Power Plants

Dow Chemical’s ‘ENLIGHT’ polyolefin films, recently launched for c-Si module applications have had claims of no power loss after 10,000 hours of operation validated in test carried-out by TÜV Rheinland.

MetLife and Longsol Holdings US advised that they had mutually bought SunEdison’s 30MW Webberville, Texas solar project, for an undisclosed amount, in December 2011. The project was activated in December 2011 and is said to be the largest active solar plant in Texas. Constructed by RES Americas, who will also operate and maintain the project for the next five years, the solar farm is anticipated to produce over 1.4 billion kWh of electricity over 25 years.

Payom Solar advised that as of February 10, it had completed its energy bond issuing a volume of €27,548,000 in subscription. Finished ahead of schedule, the bond has a €1,000 denomination and holds a five-year maturity with an interest rate of 7.5%, due April 8. The company notes that the original subscription period was scheduled to March 20, but after talk about the future of FiTs, coupled with other developments in the solar market, no further subscriptions had been received.

The completion of the 3.4MW solar installation on Edwards Air Force Base in California, US, marks Borrego Solar’s first military installation. It was financed through a 10-year PPA.

As expected by solar industry observers and trade groups, Germany’s cabinet of Chancellor, Angela Merkel has approved plans proposed by Economy Minister Philipp Roesler and Environment Minister Norbert Roettgen to drastically curtail the feed-in tariff in an attempt to limit future PV installations, after a record 7.5GW was installed in 2011.

An installation initiated by Israeli pro-peace scientists and funded by German company Comet-ME is under threat following claims by Israeli authorities that building work, started last August, was constructed illegally. Germany , which has already invested €400,000, is concerned this could lead to international outrage.

The University of Texas at Austin’s (UT) new 200kW solar system is sporting seven of Ideal Power Converters (IPC) 30kW PV inverters. Each inverter weighs only 94 pounds, compared to traditional inverters, which can weigh nearly 1,200 pounds. IPC’s inverter delivers 480V AC 3-phase power and supports grounded solar arrays without an internal or external transformer.

According to Bloomberg, Alex Green Energy has won the bid to develop a 5MW solar project in India’s eastern Odisha state. The company vouched to supply power at a record-low rate and, according to a statement from PK Mohan, CEO of Odisha Renewable Energy, has the option to develop the remaining 20MW of PV capacity from the solar auction before it is offered to other bidders.

Martifer Solar announced the completion of its 2.07MW ground-mounted Les Mées, solar plant. The PV installation was built across 4 hectares with Martifer Solar overseeing the EPC and supplying all PV equipment. The company will also be providing the operation and maintenance of the plant, which is to be operated by Leonidas Associates IV.

Citing an expected strong Japanese market, PV inverter market leader, SMA Solar Technology has officially opened its new sales and service subsidiary in Japan, which will initially support small-scale PV system installations. The company noted that support for larger-scale system installations would come later, without providing timelines.