PV mounting and systems company Unirac has joined forces with Kyocera Solar to establish a 1.16MW PV installation on the historic Masonic Lodge of New Jersey. The system was designed by NJ Solar Power, framed using Unirac's ISYS Ground Mount (IGM) mounting solution and kitted out with 5,656 of Kyocera’s KD205 modules.
Solar Power Partners (SPP) and JCM Capital have signed a contract with Avacos Clean Energy, to provide long-term equity financing for its portfolio of rooftop solar arrays in Ontario. Funding will cover both the planning and construction of systems with a combined capacity of up to 20MW across the province.
Skyline Solar has announced the news that it has been awarded with three new patents in relation to its scalable CPV technology, two of which were awarded through the US Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO) Green Technology Pilot Program. The patents take the total number of CPV-related patents to seven for the company, and include 108 specific claims regarding BOS system and LCOE cost reduction innovations.
The Joint Forces for Solar initiative, organised by EuPD Research and Intersolar, saw its third US outing yesterday with the presentation of the “3rd US PV Briefing & Networking Forum.” As was the case with Intersolar Europe in Munich in early June, the forum drew large crowds of interested parties to the Innovation Exchange Area of the Moscone Center in San Francisco, where industry experts discussed the future of photovoltaics, with a special focus on California, and networking opportunities enabled discussions among the industry’s key stakeholders.
Equity analyst Jesse Pichel of investment bank Jeffries believes there is little sign of growing PV demand after attending the first day of Intersolar North America. In a research note to investors, Pichel cites weaker-than-expected market demand in the US, due to PV project developers and residential consumers waiting for PV prices to bottom.
Monocrystalline silicon solar cell specialist, Suniva is adding 25-30MW of module production to its Norcross, Georgia plant, which already has a capacity of 170MW for its ‘ARTisun Select’ solar cells. The expansion is scheduled to be completed in late August and operational in September, 2011, according to the company.
San Diego Gas & Electric has increased its solar and renewable energy portfolio pipeline with the addition of another 190MW of resources, including a 150MW PV power plant to be developed and built in the Imperial Valley. The Southern California utility and Sempra Energy unit has announced signed power purchase agreements for almost 770MW of solar generation since January.
JDS Uniphase (JDSU) revealed that it bought product design, patented intellectual property and other key assets from UK-based CPV provider QuantaSol. Financial details pertaining to the acquisition were not disclosed, but JDSU did advise that it plans to bring the new assets over from QuantaSol to the JSDU headquarters in Milpitas, California over the next six months.
ENN Mojave Energy, a subsidiary of China’s ENN Group, is planning to build a 720MW solar system and thin-film manufacturing facility in southern Nevada.
After being on a temporary hiatus since April 8, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power’s (LADWP) Solar Incentive Program (SIP) is looking to make a comeback as early as this September. LADWP has introduced a proposal to reinstate the SIP program, which will feature double the funding levels for the next three years with incentive levels falling in line with the California Solar Initiative and market pricing in general.
