Over a three-year period, Gestamp Solar intends to develop 300MW of solar power in Japan, focusing on rooftop projects. Bloomberg reported that the company is forecasting the cost at US$5,000 per kilowatt, which according to Jorge Barredo, CEO of Gestamp Solar, would be an investment of US$1.5 billion.
PSEG Solar Source advised that its 25.2MW DC (19MW AC) Queen Creek Solar Farm has reached commercial operation. Located in Queen Creek, Arizona, the solar plant is built on 148 acres of land and uses nearly 90,000 crystalline solar panels, which operate on a single axis tracking system.
Bloomberg has reported that GCL-Poly Energy Holdings and Foxconn Technology Group plan to cohesively work on building and operating a solar plant in China’s Shanxi province. The 310MW plant will use GCL’s solar cells, which will be assembled by Foxconn, with both companies agreeing to share the revenue produced from selling the electricity to the government utility.
Head of FiTs of the UK’s Department of Energy and Climate Change, Alisdair Grainger, told participants at Solar Power UK in Birmingham that 98.2% of installations in the UK are now from PV. The government minister made a very strong attempt to reassure the audience that cuts to and degression of the FiT in the UK was a good thing.
Flexopower Energies a South Africa based system integrator is using PV modules from ET Solar and a range of rooftop projects in the country. The projects include both residential and commercial rooftops which are expected to be completed this quarter.
The German Federal Network Agency has reported that PV installations in Germany were significantly sluggish in August, with the country adding only 330MW of new PV capacity during the month, compared to 612MW in August 2011 and 543MW in July 2012.
3M and Ceradyne revealed that they have entered a definitive agreement, which will see 3M buy Ceradyne for US$35 per share. The transaction holds an aggregate value of nearly US$860 million, or US$670 million net of cash, cash equivalents, short-term investments and debt acquired. Ceradyne, a major producer of crucibles used in the production of polysilicon chunks for multicrystalline ingots and then wafers, will join the 3M Energy Advanced Materials Division.
In releasing its latest Polysilicon and Wafer Supply chain Quarterly Report for Q3 2012, NPD Solarbuzz is predicting that polysilicon capacity will grow 22% in 2012 and another 18% in 2013. According to the report, the industry’s polysilicon processes for PV applications are anticipated to drop 52% this year while plant utilization will decline from to 63%, from 77% in 2011. Total polysilicon capacity will be in excess of 385,000 tons this year, of which 70% will be held by a small group of tier 1 producers.
Having entered the Japanese PV market in August, NexPower Technology has announced a 2MW order of its Xtreme+ Series modules for various projects in western Japan. The modules will be distributed via its Japanese distributor, Marubun Corporation. NexPower states that its Xtreme+ Series complies with Japanese JPEC standard as well as being both UL and CEC registered.
The Export-Import Bank of the US has agreed to provide a 10-year guarantee for a PNC Bank loan worth US$6.4 million. The loan will be used to finance the export of PV modules from SolarWorld Americas, based on the west coast if the US, to Barbados-based Williams Industries-Williams evergreen Ltd.
