
Bentek Solar recently shipped over 60MW of its circuit breaker re-combiners. “There are no fuses with these 100% circuit breaker re-combiners that provide maximum performance and safety with UL 489 breakers. The circuit breaker serves as a disconnect that complies with NEC requirements while providing circuit protection like that from a fuse. The price of circuit breakers is comparable to the cost of a fuse plus individual disconnect, while circuit breakers require much less maintenance since there are no fuses to replace,” said John H. Buckley, sales and marketing lead at Bentek Solar.
MiaSolé has begun the full use of Camstar’s SolarSuite enterprise software in its manufacturing line. The company advised that it looked to use Camstar’s software to help improve its solar operations and increase its product quality and reliability.
GT Solar has received the first orders for its sapphire crystallization system. The two orders, which total more than US$84 million, are from Jiangsu Jixing New Material and Jiujiang Sapphire Tech and mark GT Solar's entry into LED equipment market.
Rhodia is planning to install 12,000m² of PV panels at the Rhodia Belle-Etoile site in Rhône, France. Solairedirect, the solar module manufacturer, and OFI Asset Management will partner Rhodia on the project, which will boast a peak capacity of 2MW and produce two million kilowatt hours of electricity per annum.
United Solar has finished work on a solar power project for the rooftop of the Moon Palace Hotel in Cancun, Mexico. The development was led by Enel Green Power, with support coming from the Mexican Environment Ministry, SEMARNAT, and the Italian Ministry of the Environment, and will generate 220MWh of electricity per year.
Rhodia is planning to install 12,000m² of PV panels at the Rhodia Belle-Etoile site in Rhône, France. Solairedirect, the solar module manufacturer, and OFI Asset Management will partner Rhodia on the project, which will boast a peak capacity of 2MW and produce two million kilowatt hours of electricity per annum.
Canadian Solar has completed and activated what it claims as the largest private solar electric system in Worcester, Massachusetts on the roof of the McDonough Center at the Bancroft School. The 105kW roof-mount was activated before the 2010 school year began and utilizes 462 Canadian Solar CS6P-230P polycrystalline modules. The installation is expected to produce 117,000kWh annually for the McDonough Center.
E.ON Climate & Renewables (EC&R) is no stranger to solar installations. The company expects 50MW of PV farms to be in construction by the middle of 2011, which will add to its 450MW of PV farms in France and Italy. As the installations continue, EC&R, over the next three years, is looking to bring solar power to the same level of success that it feels the wind sector currently holds.
