Power Plants

Representatives from SunPower and the Mount Diablo Unified School District in California acknowledged the completion of 40 solar systems installed across district schools and facilities. By the end of the year, the partnership will see a total of 51 solar systems, representing 12.1MW in capacity, installed across district sites, which will reduce the district’s electricity costs by over US$3 million per year.

Talesun Solar USA, a subsidiary of Chinese solar cell and module producer Zhongli-Talesun Solar will partner with US green-tech integrator VRDT Corp (Verdant) to develop and integrate PV management and energy storage systems. The two companies will also work together on other new projects that as yet remain unnamed.

According to a report by Bloomberg, Angola has revealed its plans to invest in around 130 solar projects. The solar installations will help power schools and health centres as reported by Agencia Angola Press. Energy Minister Joao Baptista Borges noted that solar power equipment suppliers may benefit from tax incentives.

OPEL Technologies released its financial statements for both Q4 2011 and the full 2011 fiscal year. The company confirmed that its revenue for Q4 was US$1.05 million while its annual revenue amounted to US$5.9 million. Both its quarterly and yearly revenues surpassed the amounts posted the year before by US$4.2 million in annual revenue and US$678,806 in quarterly revenue.

SolarCity advised that it is planning to organise a registered initial public offering of its common stock. The company anticipates beginning the offering after the SEC completes the review process initiated by SolarCity’s confidential submission on April 26 of its draft registration statement.

Since 2010, Haiti has been struggling to recover from the devastating 7.0 magnitude earthquake that struck on January 12. A part of the country’s rehabilitation is the construction of the Mirebalais Hospital, a soon to be finished 320-bed hospital, which is stated to offer a new level of care not previously available at a public facility. The hospital’s roof is being outfitted with 1,800 solar panels.

Northland Power and the Aecon Group have announced a collaboration to construct PV plants generating 60MW of energy. Miwel Construction, a subsidiary of Aecon, is currently building the six PV plants across Ontario, Canada. The projects are located in Smith Falls, Belleville as well as Burke’s Falls and, once completed, each will generate 10MW of energy. The plants are each equipped with more than 40,000 PV modules, on sites of nearly 85 acres.

Delayed fourth quarter and full-year results at LDK Solar show the full extent of the challenges facing the integrated PV manufacturer. Having already revised downwards its fourth quarter figures, the company missed revenue guidance and guided first quarter revenue to levels not seen since the second quarter of 2009. Loss from operations for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2011 was US$531.4 million on the back of heavy write downs across the company, leading to a net loss of US$588.7 million. Revenue reached US$2.15 billion in 2011, compared to US$2.5 billion in 2010.

Meyer Burger Technology advised that it had raised US$121.3 (CHF110 million) in long-term capital through a Swiss Franc dominated straight bond issuance. The bond holds a coupon of 5% payable annually and maturity date of May 24, 2017. Zürcher Kantonalbank, Credit Suisse and UBS Investment Bank collectively offered the bond issue to institutional and private investors.

As Phase 1 of India’s National Solar Mission reaches half way, India stops to take stock of its progress with an independent report conducted by the National Resources Defence Council (NRDC) and the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEQ). The report has been drawn from extensive discussions with stakeholders and research and analysis of national, state and international programs, with the aim of aiding the government in overcoming obstacles to achieving the Mission’s goal of 20GW by 2022.