Intertek’s Lake Forest, California laboratory has been designated as a certified body testing laboratory for IEC 62108 with the company receiving accreditation by the IECEE to issue IEC Certification Body (CB) reports for CPV modules to IEC the standard. The certification enables Intertek to provide CPV manufacturers with a CB certification and test reports, which, it notes, can be used to obtain global certifications with IECEE member countries and participating certification bodies on top of receiving North American certification.
Market research firms Boston Consulting and Pike Research, have estimated a growth of more than US$10 billion over the next five years for the stationary energy storage market. An increased use of advanced battery technologies and new smart-grid technologies to enable the wide-scale use of wind and solar energy has could lead to as much as a 30% increase.
The Bankruptcy Court overseeing Solyndra's insolvency has assigned Jones Lang LaSalle to undertake the sale of its manufacturing plant in Fremont, California. The 450,000-square-foot manufacturing facility was said to be designed to exceed California seismic standards and can be operating immediately following a seismic event, though not at the levels created by the current solar industry shakeout.
The Coalition for Affordable Solar Energy (CASE) announced GT Advanced Technologies and REC Silicon have been welcomed into the fold. The US-based companies will be joining the cause against the Coalition for American Solar Manufacturers (CASM) who claims Chinese manufacturers are trading unfairly.
Apple has announced in its Facilities Report it is to construct the largest end user owned, onsite solar array in the US. The rumours surrounding the technology company’s renewable energy goals have been put to bed. The 20MW facility, in Maiden, North Carolina, will be installed on 100 acres of land, supplying 42 million kWh of renewable energy annually. Apple will also be building a fuel cell installation, powered by 100% biogas to provide more than 40 million kWh of baseload renewable energy annually.
As part of its utility-scale project pipeline in Imperial Valley, California, 8minutenergy Renewables has signed a 25-year contract to sell 200MW (AC) from the planned Mount Signal Solar project to San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E). The Mount Signal Solar project is expected to begin supply to SDG&E in mid-2013 and has an 18-month construction time, employing 450 direct jobs and more than 500 indirect jobs in Imperial County. The contract is pending approval from the California Public Utilities Commission.
The US Department of Energy’s (DoE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has appointed Ken Powers as its new deputy laboratory director and chief operating officer, effective March 5.
GCL-Poly Energy Holdings and Bank of America Merrill Lynch have closed the initial transaction to fund 15 solar power systems that will be developed by GCL-Poly’s US subsidiary, GCL Solar Energy. The 15 solar sites will total 5MW of solar energy and serve the Palmdale School District in southern California.
The CPV solar cell business segment of Emcore accounted for US$19.1 million or 51% of the company's total revenue in its FY2012 first quarter, representing a decline of US$2 million from the prior quarter. However, Emcore reported a CPV cell order backlog of approximately US$51.7 million, an increase from US$43.5 million in the prior quarter. The order increase was due to the first order from its China-based JV CPV module operations, Suncore, which is starting assembly operations to meet a US$100 million project contract in the country.
Borrego Solar has again secured funding for US$47 million from US Bank and East West Bank for solar energy projects in California, US. The fund will be used to build 6MW of installations for three school districts and two plants in Massachusetts – the largest of which is expected to be 4.7MW. The company said these projects are expected to create 400 local jobs and generate enough electricity to power nearly 2,000 homes.
