BIPV

Global Solar Energy, a manufacturer of high-efficiency copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) solar material and an emerging leader in building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV), has announced Dr. Urs Schoop as the company’s new chief technology officer (CTO). As CTO, Dr. Schoop will leverage his extensive expertise in the research and development of CIGS solar cell production.

Martifer Solar has installed a 2.88MW rooftop facility in the Czech Republic’s capital city, Prague. The 67,816-square-metre array covers six separate buildings in an out-of-city industrial park and is operated by a third-party.

Jiangsu Guoxin New Energy and Jiangsu Sainty Solar System have joined forces to build a 4MW rooftop array in Siyang, China. The system, which cost US$14.5 million and covers an area of 52,000 square metres, has the potential to generate in excess of 4.64 million kWh of electricity per annum during its 25-year lifespan.

PV julist and juwi have finished work on a 7.4MW rooftop installation at Goodyear Dunlop’s logistics centre in Philippsburg, Germany. The system is the world’s third-largest roof array and has the capacity to generate 7.3 million kWh of electricity every year.

United Solar has installed 80kW of its Uni-Solarbrand modules on Royal Caribbean’s Allure of the Seas cruise ship, reports Design-Build Solar. The modules cover 2,000 m2 and will generate 111,108kWh of electricity annually for the ship’s shopping area.

China Sunergy has signed a module supply contract for the world’s largest stand-alone building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) project in Nanjing, China, reports Design-Build Solar. CEEG Solar Energy Research Institute has agreed to purchase 7MW of modules for its rooftop project at Nanjing South Railway Station, which, upon its completion, will be one of the most energy efficient public buildings in China.

Just in time for the close of 2010, NanoMarkets is set to release its new report, “The Business Case for Building Integrated Photovoltaics,” the week of December 27, 2010, which discusses the predicament it feels the PV industry is facing and the possibility that building-integrated PV (BIPV) has to save what NanoMarkets deems as a rather dismal outlook for the PV industry.

CSIRO and Dyesol have completed the first stage of their joint project developing higher performance dyes for dye solar cells (DSC). The first six months of the programme has seen Dyesol build a research-scale assembly and testing facility at CSIRO’s Newcastle-based centre, in south-east Australia.

In a bid to kick-start the photovoltaics sector in the Netherlands, Van der Valk Solar Systems, the manufacturer of components for the horticultural industry, has joined forces with GH Solar. So far, solar progress in the country has been slow, due to lack of a renewable subsidy structure; however the introduction of a feed-in tariff is expected in the near future.

China Sunergy and Pythagoras Solar have signed a five-year contract to develop, manufacture and market BIPV products in China. The agreement runs from 2010 until 2015 and will see Pythagoras Solar produce photovoltaic glass units and China Sunergy supply up to 75MW of solar concentrator cells as they attempt to capitalise on the growing demand for BIPV products.