Among the companies to be showcasing their products and developments at Solar Power International this year is AU Optronics (AUO). At the conference being held in Los Angeles this week, AUO will be displaying its full line of PV products including the SunForte PM316B00 mono-crystalline solar module, which will be the modules first official viewing.
Direct Grid Technologies revealed that its DGM-S460 series grid tie micro-inverter was given UL1741 certification. The company will be distributing the inverter in the U.S. through its OEM partner, Synergy Energy in New Jersey and is working on further partner agreements, which are to be announced throughout the rest of this year. Direct Grid is showing its DGM-S460 micro-inverter at Solar Power International this week at booth 4101.
Having successfully completed IEC 61646 certification, Ascent Solar Technologies now plans to address sales into the building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) and building applied photovoltaic (BAPV) markets. Ascent Solar claims it has a significant advantage when it comes to power to weight ratios and balance of system costs compared with alternative BIPV/BAPV products.
Jiangsu Linyang Solar Power Electronic Engineering Co, a subsidiary of Solarfun Power has entered into an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract with Guangdong Guohua New Energy Investment Co to build an 8.1MW solar plant in Heyuan City, Guangdong Province. This project is expected to become operational by the end of the year and is subsidized by the national Golden Sun program.
Currently under test at TUV Rheinland, Green Energy Solar (GESOLAR) is sampling the first ‘smart’ modules with customers, using National Semiconductor’s ‘SolarMagic’ power optimizer chipset within Huber+Suhner NS3 junction boxes. Pre-testing was claimed to show that the GESOLAR smart module could recoup an average of 50% of energy loss and could capture as much as 75% compared to standard panel performance.
With approximately 50% of all conventional crystalline solar modules made in China, the concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) manufacturing sector in the country has been easily overshadowed in the past. However, that could be changing with the inauguration of the first commercial-grade CPV system on the Weihai campus of Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT), which was built and installed by China-based Suntrix. The project been listed as the ‘Golden Sun HCPV Demonstration Power Plant’ by the China General Certification Centre (CGC) through the Golden Sun Project.
Right on the heels of its 184MW supply contract with BP Solar, JA Solar Holdings announced that it has landed another supply agreement for the delivery of over 13MW of its mono-crystalline solar cells to a U.S. solar module manufacturer and systems company. Although the company’s name was not disclosed, JA Solar publicized that delivery of the solar cells begin in the third quarter and will continue through the remainder of this year.
United Solar announced the completion of the848kWp solar installation on the rooftop of Sisley, a luxury cosmetic brand, in Paris, France; considered one of the largest solar installations in Paris. United Solar worked with Soprema using its modified roofing material, SopraSolar, which is powered by Uni-Solar PV laminates and has integrated the PV laminates into the waterproofing function.
Any manufacturer involved in the renewable energy business should be taking note of the move by SunPower to report its carbon footprint from operations. As part of the Carbon Disclosure Project, an independent not-for-profit organization, SunPower said that in 2009, its global operations produced greenhouse gas emissions of 328 metric tons of CO2 equivalent per megawatt of solar cells produced. Due to higher cell efficiencies this was approximately 10% down on the previous year.
A key aim for First Solar in 2010 has been to focus on broadening its customer base in Europe to mitigate potential fluctuations in core markets such as Germany. In 2009, 71% of sales were to Germany but have been declining to around 50% by the second quarter of this year as both utility-scale projects went ahead in the U.S. and important emerging markets in Europe, such as France and Italy continued to grow. Expanded contracts with seven key customers in Europe have led to a 380MW increase in module supply agreements for 2011.
