The German government struggles to reach common ground on the proposed solar cuts, according to Bloomberg. In an email statement it was said that the upper house failed to reach an agreement in a panel meeting. Talks will resume on June 27. The upper house representatives have voiced concerns that the legislation will hurt domestic producers like Solarworld even further.
Soitec has connected the largest Italian CPV plant to the grid, the company has announced. The company completed construction of a 1.17MW CPV plant in the municipality of Belpasso in Sicily. 74 Soitec CPV trackers have been installed, each equipped with 168 Concentric CPV modules and two 500kW inverters. The plant is owned and operated by Soitec and the energy will be sold to Enel.
Hanwha SolarOne is cooperating with Italian Assoimprese after the association added PV modules to its portfolio. The association has chosen Hanwha as the preferred supplier for its approximately 600,000 members and installers who are network members can purchase Hanwha modules at special rates.
Thin-film manufacturer Masdar PV has reached 10% efficiency with its micromorph technology thin-film modules, the company has announced. Masdar’s research and development department collaborated with the Helmholtz Zentrum in Berlin, focusing on the optimization of materials used for the production of the modules.
Trina Solar, Suntech and Hareon have been chosen by procurement company Parabel to supply a total of 40MW of modules to the Jännersdorf solar park, the company has announced. The PV plant is divided into three northern sites and a southern site. Trina will provide 25.6MW of modules for the southern construction site while the northern construction sites will be equipped with 9.6MW of Suntech modules and 5.3MW of Hareon PV modules. The park is further equipped with 1,900 Siemens inverters and Schletter mounting systems and is expected to be completed by June 30th this year.
Thin-film manufacturer DuPont Apollo has singed contracts to supply PV projects in Thailand with a total of 22.75MW of modules, the company has announced. The PV modules will equip two projects, one located in the Chaiyaphum province, owned by Smart Green Energy and a second one located in the Saraburi province, owned by Inifinite Green. DuPont Apollo is already involved in an 8.7MW ground mounted PV project in the Prachin Buri province, in collaboration with L Solar 1.
SolarCity and US Bancorp have announced a US$250 million fund to finance residential and commercial PV projects. The renewable energy tax equity fund is intended for homeowners as well as businesses, administrative, school and county buildings. The fund will be used to finance the solar panels and installations, while customers pay a discounted amount for the electricity. In the three years that SolarCity and US Bancorp have been collaborating, this is the sixth and largest fund, designed to make PV systems more accessible and affordable.
TE will be showcasing its new connectivity solutions for PV installations at Intersolar Europe, the company has announced. The new connectivity solution allows monitoring of temperature, power and voltage at either panel or system level. The solution also offers the shutdown of individual, faulty panels.
Eltek is showcasing its extended line of THEIA solar inverters at Intersolar Europe, the company has announced. The company will be exhibiting the new THEIA 4.6 HE-t inverter with an output of 4.6kWp. Further, the THEIA TL 3R will be on display, a transformerless solar inverter with an output of up to 15kW.
The Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition (SVTC) has awarded the No.1 spot on its 2012 Solar Scorecard to Trina Solar, the company has announced. In its third year, the SVTC Scorecard system is aimed at improving PV manufacturers' social performance and environmental awareness of the impact of their manufacturing processes and practices.
