Projects

Nautilus Solar has bought two distributed generation solar projects in Gainesville, Florida and has plans to develop a third Greenfield utility-scale site in the state.

Solar Integrated Technologies and ContourGlobal have finished work on all four of the thin-film PV projects they agreed to build for Coca-Cola Hellenic (CCH). The 905kWP Marcianise, 1249kWp Nogara, 622kWp Oricola and 472 kWp Monticchio plants will generate around 3,330MWh of electricity per annum.

The U.S. Department of Energy has made a conditional commitment of a loan guarantee worth up to $967 million for the 290MW (AC) Agua Caliente solar PV farm, located on 2400 acres of former agricultural land site east of Yuma, AZ. Preliminary construction on the site has begun, with the first electricity expected to be produced later this year or early 2012. The entire project is scheduled for completion in 2014.

Martifer Solar has entered into a binding agreement with Sunflower for the engineering, procurement, construction, operation and maintenance for 13MW of PV plants throughout the Piedmont regions of Italy. Martifer and Sunflower have previously worked together on two recently completed 2.1MW PV plants in the Province of Alessandria.

Constellation Energy is in the process of developing two rooftop solar installations in Maryland, both funded partially by grants through the Maryland Energy Administration’s Project Sunburst initiative. The first installation is a 750kW project at Anne Arundel County’s Combined Support Services Complex in Millersville. The roof-mounted system will have around 3,060 crystalline PV solar panels and produce around 900,000kWh of electricity every year.

Jiangsu Guoxin New Energy and Jiangsu Sainty Solar System have joined forces to build a 4MW rooftop array in Siyang, China. The system, which cost US$14.5 million and covers an area of 52,000 square metres, has the potential to generate in excess of 4.64 million kWh of electricity per annum during its 25-year lifespan.

In an attempt to consolidate its position as one of the world’s leading integrated solar companies, BP Solar has decided to enlist the help of a specialist partner to help manage some of its portfolio of off-grid projects. Control of French BP Solar’s off-grid operations has been handed over to Phaesun.

Southwest Solar Technologies (SST) has completed the first stage of its solar park in Phoenix, Arizona. The focal point of the 18-acre facility is a 75-foot wide solar dish, which plays a key role in SST’s solar dish turbine technology.

Building work on Boralex and Q-Cells’ 4.5MW solar park in southern France is set to commence after the firms finalised financing and planning for the €14.6-million venture.

In the fast-track to become integrated PV manufacturer’s, major U.S.-based firms such as First Solar, Sunpower, and SunEdison are rapidly closing on major PV project developers from Germany, according to a recent survey from market research firm IMS Research.