Mecasolar has announced it will be opening a new production plant in San Francisco, which will start producing one- and two-axis solar trackers and fixed structures in the first quarter of 2010. This initiative reflects the interest of Mecasolar and the OPDE Group.
Over the past four years, the European market for solar thermal systems (STS) is enjoying interest from policy makers, market participants and end users. In addition to the potential for growth in this market, "the key driver for the market in Europe is government support for STS in the form of financial subsidies, tax credits, and regulatory reforms," remarked Hammam Ahmed, Frost & Sullivan research analyst.
Gary Fazzino, a former Mayor of Palo Alto and Hewlett-Packard's Vice President of Government and Public Affairs since May 2000 has joined Applied Materials as Vice President, Government Affairs, responsible for Applied’s global government relations programs.
E.ON has acquired Société Conilhac Energies S.A.S. through a share sale and purchase agreement. This follows the opening of the company’s first solar farm in the south of France, a region ripe for solar power development.
aleo solar AG has announced that it is expanding a greenfield photovoltaic power plant in Südergellersen in the district of Lüneburg, Germany. The turnkey expansion project will boost the output of the existing solar farm from 530 to 1040kW.
Professor Dr. Volker Wittwer, deputy director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE and supernumerary professor at the University of Freiburg, Germany celebrated his 65th birthday and retired from his position at the end of June. He will continue to consult with the institute, but will no longer serve as director to follow German service regulations.
PV-Tech’s report on Enfinity’s winning a 10MW PV plant development project has been confirmed. Dubbed the Dunhuang PV Project, a new initiative to construct a 10MWp solar power plant in the Dunhuang region of China will see the investment of 200 million yuan (€27 million). Enfinity, as project leaders, will oversee the installation of PV tracker panels on the site and will confirm the contract once it has established the Dunhuang joint venture company.
DuPont and the U.S. Department of Energy will collaborate in a $9 million solar research program to develop ultrathin moisure-barrier material solutions for flexible thin-film photovoltaics. Some $3 million of the funding for the three-year effort comes from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, with DuPont contributing the remaining $6 million.
SMA Solar Technology AG has inaugurated its new 18,000 square meter solar inverter factory, which takes its annual production capacity to 4GW. The facility is also claimed to be the first of its kind to be CO2 neutral. The electricity and heat demand is covered by renewable energy sources that include a 1.1MW integrated PV system and a combined heat and power plant fueled with bio-gas generates CO2-neutral electricity. The company obtains additional power for the facility from other renewable sources.
