Projects

As the European market hits maturation, Liam Stoker looks behind two of the industry’s most prominent buzzwords regarding O&M.

International PV developer Sonnedix has acquired a 21.6MW solar portfolio comprising five ground-mount projects in Italy from private equity firm First Reserve.

Mexican energy developer and operator IEnova has signed a US$115 million deal with local steel firm DEACERO for a 110MW solar plant.

Sharp is making available its NQ-R256A (256W) monocrystalline PV module to the European market, which incorporates back contact cell technology for efficiencies of 19.8%. The 48-cell configuration has proved popular in Japan and can maximize rooftop area, compared to conventional 60-cell configured modules.

Port of Oakland commissioners voted late last week to approve a US$8.9 million deal to purchase solar power over the next 20 years.

The US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) has awarded a grant of more than US$860,000 to Ghanaian solar company Buipe Solar, in support of a feasibility study for a 20MW PV project in the north of the country.

US integrated PV firm First Solar has reached financial close on a 48.5MW(ac) solar project in New South Wales, Australia.

CIT Group, a commercial lending and leasing provider, has served as the sole lead arranger for a US$59.8 million loan facility to China’s GCL New Energy for its 84.5MW solar portfolio in North Carolina.

Indian utility NTPC has retendered 250MW of PV at a solar park in Karnataka after infrastructural issues at the park dampened the interest of developers to participate.

JinkoSolar has introduced the Eagle MX solar panel, its next generation smart module for the high-volume mainstream PV panel market that incorporates a new innovative cell-string optimizer technology.