ABB, the power and automation technology group based in Switzerland, has won an order worth US$50 million from Actelios Solar, to supply three photovoltaic solar power plants in western Sicily, Italy. The plants, with a total combined power capacity of over 13MW, will be based in Spinasanta, Cardonita and Sugherotorto and will be 6MW, 3.8MW and 3.3MW respectively.
The Conciliation Committee of the Bundestag, Germany's lower house of parliament, and Bundesrat, the federal council, finally reached a compromise on July 6 over the controversial reduction of Solar Funding. The committee recommended slightly reducing the proposed 16% cuts over a three-month transition period in order to resolve the political dispute over the changes to the country's feed-in tariff.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has offered a conditional commitment for a US$1.45 billion loan guarantee to Abengoa Solar. The loan, which was announced by President Obama in his weekly address, will support the construction and start-up of Solana, a 250MW concentrating solar power (CSP) plant in Arizona.
Wacker Chemie has signed a PPA with Fesil group for the acquisition of its silicon-metal production site based in Holla, Norway. The transaction will still require the approval of Wacker's supervisory board and Fesil's board of directors as well as clearance by the antitrust authorities.
eSolar and Babcock & Wilcox Power Generation Group (B&W PGG) have been selected by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to receive up to US$10.8 million in funding for the design, construction and testing of a modular, baseload molten salt power plant using concentrated solar power (CSP).
Ian Jenks has been elected as the newest member to QuantaSol’s board of director’s where he will also serve as chairman. Jenks has over 20 years of experience in the technology industry for companies in the US and Europe.
Now that the end of the NextLight acquisition is drawing near, First Solar has turned its focus to the large-scale photovoltaic system solutions market with the formation of a utility systems business group. The company's chief financial officer of four years, Jens Meyerhoff, has been named president of the initiative. "With the pending completion of First Solar's acquisition of NextLight, this part of our global business represents the next leg of growth for our industry and First Solar," said Rob Gillette, First Solar CEO.
Sharp has signed an agreement with NED, the wholly owned independent power producer of Mitsubishi, based in the Kingdom of Thailand, to establish 73MW of thin-film solar power generation plants. The construction of the project, which is expected to be one of the largest in the world, will begin by the end of July for completion in 2011.
During Camstar Systems' "Summit on Solar Quality" held in Santa Clara, CA on June 30, industry thought leaders representing over thirty leading solar companies agreed that the industry must embrace the best known methods and technologies in order to advance product quality and accelerate grid parity.
BTU has recently received a $16 million order for solar cell processing equipment. BTU offers processing equipment for both silicon and thin-film PV applications. Recognition of this new revenue will be started in the fourth quarter of 2010 and continue through the first half of 2011.
