Tentative rumours about technology company Apple’s investment in solar power have been partially confirmed. The Guardian said today that a spokeswoman for Apple would only verify that the company was preparing the ground next to its data centre in California, but not whether it has any intention to leave coal behind and turn to solar power.
AMG Advanced Metallurgical Group’s acquisition of the Mono 2 casting technology last year has paid off. The monocrystalline growth method has been granted a US patent. The patent was granted to AMG IdealCast Solar Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of AMG's Engineering Systems Division. There are four additional core patents still pending.
Element Power revealed that it has launched its new solar subsidiary, Element Power Solar (EPS) in response to what it deems as the global opportunities PV solar power affords. Element Power noted that it has 21 solar power plants in operation and a project portfolio that totals over 2,000MW. In addition to revealing its new subsidiary, Element Power advised that it had appointed Paolo Pietrogrande as chairman of EPS.
Mage Solar has supplied Deichmann Logistics Centre in Soltau, Germany, a 605kWp PV system. Over 2,600 polycrystalline Mage powertec plus modules will cover 11,600 square metres of a flat roof area.
An end-of-year surge in the number of utility-scale PV installation in China and India will result in installed capacity for 2011 in the Asia-Pacific region reaching 4.8GW, according to the new Asia Pacific Major PV Markets Quarterly report from NPD Solarbuzz.
€100 million have been invested into Solar21, the Irish renewable energy fund, for PV solar farms across Europe, focussing on economies with the most attractive long-term guaranteed FiT rates.
Over the coming months the solar industry is set to experience its own version of natural selection, as surplus capacity and falling prices triggers a significant reduction of the number of companies in the marketplace, according to a new report from Bank Sarasin.
Hoku Materials has moved a step closer to completing its polysilicon production plant in Pocatello, Idaho by connecting it to Idaho Power's substation.
Activ Solar has completed Phase III of its Perovo Solar Power Station, adding a further 20MW to the system’s size. The total capacity of Perovo now stands at 60MW, and, with ramping up still ongoing, it looks set to be one of the largest PV projects in Europe.
The US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory is home to a newly completed 32MW solar array in New York known as the Long Island Solar Farm (LISF). Representatives from Long Island Power Authority (LIPA), BP Solar International and Brookhaven National Lab were flanked by government and environmental leaders as they celebrated the official completion and commissioning of the system.
