First Solar has completed two PV power plants in Ontario, Canada for Enbridge. The smaller, 5MW Tilbury Solar Project uses 82,500 CdTe modules, while the Amherstburg II Project, split over two sites of 10MW and 5MW, employs 244,000 of the same First Solar modules. Combined costs of the projects were said to been approximately CAD$90 million.
Solar financier Main Street Power revealed that it had selected AlsoEnergy’s software platform for a nearly 3MW distributed generation solar project in California. AlsoEnergy’s technology will support the energy monitoring and user interface requirements for the multi-site project.
Canadian Solar has furthered its foothold in the US market with the opening of its second warehouse facility located in Port Elizabeth, New Jersey. The facility adds PV module storage capacity for the company for the support of its growing customer demands and uses solar energy from its own PV rooftop system. Located within two miles from the port, the facilities location is expected to diminish drayage costs from port to warehouse. The first shipment of modules is anticipated to arrive mid-month.
Stuart Stott will be bringing his experience developing large-scale power projects and his ability to create industry partnerships to his new role as Spire’s VP of solar systems; a role which will see him manage the expanding solar systems unit for the company. Stott comes to Spire from Public Service Enterprise Group where he served as the global and renewable category manager.
In 2010, pvXchange traded nearly 185MW of solar modules and 85MW of inverters working with over 300 suppliers and 2,500 active buyers for the European market. The company is now looking to make headway in the North American market with the opening of its new US headquarters in San Francisco, which is supplemented with pvXchange’s presence in New Jersey and Ontario, Canada as well.
As Governor Osuna of Baja California toured CPV company Arima Operations in Taipei, Arima and Baja Sun Energy advised of their plan to form Mexico’s first integrated solar business. The new company will build a CPV solar system manufacturing plant and use the panels manufactured by the plant to install a utility-sized solar generation facility at the Silicon Border CleanTECH Park in Mexicali, Mexico.
SpectraWatt willo auction off its 140,000 square-foot crystalline silicon cell manufacturing and research facility in Hudson Valley at the end of the month. In August the cell manufacturer filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and the bulk and piecemeal auction, to be carried out by Heritage Global Partners, Counsel RB Capital and Silicon Valley Disposition, marks the first stage of financial restructuring.
Yingli Solar, the American subsidiary of China-based Yingli Green Energy, will sponsor free solar modules for fifty low-income families on the United States west coast, in collaboration with non-profit solar installer GRID Alternatives.
Constellation Energy has initiated its solar panel leasing program for residential customers in Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Customers in Maryland will have the solar offer conducted through Constellation’s subsidiary, BGE Home.
Less than a week after shutting down manufacturing operations, Solyndra followed through on its announced intention to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The beleaguered CIGS thin-film PV firm said it hopes to reorganize and find a buyer and would like to avoid liquidating its assets.
