As California's "dumb" grid gets smart over the next decade, a clever convergence between technology and PV systems is also required. Otherwise, attempts to harmonize the state's 33% Renewable Portfolio Standard are at risk of turning into a cacophony for policymakers, utilities and technologists.
Tioga Energy advised that it had completed the installation of a 249kW solar system at BJ Wholesale Club’s Deer park, New York location. This is the first of two projects Tioga is developing through an incentive from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). Combined, the two projects will provide 850kW of renewable energy.
Vancouver, Canada-based P2 Solar has revealed that it has signed a binding agreement for the construction and ownership of a 4.95MW solar farm in the Vratsa Province of north-west Bulgaria. The company has assigned a 20-year gross revenue of €31 million to the project with a net cash flow of €13.6 million.
Non-destructive methods for measuring photovoltaic modules are discussed in this paper, with the aim of comparing different quality-assurance methods for different module technologies (e.g. crystalline and thin-film technologies: a-Si, CdTe, CIS). For a complete quality control of PV modules, a combination of fast and non-destructive methods was investigated. In particular, camera-based measurements, such as electroluminescence (EL) and infrared (IR) technologies, offer excellent possibilities for determining production failures or defects in solar modules, which cannot be detected by means of standard power measurements. These methods are applied effectively in quality control and development support, and EL is already an important characterization tool in industry and research. Most short circuits reduce the voltage in their surrounding area and appear dark in EL images. However, as this failure is not always critical and apparent, short circuits are only precisely identifiable in combination with IR measurements. Therefore, to quickly detect at high resolution the most common defects in a PV module, a combination of EL and IR measurements is advisable.
MetLife and Longsol Holdings US advised that they had mutually bought SunEdison’s 30MW Webberville, Texas solar project, for an undisclosed amount, in December 2011. The project was activated in December 2011 and is said to be the largest active solar plant in Texas. Constructed by RES Americas, who will also operate and maintain the project for the next five years, the solar farm is anticipated to produce over 1.4 billion kWh of electricity over 25 years.
The completion of the 3.4MW solar installation on Edwards Air Force Base in California, US, marks Borrego Solar’s first military installation. It was financed through a 10-year PPA.
SPI Solar, US-based EPC services provider, has announced its third Greek venture, having acquired the necessary paperwork. Working alongside local partners SDL Solar and Global Energy Services, the installation is expected to be a 1MW fixed-ground-mount solar facility, located in Rhodope Prefecture, north-eastern Greece. The electricity will be purchased by Greek Public Power Corporation through a 20-year PPA.
2011 was hardly a vintage year for thin-film solar in the US. Doubts about revenue-ready technologies based on copper, indium, gallium and selenide coalesced around the Solyndra bankruptcy in August. In December, First Solar decided it could not replicate its success in cadmium telluride, and shuttered its CIGS division.
PV inverter shipments may have dipped slightly in 2011, according to IHS PV Inverter Market Tracker report, yet shipments are expected to more than double to 52GW in 2015. Shipments of PV inverters fell to the equivalent of 23.4GW in 2011, down 1% from 23.6GW in 2010, according to the market research firm.
Europe’s second-largest oil company, British Petroleum (BP), has failed to meet a financing deadline despite today’s announcement that the company has raised dividends to shareholders by 14%. The Australian government has reopened a solar funding competition to AGL Energy, TRUenergy and Suntech Power, to construct the Moree solar farm in New South Wales.
