Kyocera Corporation have announced that 960-kilowatts (kW) of its solar modules (roughly 4,300 units) have been installed on the roof of the recently opened AEON Itami-Koya shopping center (operated by AEON Retail Co., Ltd.) in Itami City, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan.
Spire is launching a new customer service initiative where it will make its simulation test facilities and services available to PV system installers. The company has over 30 test facilities and runs the Advanced Technology center, which is said to help material developers, module manufacturers and research groups advance their technology. The technology center also features a complete module assembly line and a Spi-Sun Simulator 4600SLP.
OPEL Solar International, the joint venture between OPEL Solar and Ecotech Environmental Technology, has been awarded its first order, just over three months after its formation. The company will provide 5MW of its HCPV panels and dual axis trackers to one of China’s electric power companies. OPEL Solar International initially expected the order to be for 2MW, but looks at the doubled purchase order as a way for it to break into the HCPV market in East Asia. Deliveries should start in the second quarter of 2011 and be completed during 2012.
Sacramento City Council has approved SolarCity’s request to build a 1.9MW multi-site system in the city centre. When completed, the development will be the largest in Sacramento and generate 2.6 million kWh of electricity in the first year.
SunWize Systems has completed the first stage of its 4.45MW car park solar array. The system, situated on top of a Veteran’s Affairs (VA) medical center in Phoenix, Arizona, is one of the largest of its kind in the U.S. and is expected to be completed in July 2012.
Belectric and Sun & Life are staking their claim in what they call the largest solar power plant in Saudi Arabia. The two companies are partnering on a 10MW PV carport system at Dhahran’s North Park offices of Saudi Aramco. The large-scale power plant will cover all of the 4,500 parking spaces and feed into the public grid by the end of this year.
Spain’s Ministry for Industry has approved 923 new solar projects for Q1 2011, all of which will benefit from the current feed-in tariff rates. The 116MW of new installations have been endorsed just in time to avoid the government’s subsidy reductions that come into play from Q2.
A 1MW concentrator photovoltaic power plant built on six acres of land formerly reserved for baby pistachio trees has been activated and is providing electricity to the Southern California Edison regional grid in Central California. The site, which features SolFocus CPV systems, is located on the Nichols Farms property in Hanford. Sol Orchard developed the project, with Bechtel Power providing the engineering, procurement, and construction expertise.
Capital Dynamics and Tangent Energy Solutions have signed a joint development agreement, which will see the two companies working together on commercial-scale solar energy projects throughout the United States. Under the agreement, Capital Dynamics will arrange the funding necessary to build, own and operate existing and future solar projects developed by Tangent.
The fallout from the Fukushima nuclear disaster looks set to continue after an official from China’s National Development and Reform Commission revealed the government was planning to cut its 2020 target for nuclear power capacity.
