BrightSource Energy is adding molten salt storage capacity to three concentrating solar power (CSP) plants it is building for Southern California Edison (SCE). The additional capacity will also dispense with the need for one of the seven 200MW power stations BrightSource had agreed to build in the original contract.
Vertically integrated manufacturer ET Solar has supplied 2.56MW of its mono-crystalline modules for a PV project in France. ET Solar was project developer Classic Energy’s sole module supplier for the array, which was installed on an agricultural greenhouse rooftop in the southern French commune of Cruas. Tritec was contracted as system integrator and the project was grid connected last month.
China has launched a trade probe into US subsidies for renewable energy and is contemplating filing a case with the World Trade Organisation. The probe is the latest episode in the rapidly escalating trade dispute between the two countries that was sparked off by an anti-dumping petition from a group of US manufacturers last month.
Algonquin Power has entered into a share purchase agreement with EffiSolar Energy to buy all the issued and outstanding shares in Cornwall Solar and its 110MW project pipeline.
Two more projects handed out under India’s Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission are set to miss their financial completion deadline, according to Tarun Kapoor a secretary at the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.
Photon Energy is stepping up its efforts to break into the expanding Eastern European solar market by building Poland’s largest rooftop array. The 311kW system will be installed on a building owned by water utility Górno?l?skie Przedsi?biorstwo Wodoci?gów (GPW) in the city of in Ruda Slaska and is due to go live in mid-2012.
Google is shutting down its in-house CSP engineering project due to the rapidly falling cost of PV panels. The project, focused on bringing down the cost of heliostats and reducing water usage at CSP plants, was the centerpiece of the RE
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.
