Americas

Gehrlicher Solar America has held a groundbreaking ceremony for a 3MW PV power plant being built at a landfill site near the town of Scituate, Massachusetts.

Start-up, Solar3D, has claimed the use of an unspecified “thinner” silicon wafer substrate in prototyping its technology has achieved improved cell efficiency of 10% above its 25% cell efficiency claimed in 2012. The results have not been verified by a third party.

Tapping into the trillion-dollar securities market for portfolios of solar projects moved a significant step forward at a meeting last week of the Solar Access to Public Capital (SAPC) working group.

Thin-film manufacturer SoloPower has announced it is looking for new investors as its restructuring process continues.

DE Shaw Renewable Investments (DESRI) and Bright Plain Renewable Energy BPRE) have bought five solar farms in Tulare County, California from Macquarie Capital.

Businesses from across the spectrum of the US solar industry have been recognised by the Intersolar NA AWARD programme.

Energy company E.ON’s solar subsidiary, E.ON Climate and Renewables (EC&R), has completed its US first projects, in Arizona.

PV system integrator, Phoenix Solar, has signed a contract with solar developer Silicon Ranch for a 38.6MW solar plant near Atlanta, Georgia.

SolarWorld has confirmed it will lay off 100 people from its plant in Hillsboro, Oregon.

GE Ventures, part of global power equipment giant General Electric, has taken part in a US$15 million equity investment in leading US solar rooftop installer Sungevity.