Chevron Mining, a sister company to Chevron Technology Venture and a subsidiary of Chevron, has completed a 1MWconcentrated photovoltaic solar plant (CPV) near its molybdenum mine in Questa, New Mexico. The Questa solar project is spread over 20 acres and utilizes 173 solar trackers and Soitec’s CPV system to generate solar electricity. The energy produced at the site will be sold under a PPA to the Kit Carson Electric Cooperative.
Boeing and South Carolina Electric & Gas (SCE&G) will be working together to make Boeing’s South Carolina facility a 100% renewable energy site. The North Charleston site will produce renewable energy with the help of a 2.6MW rooftop solar installation. Both companies maintain that the solar system at the Boeings 787 Final Assembly site will be the largest solar installation in the Southeast and the sixth largest in the US.
Solar cell manufacturers are undertaking aggressive expansion plans at present in an attempt to meet ambitious 2011 shipment forecasts, according to Solarbuzz’s latest quarterly report. This ramping up of production has the potential to create US$15.2 billion in revenue for manufacturing firms – a year-on-year rise of 41%.
Energy Conversion Devices’ (ECD) subsidiary, United Solar, revealed its plans for a 75,347 square foot manufacturing facility in Ontario, Canada. Anticipated to be operational by August, the facility will create up to 80 jobs for the production of the company’s thin-film solar laminates, which will be sold specifically in the Ontario solar market. United Solar plans to modernize the building and organize capital equipment, with total first-year project capital expected of US$4 million.
Solar Junction’s concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) cell has achieved a world-record efficiency of 43.5%. The company reported that the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) confirmed the commercial-ready production cell efficiency under their Measurement and Characterization Laboratory.
In future weeks, SunPower will almost certainly be marking April 12 as not only an eventful day, but a successful one as well. Not only did the company celebrate the opening of its Milpitas module manufacturing plant, but also announced that the US Department of Energy (DOE) has offered the company a conditional loan guarantee for its California Valley Solar Ranch power plant.
The recent announcement by the US Department of Energy (DOE) to invest US$457 million in solar technology development under the moniker of the SunShot Advanced PV Manufacturing Partnerships Program has given the industry a welcome boost. With the recent payout to the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE), news has emerged that Veeco has partnered with the CNSE for technology development and reduction of costs associated with CIGS technologies.
Hanwha Chemical is planning to spend KRW1.04 trillion (US$955 million) on a new polysilicon plant in South Korea to help double sales over the next five years. When construction is completed in July 2013, the Yeosu plant will have the capacity to produce 10,000 metric tonnes of polysilicon a year.
Continuing its PV equipment company consolidation attempts, Meyer Burger will acquire Roth & Rau in a friendly takeover. Meyer Burger said it had already acquired a total of 11.3% of the share capital of Roth & Rau AG from the founders and key shareholders. Meyer Burger is offering bearer shares in Roth & Rau at €22 per share in cash, a premium of around 41% compared with the volume-weighted average share price of the past three months. The total deal is worth approximately €356.6 million.
Wacker Chemie's long-planned construction of a 15,000MT per annum polysilicon plant in Cleveland, Tennessee, has officially broken ground. The project is said to cost around US$1.5 billion and will create some 650 new jobs when the plant become operational in late 2013. With other planned capacity expansions in Germany, Wacker reiterated that it expects to reach an annual polysilicon capacity of 67,000MT in 2014.
