Motech has signed an agreement to buy GE Energy’s solar photovoltaic module assembly operation located in Newark, DE. The 34MW-capacity crystalline silicon PV panel plant, which GE bought from AstroPower in 2004 and planned to close down next year, employs 75 people.
High-concentration photovoltaics firm Amonix has completed the acquisition of Sunworks Solar, adding much of the newly acquired company's management team in the process. Sunworks cofounder and former SunEdison head Brian Robertson becomes CEO of Amonix, Sunworks cofounder Guy Blanchard joins the CPV company as SVP of sales and corporate development, and Matthew Meares, former Sunworks managing director, takes on the role of director of project finance.
Another $6 million in grants may soon be awarded to several solar manufacturers in Ohio, thanks to the state's Third Frontier Photovoltaic Program. The recommendation announcement came last week; the awards are contingent on the approval of the state's Controlling Board. The program supports the R&D that addresses the technical and cost barriers to commercialization of PV components and systems in Ohio.
Sputnik Engineering has commissioned an 8.6MW PV plant, its largest to date, in Germany in the town of Gerwisch near Magdeburg; the system is also the largest in the region. The plant was connected to the country's medium voltage grid on December 14 by Sputnik's service technician Andreas Rittner.
As promised at its recent analyst conference, First Solar and EDF Energies Nouvelles have finally released details regarding their cofinanced CdTe thin film plant. The planned 100MW facility, which will have two operating manufacturing lines, could be established in Blanquefort, near the city of Bordeaux, should final negotiations with the local government prove successful.
A recent pick-up in equipment orders in the fourth quarter of 2009 will enable Roth & Rau to meet its previously projected sales guidance of around €200 million. New orders received in the quarter to date amount to €100.1 million, which includes an order for several c-Si turnkey production lines to ‘well-known Indian manufacturer.’ The major order is initially worth €68 million and includes the option of being expanded to around €80 million within the next two years.
In another example of American states taking the solar bull by the horns, Pennsylvania will invest more than $10 million in 12 new projects, following the Commonwealth Financing Authority's approval. The awards are distributed mostly to planned photovoltaic installations, with a total capacity of >9.1MW, and include brownfield sites, rooftop systems, and commercial deployments.
NV Energy has been given approval for three separate and long-term purchase power agreements for renewable energy. Given by the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada, the approved agreements will last for the next 25 years.
With the second large module order announcement in a week, Kyocera has announced that it will ship approximately 190,000 solar modules for two large-scale solar plants in Dulcinea in Cuenca and Don Quijote in Ciudad Real – both in the Castile-La Mancha region of central Spain. The plants cover an area of 338,581m2 and have an output of approximately 39.3MW.
Rudolph Technologies announced Wednesday that Tony Mullins will take up the role of director of global process control software sales immediately. Mayson Brooks, Rudolph's vice president of global sales, believes that Mullins' experience will help him in the new position. "Tony brings a wealth of process control know-how to Rudolph," said Brooks.
