Americas

Milwaukee’s Menomonee Valley is the new home for Helios USA’s new manufacturing facility, which officially opened with a ribbon-cutting ceremony today. Helios, who states that they are the state’s first manufacturer of high-performance solar modules that can be used in residential, commercial, industrial and utility-based solar projects, is already manufacturing panels and shipping them across the U.S. from its new Wisconsin facility.

Production capacity at DEGERenergie’s tracking system facility in Ontario, Canada is set to double in the first half of 2011. Last year’s output level has already been increased by 50% and the German firm expects to see production rise by a further 50% in the second quarter as it attempts to take advantage of a spate of recently-announced Canadian projects.

Ultrasonic Systems has recently installed and commissioned its PV-480 coating system for an unspecified U.S. CdTe solar panel manufacturer. Ultrasonic advised that the solar panel manufacturer intends to use the system for the application of cadmium chloride solution in its absorber layer activation process.

Solon Corporation has won a contract to build a 15MW solar power plant for Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E) in Fresno, California. Construction on the 160-acre site will begin this April and is expected to be completed by October.

Solar Rainbow Services and Carlisle Energy Services have joined forces to install a 2.3MW rooftop PV system on Jordache Enterprises’ New Jersey distribution center and warehouse.

In January 2010, the Morris County Improvement Authority (MCIA) of New Jersey distributed US$22.3 million in low-interest government bonds to finance the development of solar installations throughout the county. Partnering with Tioga Energy and SunDurance Energy on the Morris Model pilot program, MCIA has completed the installation of 19 solar projects on 16 school and government facilities in its county. These are the first to be financed through the public-private collaboration and collectively generate 3.1MW of energy for the New Jersey County.

Knouse Foods has prides itself on striving to produce quality foods while maintaining an environmentally conscious manufacturing facility. Recently at its Peach Glen, Pennsylvania manufacturing facility Knouse Foods activated a 19-acre project that uses over 14,000 solar panels. The project is owned and operated by the company and is anticipated to supplant more than four million kilowatt hours of purchases electricity yearly.

First, Tessera Solar sold its 850MW Calico Solar project to K Road Sun in late December and now the company has announced that its 709MW Imperial Valley solar project has been bought by AES Solar, who, like K Road, intends to convert the CSP project into a PV installation.

CIGS thin-film photovoltaics manufacturer SoloPower has received a conditional commitment for a $197 million loan guarantee from the US. Department of Energy Loan Programs office. The company said the funds will support construction of a flexible thin-film module manufacturing facility in Wilsonville, OR, that, when completed and at full capacity, is expected to have an annual capacity of approximately 400MW.

Arizona Public Service (APS) is expanding upon its AZ Sun program with the development of a new 17MW PV facility in Gila Bend, Arizona. With the Paloma Solar Plant, APS’s AZ Sun program will have committed 83MW of solar capacity out of the 100MW it aims to finance and own upon the program’s completion, which is intended for sometime in 2014. First Solar was contracted by APS to design and build the Paloma Solar Plant and expects to have it online by September.