SolarWorld noted that its large-scale system business expansion has been successful thus far with the company pointing to 33MW of total power being connected to the grid in Germany during Q2 2012. The company connected five solar farms in commercial and industrial areas in the Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Lower Saxony and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The farms will supply over 30 million kWh of power per year.
On the back of a two-day blackout in India which caused tragedy, chaos and loss of face at the end of July, Bloomberg has revealed that US solar giant First Solar is drawing out plans to develop solar farms in India as repeated power outages spur on demand for solar power.
Ingenostrum, a Spanish developer of PV projects, is planning to build another large-scale solar power plant in Antofagasta, Chile, Photon has revealed.
Non-governmental organization (NGO), the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), is accusing US thin-film manufacturers of using a loop hole in the Indian government’s renewable energy scheme to “ruin the Indian domestic PV industry”. Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) initiative mandates a domestic content requirement, however, only for crystalline PV and not for thin-film.
IBC Solar’s Turkish subsidiary IBC Solar Yat Ve Tic has announced that it has completed the installation of its Konya PV plant, which it claims is the first grid-connected PV power plant in Turkey.
Following its two requests for tenders (RFTs), the French government has selected bids for 541MW of solar plants, using various technologies, including, five projects from Element Power Solar, which total 18MW. Element Power’s projects include the 2.06MW Tournus installation, the 9.51MW site in Orain, Besset’s 2.16MW project, the 2.66MW installation in Soucia and Sydom’s 1.36MW installation.
EDA, the utility responsible for the production, distribution and commercialization of electricity in the nine Azorean islands, and Younicos have teamed up to develop what has been labelled as the world’s first MW-scale renewable energy system based on up to 100% solar and wind power. The system will be installed on Graciosa, an Azorean island.
All assets of GSF Capital and its senior manager, Javier Romero have been frozen by an Italian court over claims that Suntech and its chairman and CEO, Dr. Zhengrong Shi were victims of fraud. The court also appointed a manager to take control of the Fund, though Suntech did not provide further insight into how the affair happened.
After entering discussions concerning two PPAs, Corporación Dominicana de Empresas Eléctricas Estatales (CDEEE) has signed on the dotted line enabling the state-owned utility to purchase output from two 58MW PV projects in the Dominican Republic.
The government of the state of Gujarat in India has confirmed it is exploring the possibility of setting up a 1,000MW solar power project in conjunction with the International Finance Corporation (IFC). Gujarat estimates that the project could cost around Rs 8 to 9 crore per MW, therefore, the 1,000MW project could cost anywhere between Rs 8,000 to 9,000 crore.
