U.S. President-elect Barack Obama has named his selection to head the American Energy Department. Steven Chu, former co-recipient of the Nobel Prize for Physics (1997), Director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and founder of the Helios Solar Energy Research Center (SERC), has accepted the post that will see Dr. Chu instrumental in the allocation of Obama’s planned $150 billion investment in alternative energy technologies. Dr. Chu will work alongside Carol Browner, who will head the national energy council and led the Environmental Protection Agency under Bill Clinton.
According to a Forbes report, major investment banks Goldman Sachs and CDH Investment have together contributed close to US$100 million in Himin Solar Energy Group, a solar module manufacturer based in eastern China's Shandong province. The investment, which was announced earlier in the year but delayed because of the global economic crisis, has been earmarked for aiding in company growth and R&D.
The APOLLON project, a Europe-wide cooperation of PV research institutions, has accepted SolarTec AG’s application to become an industrial partner. In this role, SolarTec will develop a new concentrator system for the project, which is based on the fields of ‘PF’ (Point Focus) and ‘High Density-Mirror Based Spectra Splitting.’ SolarTec was chosen for participation from an applicant base of more than 400, including renowned research institutes.
SolarWorld and South Korean joint-venture partner SolarPark Engineering have commissioned their first solar photovoltaic module-manufacturing factory in Asia. The plant, located in Jeonju, has a 150-MW capacity and can be expanded to 1 GW, the companies said. The companies also announced a new joint venture, SolarPark Manufacturing Equipment.
Open Energy Corp. and Suntech Power Holdings have signed an exclusive agreement licensing the worldwide manufacture, distribution, and marketing of Open Energy's building-integrated solar roof-tile product to Suntech. Open Energy has granted Suntech an exclusive license of the intellectual property incorporated into its SolarSave line of 50-W, 4-foot solar roof tile and any similar or new-generation tile roof products.
SmartSpark Energy Systems has added two fresh faces to its executive management team and reassigned a familiar one to new duties. The solar power electronics company has named Noel Foley as VP of engineering and Joseph Scarci as VP of marketing, while Frederick Krein, former president/CEO, will continue in the newly created role of VP of finance and administration.
BrightSource Energy, Inc. has signed a contract with Siemens to purchase a steam turbine generator for BrightSource’s first 100MW plant at its Ivanpah Solar Power Complex in California’s Mojave Desert. Siemens will supply the 123MW fully solar-powered steam turbine generator, which claims to be the largest of its kind to date.
Q-Cells SE has been forced to make significant revisions to its financial and manufacturing forecasts for 2008 and 2009 due to the credit crisis creating restrictions on new solar projects. The world’s largest photovoltaics manufacturer said that customer push outs had increased at short notice. The large volumes as had been pushed out are virtually impossible to place with other customers at such short notice, leading to these significant effects on the company's revenue generation.
The solar photovoltaic manufacturer formerly known as EverQ has changed its name, plans to operate independently of its parent companies, and will delay its initial public offering until financial conditions improve, according to reports in CleanTech and various German media outlets. The newly branded company, Sovello, says it will cut its ties with Evergreen Solar, Q-Cells, and REC as sales more than double and its third manufacturing line nears production readiness.
Arise Technologies' solar PV silicon division has met the fourth major milestone for its polysilicon feedstock pilot plant project. The Canadian company said that it has finished the initial construction phase of the plant and that the pilot plant-scale silicon refining furnace, manufactured by Ebner Industrieofenbau, has also been completed and is operational.
