South Australia has entered the renewable energy news twice this week, first announcing the opening of its largest PV systems in Adelaide Showground and later, the less positive warning published in Adelaide Now, from welfare groups that electricity prices for those in the area, could potentially double within five years.
Trina Solar has obtained a five-year syndicated US$304 million loan facility to support its East Campus 500MW capacity expansion project, which is to be completed over the next three years.
In a move which compliments the news of Japan's recent government support for renewables, Showa Shell Sekiyu K.K. and its 100% subsidiary Showa Shell Solar K.K. have decided to construct their third CIS PV plant in Miyazaki Prefecture, which is planned to start operations in 2011.
By the end of September, TerniEnergia should have completed all nine of its new PV solar installations in Puglia, Marche and Umbria with a total combined capacity of 10MW. Five of the new installations are assigned to the joint ventures for the production and sales of electrical energy from solar sources, with total combined capacity of 6MWp, while the other four are for third parties and will achieve 4MWp.
Ascent Solar has said that SkySentry, a high altitude vehicle developer headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado, received its first flexible CIGS PV array for an upcoming aerostat test in Sandusky, Ohio, scheduled for mid-September. The aerostat is part of Army Space and Missile Defense Command's High Altitude, Long-Endurance Testbed.
At a meeting on August the 24th, the Korean Green Growth Committee proposed plans to decrease support for large-scale solar systems. It also announced plans for the introduction of a 100MW pilot Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) through 2011, according to a recent repot by Barclays Capital.
Solar cell researchers at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Sydney, Australia, claim the highest efficiency for solar power ever recorded, announcing a new world record of 43% of sunlight converted into electricity at the research stage.
It has been an interesting month for Australia in terms of renewable energy policies, with the to-ing and fro-ing of whether the country's Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) legislation will pass or not.
