Sustainable Energy Technology and Würth Solar will be working on a 90kW demonstration project, which will be installed at the Lycée Technique Louis Couffignal in Strasbourg, France. Using Sustainable Energy’s Paralex system design and Würth Solar’s CIS modules, the project is part of a cooperation agreement the two companies hold that aims to provide commercial and institution customers with “parallel” solutions for rooftops in France.
Q-Cells closed the sale of its Finsterwalde II and III PV power plants to Blue Forrest Solar Holding, a joint venture formed between DIF Infrastructure (DIF) and the NIBC European Infrastructure Fund (NIBC). The two plants have a combined installed capacity of 40MWp, which when added with the Finsterwalde I PV power plant Q-Cells sold in 2010, leads the entire site to have an 82MWp installed capacity.
Over the next few months Parabel is planning to install PV rooftop systems with a combined capacity of around 6MW in the German states of Brandenburg and Saxony.
Cadbury Cocoa Partnership is looking to bring photovoltaics to West Africa by installing solar lanterns and panels in Ghana. The scheme will see lanterns given to cocoa farmers and panels installed in rural schools across the country.
In an effort to help India meet its Solar Mission goal of 1000MW of grid-connected solar power projects by 2013, Thermax Limited and Amonix signed a new deal to bring CPV technology to India. Under the partnership, Amonix will provide its solar power generation systems while Thermax will act as the engineering, procurement and construction partner for the customer’s turnkey solutions.
In January, SunRun published a report explaining how local governments inadvertently drive up the cost of installing solar projects on a home. Between local solar permitting and inspection processes, a home installation was costing, on average, an additional US$2,500. Six months after its initial report, SunRun has revealed a new study published by Aecom, which confirms how a simpler solar permitting process can potentially generate more than US$5 billion in new growth for the state of California.
Solektra has received the first shipment of DEGERenergie’s MLD tracking systems for its 30kW PV plant in Križopotje, Croatia. The development is the first to use dual-axis tracking in Croatia and is comprised of four smaller systems equipped with DEGERtraker 7000NT systems.
Capstone Infrastructure Corporation and SunPower have officially unveiled their new 20MW solar system in Amherstburg, Ontario. Although the system has been operational since June 30, it was only formally opened on Thursday when Capstone and SunPower employees and town politicians officially dedicated the 220-acre site.
A specialist in wind power systems, Vestas will be venturing into solar as the design for its new North American headquarters in Portland, Oregon revealed a 112kW rooftop PV system that will power 12% of the company’s new building. SolarWorld will provide panels for the Vestas’ headquarters, a historic building, which is expected to pursue LEED Platinum certification once various environmentally friendly features are completed.
Imperial Valley Solar Company 1, a subsidiary of SunPeak Solar, received a US$77.4 million loan agreement from the North American Development Bank (NADB), which will go towards the construction of a 23MW solar power plant in Niland, California. Fixed-tilt polycrystalline silicon PV modules will be installed over a 123 acres located in the Imperial Irrigation District (IID). The Border Environment Cooperation Commission (BECC) certified the solar project on June 6.
