Voltaix has formed a sales and customer support office in Shanghai, China. The company’s Asian business manager, Yun Liu, will be responsible for running the office and also implementing the regional sales and marketing strategy.
Three months ahead of schedule, Wacker Chemie has started ramping its new polysilicon plant in Nünchritz, Germany. The €900 million investment which includes debottlenecking strategies to boost output to 15,000MT per annum has created 500 new jobs at the plant. Full nominal capacity is expected to be operational in the second quarter of 2012.
No surprises after announcing it was entering into Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the US, Evergreen Solar has been officially delisted from Nasdaq. Evergreen Solar stock was suspended from the exchange on August 24, 2011 and has not traded on NASDAQ since that time.
SolarEdge Technologies has gained certification for its module-embedded power optimizers, rendering them ready for commercial deployment. The optimizers, now recognized and listed for use in North America, are embedded as a junction box in smart modules and are capable of arc detection and termination.
KDC Solar has joined forces with SunDurance Energy and the County of Middlesex, New Jersey to build a 6.7MW solar array. The ground-mounted system will generate 8.45 million kWh of solar electricity a year, catering for all of the energy requirements of the Middlesex Apple Orchard Complex in North Brunswick where it is being built.
Renewvia Energy advised that it had commissioned its 1.26MW solar system at the Northport Industrial Centre in New Jersey. Working with Public Service Electric and Gas (PSE&G) and two of Renewvia’s partners, , the solar project has brought PSE&G’s Solar Loan program over the US$100 million mark for solar financing in New Jersey.
Despite global oversupply and plummeting demand for PV modules and components, the UK solar market is still experiencing large install figures and has had an explosive year with 900% growth. Over 300MW has already been installed and forecasts suggest that 550MW could be deployed by the end of the current FiT period.
Martifer Solar has signed a contract to install a 22MW PV project in Portugal. The system, which will be the largest in Portugal when completed next year, is being commissioned by an unnamed client of BNP Paribas Clean Energy Partners.
Dow Chemical said it will make the commercial introduction of its Powerhouse solar roofing shingle to U.S. markets this month. The company plans a rolling launch into markets from California to the East Coast that will continue through 2012, starting with the debut program in Colorado in October.
Although better known as one of the world's largest suppliers of oil, Saudi Arabia continues to join the solar age with the inauguration of one of its first larger-scale photovoltaic power plants on October 1. The facility, a 500KW system comprised of Solar Frontier CI(G)S thin-film modules, is located on Farasan Island and was installed by the Saudi Electricity Co. and Solar Frontier's parent company, Showa Shell Sekiyu (which is partially owned by the Saudi Arabian Oil Co.).
