SunPower and Salt River Project (SRP) recently announced that they will be developing a 1MW solar PV plant at Arizona State University’s (ASU) Polytechnic campus in Mesa, Arizona. The organizations advised that this will be the first commercial deployment of SunPower’s C7 Tracker technology. SunPower will lead the engineering and construction of the plant while additionally operating and maintaining it upon completion.
Skyline Solar, a manufacturer of solar CPV arrays for the commercial, industrial, government and utility markets, has won a US$1.85 million contract from the US Department of Defense (DoD) and has since broken ground on the construction of Skyline Solar X14 CPV power plants at two domestic military sites. Last summer, Skyline was awarded three new patents in relation to its CPV technology through the US Patent and Trademark Office’s Green Technology Pilot Program.
Sunvalley Solar has scored another commercial solar installation; this time with XL Biofuels in Thermal, California. Late last year, Sunvalley was awarded a US$2 million contract for a project in Long Beach, California, which was followed by two more project contracts for Southern California sites.
EnterSolar advised that the installation of an 877kW rooftop PV system at Chelten House Products’ Bridgeport, New Jersey, facility had been completed. The system uses over 3,650 solar panels and is set to produce over 1,000,000kWh of electricity per year. Over the next 25-years the PV project is expected to generate 26 million kWh of electricity, which is said to be enough to power over 125 homes.
Westinghouse Solar has been granted an equity investment from CBD Energy; a partnership that will also see the companies mutually explore a wider strategic relationship. The investment saw Westinghouse Solar issue common stock at a price of US$0.60 per share for gross proceeds of US$1,000,000.
PV inverter supplier, Satcon Technology is realigning its business operations and significantly cutting operating expenses to reach breakeven mid-year. Europe and Canada business efforts are being scaled back, which includes the closure of its manufacturing facility in Ontario, Canada and an overall headcount reduction of 140 worldwide, or approximately 35%. Satcon will also stop production of its Solstice product line.
A former co-founder of Sun Edison and CEO of CPV specialist, Amonix, Brian Robertson has been killed in a light aircraft crash in York County, Pennsylvania on December 22, 2011. A brief statement and condolence message replaces the normal Amonix homepage.
A highly anticipated deal expected since Total bought a majority share holding in SunPower earlier this year, should be completed in early 2012. SunPower is to acquire module manufacturer, Tenesol from Total for US$165.4 million in cash. Ownership of Total in SunPower will increase to 66% as part of the transaction. SunPower noted that the acquisition would positively affect its financial position in 2012.
The 38th IEEE Photovoltaics Specialists Conference (PVSC), June 3 – 8, 2012 in Austin, Texas, will be opening its registration on December 26. The event will begin with Austin Solar Day on June 3, 2012 while the remainder of the event will focus on ten technical areas including, fundamentals and new concepts for future technologies, thin-film polycrystalline photovoltaics, III-V and concentrator technologies, crystalline silicon photovoltaics, thin-film silicon-based technologies, OPV, space technologies, characterization methods, PV modules and terrestrial systems and a PV velocity forum.
