PSEG Solar Source advised that its 25.2MW DC (19MW AC) Queen Creek Solar Farm has reached commercial operation. Located in Queen Creek, Arizona, the solar plant is built on 148 acres of land and uses nearly 90,000 crystalline solar panels, which operate on a single axis tracking system.
South Coast Solar advised that its CEO, Tucker Crawford, has stepped down in order to work full-time as president of the Gulf States Renewable Energy Industries Association (GSREIA). The group is specifically dedicated to expanding the use of solar power in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.
The Export-Import Bank of the US has agreed to provide a 10-year guarantee for a PNC Bank loan worth US$6.4 million. The loan will be used to finance the export of PV modules from SolarWorld Americas, based on the west coast if the US, to Barbados-based Williams Industries-Williams evergreen Ltd.
Power Partners MasTec has chosen Solectria Renewables to provide its Megawatt Solar Stations (MSS) for MasTec’s 5MW True North solar farm in Salisbury, Massachusetts. The companies noted that the solar farm will be the largest solar installation in New England and the first direct-to-grid farm in the state.
The US Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration has released a report on annual PV module shipments in the US. Solar Photovoltaic Cell/Module Shipments Report 2011, states that US shipments reached a record high of 3.77GW, an increase of 43% since 2010. The report lists declining PV cell and module prices, along with an installation rush at the end of the year due to the conclusion of grant programmes amongst its reasons for the increase.
Already incorrectly type-cast by the mainstream media as the illegitimate love child of failed copper indium gallium di selenide (CIGS) thin-film manufacturer, Solyndra, flexible CIGS thin-film start-up SoloPower has officially opened its first volume production plant in Portland, Oregon. Unlike other CIGS start-ups, SoloPower uses proprietary roll-to-roll processes via electro-deposition processing as its differentiator.
IKEA’s New Haven Connecticut store has officially launched its 940.8kW rooftop PV system, making it the Swedish company’s 32nd completed US solar project. Built across 118,000 square feet, the PV array uses 3,920 panels and is anticipated to produce nearly 1,099,800kWh of energy per year.
The US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has unveiled, it claims, the country’s first zero net-energy residential test facility, which is located at its campus in Gaithersburg, Maryland. The institute invited local, federal and state officials to mark the occasion by attending a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
AlsoEnergy revealed that it is currently monitoring over 200 solar installations throughout the US and Canada. The installations are found on public schools, colleges and universities, with the company providing energy production monitoring data, along with educational kiosks at each location.
The board of directors for the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), the US government’s development finance institution, recently gave its approval of providing up to US$250 million for OPIC’s first solar power project in South Africa.
