Americas

Tesla Motors and SolarCity are closer to combining their empires to form what could be the world’s largest solar and energy storage company, as the final referendum for the merger has been officially set for 17 November 2016.

Alterra Power Corp. and Inovateus Solar announced the closing of a US$8.9 million construction loan facility for the Kokomo solar project — a 7MW PV installation located in Kokomo, Indiana.

California’s SolarReserve has announced plans earlier this week to build the world’s largest solar project – an up to 2GW US$5 billion concentrated solar power (CSP) plant in Nevada.

Solar FlexRack, a division of Northern States Metals and a provider of PV mounting and tracking solutions, announced Tuesday that it has installed its G3 Fixed Tilt system on the largest utility-scale PV project in Iowa — a 2.3MW plant that stands as the largest in a series of five systems totaling 5.5MW.

The PV commercial and utility-scale operations & maintenance (O&M) market has been growing in tandem with the growth in global installations. Once seen as an ancillary market, its presence and significance has taken on a new meaning in recent years and is providing innovations and business practices that only enhance the PV project market.

Donald Trump once again shunned solar and other renewables in favour for coal in his characteristic “America first” energy policy, while Hillary Clinton did not fare much better, but did at least reaffirm her commitment to fight climate change, albeit as an afterthought.

Global clean energy communications and consulting firm Mercom Capital Group released its report on funding and merger and acquisition (M&A) moves for the PV market in the third quarter of 2016.

Atomic layer deposition (ALD) equipment specialist SoLayTec, a subsidiary of Amtech Systems has received a follow-on order for three solar cell ALD systems.

After the recent IPO, RWE’s renewable energy subsidiary Innogy has decided to expand into the US market, according to local reports.

Fair-weather solar advocate Arizona Public Service (APS), has become the first utility outside of California to surpass 1GW of solar energy capacity, reaching the milestone this summer.