Americas

In a blow to homegrown U.S. solar manufacturing, Intel spinoff SpectraWatt will be laying off most of its workforce and possibly closing down operations, according to published reports. The crystalline-silicon PV cell manufacturer will let more than 100 employees go starting in March of next year and may shutter its less-than-year-old factory located in IBM’s Hudson Research Park in Hopewell Junction, NY.

Renewable energy project developer Sustainable Energy Capital Partners (SECP) has formed a joint venture partnership with Korean independent power producer Posco Power to develop and build a 300MW photovoltaic power plant in Boulder City, Nevada. Global engineering/construction/management services firm Parsons has also signed on to the project.

Starting January 1, 2011, Advanced Energy Industries will have two new business units: Thin Films and Renewables. The Thin Film division will be led by Yuval Wasserman who will also act as president and COO for the business unit. The Thin Film business division will be headquartered in Fort Collins, Colorado and will house the company’s power conversion and thermal instrumentation products for capital equipment markets such as the semiconductor, solar panel and flat panel display industries.

The U.S. Department of the Interior has given its seal of approval to SolarReserve’s Nevada-based Crescent Dunes solar thermal plant. Construction work on the 110MW plant is scheduled to begin in mid-2011, with total costs for the project expected to be around US$475 million.

SunEdison and Arizona Public Service (APS) will join forces to build a utility-scale PV solar power plant close to the Prescott Regional Airport in Arizona. The 10MW facility is scheduled for grid connection in autumn 2011 and will generate in excess of 25 million kWh of electricity in its first year.

With solar power projects increasing in size, Bentek Solar has begun sales of its 1000VDC 400 Amp series integrated disconnect combiners.

According to the latest U.S. Solar Market Insight report from GTM Research and the SEIA. PV installations in the third quarter reached 530MW

Solarfun Power has officially opened its North American office, located in Cheshire, Connecticut. The new office, which is Solarfun's second location in North America, is aimed at strengthening the company's service to customers and partners in the region. Solarfun also maintains a facility in Costa Mesa, California.

MEMC has extended its chief financial officer position to Mark Murphy, who will take over for current CFO Tim Oliver. Oliver will remain with MEMC through the end of 2011’s first quarter in a non-executive role, but plans to leave the company for the pursuit of other interests. In addition to his role as CFO at MEMC, Murphy will also take on the role of senior vice president. The transition will be effective on January 10, 2011.

A new report by the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and GTM Research entitled, U.S. Solar Energy Trade Assessment 2010, found that the U.S. not only has a strong solar industry, but is a leader in the net exportation of solar energy products. In 2009, US$723 million worth of net exports came from the U.S. alone.