Wills Transfer, working with Enfinity Canada, will be implementing rooftop solar systems on three of its warehouses. The rooftops used will be located at Wills’ Ottawa, Brockville and Perth, Ontario locations. Enfinity will be financing, developing, monitoring and maintaining the three rooftop systems, which will have a total installed capacity of 1.308MWp and produce around 1.5 million kilowatt hours per year. Construction is slated to begin early in 2011.
The Denver International Airport (DIA) is no stranger to solar projects being the site of a 2MW installation, which was completed in 2008 and a 1.6MW facility constructed earlier this year. However, Constellation Energy and Oak Leaf Energy Partners announced that they will be building the third and, so far, the largest solar installation for the airport at 4.4MW. Constellation is set to finance, own and operate the system, while DIA will be able to buy the energy produced from Constellation over twenty years.
U.S.-based PV installer Sunvalley Solar has added modules from TianWei SolarFilms to its list of product offerings. Sunvalley Solar has supply agreements for Canadian Solar's poly- and monocrystalline panels as well as for CEEG. TianWei SolarFilms will supply an unspecified amount of a-Si thin-film modules to Sunvalley Solar, which are now CEC (California Energy Commission) certified.
Akeena Solar, d/b/a Westinghouse Solar, will be leaving its solar panel installation business in California behind as it begins its exclusive focus on manufacturing and distribution in the state. Since the company will no longer be in the California installation business, it has advised that its third quarter 2010 records will show a restructuring charge of around US$2.5 million. This amount accounts for headcount reductions, equipment and inventory write-offs, lease accelerations and write-off of goodwill, which will mainly be non-cash charges.
Taking a page from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the California Energy Commission gave its approval for three loans, which total more than $10.5 million, to three California-based PV companies: Stion, Soliant Energy, and Energy Innovations. The low-interest loans fall under California’s Clean Energy Business Financing Program (CEBFP), which is supplying around $30 million in federal stimulus money to businesses that create or preserve clean energy manufacturing jobs in the state.
At least 100 new jobs are being created as Dow Chemical prepares volume production of its ‘Powerhouse’ Solar Shingles at its facility in Midland, Michigan, which will start to be marketed in 2011. This is a first-phase program to create over 1,200 jobs in Midland in the coming years.
Power-One has chosen Phoenix, AZ, as the site for its new manufacturing facility. The plant, which is expected to begin operations in October, will produce the company's PV and wind inverters, including single- (2-6KW) and three-phase string inverters, as well as NEMA 3R 250KW, 300KW, and 400KW central inverters.
ESA Renewables is to provide a 1MW turnkey photovoltaic system in Culberson, NC, approximately 200 miles southwest of Charlotte, NC. The electricity generated by the system will be sold to Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) under a 10 year power purchase agreement (PPA).
During the past two years, Underwriters Laboratories (UL) has opened new facilities in San Jose, California, Suzhou, China and Zeppelinheim, Neu-Isenburg, Germany to better serve the PV community. Recently, UL added a new facility to that list with the opening of its testing and certification center for PV equipment in Ise City, Mie Prefecture, Japan. The center will not only test PV equipment for performance and safety standards, but also provide technical support for Japanese PV equipment manufacturers.
Once Mossadiq Umedaly, the interim CEO of Enecsys, returns to his original role as executive chairman, Henrik Raunkjaer will step in as the new CEO and board member for the company. The changes will be effective starting November 1, 2010. Raunkjaer has over 24 years’ of experience in the electronics industry, has held several leadership positions in the solar business and earned a BS in electronic engineering.
