San Diego Gas & Electric has entered into a 25-year contract with NRG Solar to buy 26MW of solar energy from a proposed facility in San Diego County, CA. The new project, said to be the largest solar PV site that the utility has signed for within its service area, will be located in Borrego Springs.
Every two years, student teams from universities around the world gather at the National Mall in Washington D.C. to design, build and operate solar powered houses that not only compete for awards, but educate the public on the properties of a solar powered house through the Solar Decathlon. However, this year, the Department of the Interior (DOI) has made a major change to the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) competition by deciding to relocate the decathlon to an alternate site.
Building work on the largest privately-held PV system in Florida is close to completion as Sybac Solar adds the final touches to its 2MW array in Gainesville.
A twenty-year veteran in the electric utility and electric equipment manufacturing industry, Dr. Ali Chowdhury, is the new vice president of transmission and interconnection planning for 8minutenergy Renewables. In his new role, Chowdhury will oversee the development and business features necessary to bring solar PV projects to their full realization in a swift period of time.
Flextronics and eSolar have signed a deal that calls for the electronic manufacturing services company to provide electromechanical design capabilities to the concentrating solar thermal power plant developer. Flextronics will focus its design services efforts relating to eSolar's next-generation heliostats and solar collector systems at its Plano, TX, location.
Utility-scale developer SolarReserve has been awarded its final Certificates of Environmental Compatibility (CEC) from the Arizona Corporation Commission for its 150MW Crossroads Solar Energy Project to be built near Gila Bend. The approval includes the associated transmission line connecting the CSP project to Arizona Public Service’s transmission grid.
Avnet Electronics Marketing Americas and STMicroelectronics have teamed up to create a series of technical videos focusing on the challenges and solutions in PV system development.
Martifer Solar has installed a 2.88MW rooftop facility in the Czech Republic’s capital city, Prague. The 67,816-square-metre array covers six separate buildings in an out-of-city industrial park and is operated by a third-party.
HelioPower has started construction of its 516kW (DC) solar power system at the Giumarra Vineyards production and cold storage facility in Bakersfield, California. The system will use over 2,296 PV modules to produce 1GWh of electricity per year.
REC Systems and ABB have closed financing and begun construction of a 24.2MW solar power plant in Lazio, Italy. Authorisation for the 95-hectare project was granted in March 2010 and, when completed, the system’s 100,000 REC modules will generate around 37 million kWh of electricity a year.
