Power Plants

GT Advanced Technology (GTAT) was suffering from sapphire yield issues at its Arizona production plant, according to a consensus of financial analysts and equipment suppliers that PV Tech spoke to during Solar Power International, held in Las Vegas last week.

Risen Solar, based in Ningbo, Zhejiang province, China is to invest US$600 million in a 300MW solar plant in Mexico.

SunEdison has closed construction finance with Deutsche Bank for a 26MW solar power plant in California.

The European Council has reached an agreement over the 2030 climate and energy policy framework.

Soitec Solar Development, a subsidiary of semiconductor manufacturer Soitec, has agreed a 150MW module deal with a North American PV energy provider. The customer has a power purchase agreement with San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) for the solar project in California.

SPI and GD Solar are to develop 500MW of solar in China, each year from 2015 to 2017, for a total of 1.5GW.

Europe’s climate and energy future hangs in the hands of politicians meeting in Brussels today and tomorrow.

Module manufacturer, REC Solar ASA has announced the closure of two supply agreements totalling 300MW.

The US Department of Energy (DOE) is to provide US$53 million to fund 40 R&D projects aimed at slashing the cost of solar.

US thin-film giant First Solar’s Macho Springs project in New Mexico has become the first PV plant to receive the system-level ‘Quality Tested’ certification from testing institute VDE and Fraunhofer ISE.