In two supply agreements totalling 58MW, Yingli Green Energy has signed contracts with German PV companies GeckoLogic GmbH and Sinosol AG. GeckoLogic has ordered 28MW of modules, with an option to order an additional 7MW, while Sinosol will be supplied with 30MW.
Advent Solar has added financial veteran Dick Trueblood andmanufacturing expert Bernard Wilimitis to its executive managementteam. Trueblood joins the company as its CFO, responsible for financial management, taxation, and global businessstructuring in support of international growth. Wilimitis was promotedto VP of manufacturing and operations, where he oversees allmanufacturing and operations.
Suntech will supply 1.6MW of solar panels to Sun Devil Solar LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Integrys Energy Services, for its PV project with Arizona State University (ASU). The panels will be installed on top of two elevated parking structures in the centre of ASU’s main campus using a tracking system. The project will be the state’s largest building-mounted project when it reaches completion at the end of 2008.
Neo Solar Power (NSP) has placed a $450 million multi-crystalline silicon wafer supply contract with REC ASA. The contract will start in the second half of 2009 and run through 2015. The agreement is structured as a take-or-pay contract with pre-determined prices and volumes for the entire contract period, REC said.
On a recent US Clean Energy and Environment Trade Mission to India and China, Patrick Peyton (pictured), Chairman and CEO of Despatch Industries, spoke with leading Indian government officials in New Delhi, Hyderabad and Mumbai on the subject of clean technology business opportunities. The mission, which was led by U.S. Commerce Assistant Secretary David Bohigian and Carmine D’Aloisio, Minister-Counselor for Commercial Affairs, saw the participation of 19 industry delegates.
SolarPower Restoration Systems, Inc., the BIPV technology company, has announced that it has signed a non-binding letter of intent with SBM Solar, Inc. for the supply of a minimum of 10MW of solar modules per year for the three years commencing 2009. The modules will incorporate SBM’s new polymer surfaced composite panel crystalline module design.
Six early-stage and established photovoltaic companies based inCalifornia and New England have been awarded up to $17.6 million todevelop advanced solar PV manufacturing technologies as part of theSolar America Initiative, the U.S. Department of Energy announced. DOEsays that, including the costshare from industry--which will be at least 20%-- the totalresearch investment is expected to reach up to $35.4 million.
British Gas is to enter the photovoltaics market in the UK after its owner, Centrica PLC said it had acquired Solar Technologies Group Limited, an installer of PV and BIPV systems in the country, including the BIPV solar system for the London City Hall, designed by Fosters and using E-Ton Solar Tech’s crystalline PV modules.
In its continued efforts to become a major force in the materials metrology markets for both semiconductor and photovoltaics industries, Semilab Co. Ltd., has acquired French metrology equipment specialist SOPRA SA. The all cash transaction was closed on the 17th September, 2008. Details of the deal were not announced.
The California Academy of Sciences (Academy) in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, California is to reopen this weekend following a closure for establishment of the new facility. An interesting aspect of this new construct is the ‘Living Roof’, an architecturally designed display roof that features 60,000 SunPower solar cells incorporated in 720 custom-built glass panels.
