AES Solar subsidiary AES Illumina closed on a loan and financing package and has begun construction of a 24MW PV power plant in Guayama, Puerto Rico, said to be the largest solar power installation yet to be undertaken on the island. Global Energy Services will act as the primary construction contractor on the project.
Constellation Energy has started to construct a 16.1MW solar installation in Emmitsburg, Maryland as part of the state’s Generating Clean Horizon’s initiative. The US$60 million facility will be financed, owned and operated by Constellation Energy with Maryland’s Department of General Services and the University System of Maryland purchasing the produced electricity under a 20-year PPA.
As the Sept. 30 deadline for closing loan guarantees approaches, the US Department of Energy has finalized another one, this time for $337 million for the 150MW (AC) Mesquite Solar 1 power plant in Arizona. The project is owned by Sempra Energy, which has signed a 20-year power purchase agreement to sell the electricity generated to Pacific Gas & Electric.
The US Department of Energy (DOE) advised that it had awarded a US$737 million loan guarantee to Tonopah Solar Energy for its 110MW Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project. Sponsored by SolarReserve, the 100MW CSP solar power tower is said to be the first of its kind in the US and the tallest molten salt tower in the world. The project will be built on land leased from the Bureau of Land Management in Tonopah, Nevada.
Sopogy’s Concentrating Solar Collectors have received OG-100 classification from the Solar Rating and Certification Corporation (SRCC). The certification qualifies Sopogy’s collectors for the solar programmes of a number of US states and validates the performance of Sopogy’s collector technology. The SRCC is the US’s independent accreditor for solar thermal products and Sopogy’s MicroCSP collector passed all of the third-party laboratory and outdoor tests; it was awarded the OG-100 certification after meeting all durability, safety and thermal performance requirements.
Earlier this year, National Solar Power announced that it had narrowed its list of potential sites for its 400MW solar project to seven counties in the US southeast. After months of deliberation the company made its final decision with plans to build what is being called the largest solar farm in the US southeast in Gadsden County, Florida. While its final decision has been made, National Solar Power does note that the six other counties in Florida, Georgia and North Carolina will continue to be considered for future solar farm projects.
According to news reports, US-based solar installation firm, SolarCity will not be able to complete and comply with documentation deadlines of September 30 to be considered for a US Department of Energy loan guarantee, previously announced.
Former VP of sales and business development at SolarCity, John Lefebvre, has been appointed president of Suntech America, now responsible for boosting Suntech's market position throughout North and South America. The US is a key market for Suntech, and, as market leader in 2011, the company expects to benefit from the US market's doubling this year.
SunEdison’s 53.5MW multi-site solar PV project in New Mexico looks set for completion by the end of this year, and has been buoyed by the news that it has secured financing of over US$200 millions from financier Wells Fargo. MEMC subsidiary company SunEdison has now activated three of the five power plants that together make up the 53.5MW total, and the remaining two plants are scheduled for completion before year’s end.
As the 2011 US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Solar Decathlon readies to officially kick-off its fifth biennial competition, SunPower advised that six of the 19 collegiate teams competing chose the company’s solar panels for their solar homes.
