First Solar has appointed TK Kallenbach executive vice president of marketing and product management. Kallenbach previously worked for Honeywell Aerospace (once Allied Signal) where he played roles in the company's strategic planning, marketing communications and product management. Kallenbach joined the company in 1979 and worked in a number of senior leadership positions prior to becoming vice president of marketing and product management.
Bank of America, Mendocino College and SunPower Corp. have announced the completion of a of a 929kW solar power system on Mendocino's Ukiah campus. Bank of America financed the solar power system, which is expected to save Mendocino College US$14 million in electricity costs over the next 25 years. The system was built in four months and uses SunPower solar panels equipped with the SunPower Tracker system.
Suntech’s sales pipeline has received a three-year hike as the company has announced the cementing of three long-term supply agreements for up to 490MW of PV modules. The large orders confirm the optimistic view for 2010 orders expressed by major industry players such as Canadian Solar, Sunergy and Trina Solar last month. The agreement will see the modules supplied over a three-year period, with 115MW planned for supply in 2010, 155MW in 2011 and 220MW in 2012. Each of the individual agreements has been signed with the option to increase volumes.
Didier Jeannelle has been named the new managing director of Sputnik Engineering's French subsidiary Sputnik Engineering France S.A.R.L. Jeannelle will consolidate Sputnik's presence in France, starting with a move into a larger space and an increase in staff.
MEMC Electronic materials' subsidiary SunEdison and its project partner Skypower have earned the "Solar PV Project of the Year for Ground Mount" from CanSIA, a solar association in Canada. The award was presented to the partners for the 9.1MW First Light Solar Energy Park in Stone Mills, Ontario. Given by Honourable George Smitherman, the award pays recognition to First Light Solar Energy's status as the largest solar energy park to ever be built in Canada.
Following on from its last major order for ‘SunCarrier’ solar tracking systems in September 2009, when a+f announced an eight solar park deal worth €36 million for the Foggia and Apulia regions of Italy, the company has signed a new deal worth over €43 million for a further eight parks.
Evolution Solar will begin distribution of Hangzhou Amplesun Solar Technology’s (AmpleSun) line of thin-film products following the signing of an agreement between the two companies. Evolution is now the ‘preferred provider’ of AmpleSun’s product line in the Americas, Africa and the Caribbean. AmpleSun expects to reach a production capacity of 120MW of thin-film modules in 2010.
Prism Solar Technologies and The Solar Energy Consortium (TSEC) have reached an agreement on a US$3.6 million federal grant secured by Congressman Maurice Hinchey's Office. As a result, Prism Solar will receive US$3,240,000 to manage a project to commercialize its solar bifacial ribbon cell technology that can be utilized with Prism Solar's Holographic Planar Concentrator (HPC) technology.
PV rooftop system specialist Payom Solar has signed a product order with Yingli that will see the module manufacturer supply 51MW worth of modules to Payom in 2010. Yingli will supply the modules throughout the year to the Germany-based company for an undisclosed price.
The United Nations summit on climate change in Copenhagen has now began. The much-anticipated event will see delegates from a total of 192 countries involved in what scientists are calling "the most important conference the world has ever seen".
