ENN Mojave Energy, a subsidiary of China’s ENN Group, is planning to build a 720MW solar system and thin-film manufacturing facility in southern Nevada.
Semprius has secured US$20 million in its first tranche of Series C venture fundraising for a pilot high-concentration photovoltaic (HCPV) module production plant. Siemens Venture Capital led the investment round and was joined by Arch Venture Partners, Applied Ventures, Illinois Ventures, Intersouth Partners, In-Q-Tel and GVC Investment.
A change of image and specialty has led Manz Automation AG to drop its ‘middle name’ to become simply Manz AG. The company’s focus has been across a wider range of products and services than automation alone for most of its near 25-year operation period, and this name change aims to reflect that. Manz is now a supplier of integrated production systems and processing equipment for the PV industry.
First Solar’s AV Solar Ranch One project has come up against some last-minute concerns voiced by local residents, according to a report on Greentech Media. Plans to begin construction of the Antelope Valley, CA, solar plant in early July could be pushed back if townspeople of nearby Fairmont file an injunction to delay the effort.
While Barack Obama may have reneged on his promise to put solar panels on the roof of the White House by the end of spring, the US Government shows no sign of backtracking on his other solar commitments, with further evidence of this seen last Thursday as Energy Secretary Steven Chu paid a visit to Amonix’s new production facility in Las Vegas.
Solar Frontier has won a contract with juwi solar to provide 3.8MW of its thin-film solar modules for a solar project in the northeast US. The solar installation is set to be completed by the end of the year and will be operated by a regulated northeast utility. Solar Frontier’s new Kunitomi plant in Miyazaki, Japan will manufacture the CIS modules for the solar project.
Solar Frontier is set to strengthen its presence within the growing Middle Eastern solar market by opening a new office in Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia. The office, which opens on July 1, will help Solar Frontier to liaise with its partners in the region and offer more hands-on support for its projects in Saudi Arabia.
Henan Sungen Solar Fab, a subsidiary of Anwell Technologies, has secured funding totalling more than US$100 million to help expand its thin-film production capacity in China. Financial backing came from the Municipal Government of An Yang City in Henan Province.
As the 37th IEEE Photovoltaics Specialist Conference (PVSC) gets underway in Seattle, Alta Devices plans to discuss how it achieved record cell efficiencies of 27.6% last year as well as its overall best efficiency rating of 28.2%. Both results were verified by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory with Alta disclosing that the high efficiencies they reached were due in part to a new discovery involving the light emitted and collected by a solar cell.
The latest quarterly edition of the ‘U.S. Solar Market Insight’ report, published by the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and GTM Research, reveals continued strong growth in PV installations in the US. Grid-connected PV installations in the first quarter of 2011 increased 66% compared to the same quarter a year ago to reach 252MW. Cumulative grid-connected PV in the US has now reached over 2.3GW, according to the report. PV module production also increased in the US, growing by 17% relative to the fourth quarter of 2010, and up from 297MW to 348MW.
