A group of solar companies disappointed by the UK’s Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC) decision to cut the feed-in tariff for solar PV installations over 50kW has been granted permission to proceed with its legal case. A High Court judge has ruled that the group of solar developers seeking a judicial review against Government can now advance with its case against Energy and Climate Change Secretary Chris Huhne.
Bosch Solar Energy has begun construction of what will be one of the largest solar projects in the UK. Located in Trefullock, southern England, the 5MW park is expected to be connected to the grid this July.
SolarEdge Technologies and SolConTec International have signed a business partnership for the distribution, system design and installation of SolarEdge performance optimizers and PV inverters. SolConTec is expected to roll out the technology across Germany, Italy and Greece.
Tianwei New Energy (Yangzhou) has successfully passed the TÜV Rheinland independent certification process, shortly after obtaining the TÜV Southern Germany independent authentication certificate. The company’s monocrystalline modules range from 85W to 310W, while the polycrystalline modules range from 170W to 305W.
Utilizing the globe’s most popular sport to increase the visibility of photovoltaics worldwide, Yingli Green Energy has become an official sponsor of the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. The contract follows on from the company’s marked success as supporter of the World Cup in South Africa in 2010. Thierry Weil, FIFA’s marketing director said, "We could not have organized the FIFA World Cup on the scale that we saw in 2010 without the support of sponsors such as Yingli Solar."
Ideematec and Solaria are collaborating to produce 40MW of their new STS-1 tracking system, which uses Solaria’s low-concentration, high-efficiency PV modules with Ideematec’s trackers. The companies will offer over 80,000 of the new ground-mounted tracking system units, which are specifically designed for large commercial and utility customers.
Enecsys has officially introduced its new SMI-D480W-60, 480W micro-inverter, which affixes to the railing system and can receive DC input from two independent solar modules. The Duo micro-inverter allows maximum power point tracking from both modules and is said to diminish the inverter cost in comparison to the one micro-inverter per module model.
MetCap Energy Investments, a Turkish project developer, has revealed that it will use GE Energy’s FlexEfficiency technology at its integrated renewables combined cycle (IRCC) power plant in Karaman, Turkey. The project carries a 530MW rating and features a 50Hz 9FB gas turbine, a steam turbine, a generator, 22MW of GE wind turbines and 50MW of eSolar’s concentrated solar thermal tower technology. The natural gas, wind and solar thermal power will all be incorporated in the IRCC power plant with GE’s Mark Vie plant control system.
Playing host to the world’s largest exhibition for the solar industry, the Messe München has once again opened its doors to Intersolar Europe. Thousands of visitors and exhibitors are expected to attend this year’s event, which is estimated to see more than 2,200 companies from 47 countries showcase products and services in the areas of photovoltaics, PV production and solar thermal technology.
Konarka Technologies’ New Bedford, Massachusetts facility now features the world’s first OPV semi-transparent BIPV curtain wall, laminated onto seven of the company’s south and east facing 56”x67” windows. Utilizing its own Power Plastic technology, Konarka was able to incorporate the technology into the building structure, producing the largest OPV installation of its kind.
