Americas

With a new US$7.5 million equity investment made by General Motors Ventures, Sunlogics PLC, a solar energy systems provider plans to establish two new manufacturing facilities and its US headquarters while additionally helping GM further their solar energy output.

SunPower has established a new US$105-million investment fund alongside Citi that will help finance residential solar lease projects in the US.

Schneider Electric has unveiled the new 1MW dual voltage solar farm at its manufacturing plant in Smyrna, Tennessee. The system is the first dual voltage solar farm in the US and will be used by Schneider Electric for test and research purposes.

Somerset Tire Service’s (STS) Bridgewater, New Jersey distribution center is donning a new 1MW solar installation with 5,488, 185W PV modules by Mitsubishi Electric and installation completed by Advanced Solar Products (ASP). The rooftop solar system is anticipated to produce 1,197MWh of electricity per year.

In an attempt to further tap into the success of Ontario’s blossoming solar industry, Suntech Power is now manufacturing panels that satisfy the local content requirements necessary to qualify for the province’s feed-in tariff (FiT) programme.

US-based inverter manufacturer Solectria Renewables has delivered four 266kW SGI 266 smartgrid inverters to BlueChip Energy for what will be the largest PV rooftop installation in Florida. The inverters will power the first 1.5MW stage of the 10MW Rinehart Solar Farm project located in Lake Mary, Florida.

In January, SunRun published a report explaining how local governments inadvertently drive up the cost of installing solar projects on a home. Between local solar permitting and inspection processes, a home installation was costing, on average, an additional US$2,500. Six months after its initial report, SunRun has revealed a new study published by Aecom, which confirms how a simpler solar permitting process can potentially generate more than US$5 billion in new growth for the state of California.

SunPower has updated its expected fiscal second-quarter financial results, joining a growing number of PV manufacturers adjusting to weaker-than-expected demand in the second quarter of 2011. SunPower narrowed its revenue forecast from between US$500-US$600 million to approximately $590-$595 million. Non-GAAP gross margin is set to fall from previous guidance of 15-17% to between 12-13% for the quarter. One-time pretax charges are expected to reach US$75 million. Gross margin is expected to be to be in the range of approximately 3-4%, and a GAAP loss per share of approximately US$1.50-US$1.55.

A subsidiary of US Bancorp and a partner of KeyCorp have helped Nautilus Solar Energy close its recent financing round for a 9MW portfolio of solar projects in California and the northeast US. The financial institutions offered Nautilus long-term tax equity and debt financing, which will go towards the development of a string of distributed generation projects under 15 to 20-year PPA’s.

Thermal processing equipment specialist Despatch Industries has been acquired by Illinois Tool Works for an undisclosed amount. ITW does not have any direct previous involvement in the PV industry. Despatch had posted record revenue in 2010 of US$200 million and is expected to produce revenue above US$200 million this year. ITW's revenues exceeded US$15 billion in 2010.