Northland Power and the Aecon Group have announced a collaboration to construct PV plants generating 60MW of energy. Miwel Construction, a subsidiary of Aecon, is currently building the six PV plants across Ontario, Canada. The projects are located in Smith Falls, Belleville as well as Burke’s Falls and, once completed, each will generate 10MW of energy. The plants are each equipped with more than 40,000 PV modules, on sites of nearly 85 acres.
Citing high energy bills as a result of the colossal cost of importing electricity, the Jamaica Energy Council assembled on April 20 to discuss the implementation of an energy policy, reported the Jamaica Information Service. The focus of the council, comprised of bi-partisan and stakeholder members and chaired by the minister of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining, Phillip Paulwell, alongside opposition energy spokesman, Gregory Mair, set the agenda with renewable and indigenous energy source development for energy security, energy conservation and efficiency as well as opportunities to achieve and sustain price competitiveness as the priority.
Solaria Energía y Medio Ambiente has entered an agreement to develop 25MW of energy in Ecuador. The first project, a ground-mounted PV array in the mountains surrounding the city of Quito will be developed in two phases: the first stage sees the construction of a 1MW pilot project, to be completed by the end of 2012. In the second stage, the project will be extended to 5MW. Stage two is estimated to be completed in the first half of 2013.
Poor demand for silver paste, primarily used in solar cell production, was highlighted by Ferro management as a key reason for lower quarterly earnings at Ferro Corporation. The company reported net sales of US$466 million for the three-month period ended March 31, 2012, compared with net sales of US$573 million in the first quarter of 2011.
NRG Energy, First Solar and MidAmerican Solar representatives gathered to connect the first 100MW of the 290MW Agua Caliente Solar Project to the grid. The project is owned by NRG Energy and MidAmerican, while operator First Solar designed and constructed the plant in Yuma County, Arizona, using thin-film modules. During the event, company representatives answered questions and tours of the site were given. Once completed, Agua Caliente will be the largest solar power plant in North America. The generated energy will be sold to the Pacific Gas and Electric Company under a long-term PPA.
WCVB Boston has reported that Massachusetts’ governor, Devel Patrick, will “turn on” the state’s first solar park today. The 4.5MW solar facility is built across 22-acres in Westford and uses 14,000 solar panels. Built by Cathartes Private Investments, the US$23 million complex will be operated by Nexamp.
Energy Conversion Devices (ECD) has announced that the auction date for the sale of United Solar Ovonics (USO) will be put back to 10:00 a.m. (Eastern Time) on May 8, 2012. The auction was previously set for 10:00 a.m. (Eastern Time) on April 24, 2012 following the company’s entry into Chapter 11 proceedings in the Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Michigan in February 2012.
Cape and Vineyard Electric Cooperative (CVEC) has contracted Broadway Electrical Company with a Round II PV agreement to supply a total of 49.4MW energy for projects in Massachusetts. The company will develop, install and operate 44 PV projects in varying sizes, located in the areas of Martha’s Vineyard and Cape Cod. Broadway Electrical will sell the energy through a number of 20-year PPAs.
Former CEO of the Carbon War Room, Jigar Shah, and Eric Graber-Lopez of BlueWave Capital will both be speaking at the May 11-12 Solar Future Eastern USA 2012 conference and both agree that within the next five years solar energy in a large part of the US will be cheaper than power from the grid. They cite the continued drop of solar panel costs, combined with transportation costs of electricity increasing as the factors leading to such an expanded solar market.
The Vineyard Electric Cooperative (CVEC) announced that it had awarded its Round II PV contract to Broadway Electrical and Cape, which consists of two tiers of PV installations that amount to 49.37MW of PV capacity. Broadway will design and install 44 PV systems throughout the Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard regions, helping to supply the areas municipal companies’ electricity at a fixed kWh rate for 20 years.
