The proposed 280MW Solana solar power plant in Arizona has been approved by the state utility regulators, giving the go-ahead for the facility’s construction. The new venture will be located at Gila Bend, Arizona, and is being commissioned by Arizona Public Service Co. It is expected to come into operation in 2011 and provide power for close to 70,000 homes in Arizona at its peak output.
Solar inverter company Sputnik Engineering has announced a management change in the replacement of Alejandro Lupion with Fernando Sánchez García as General Manager of the Sputnik Engineering Ibérica S.r.l. in Madrid. The change came into effect on September 15th, 2008.
Italian solar power system marketer Greenvision ambiente Photo-Solar, or GAPS, has sold a 43 percent stake in its company to Japanese M&A company Itochu. Recent start-up GAPS will receive approximately ¥1.2 billion (US$11.5 million) from the deal, which will also see collaboration between the two companies on marketing strategies, and the supply of Japanese-, U.S.- and Asian-made solar power modules to the company’s portfolio.
Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd. has, in a restructuring of its senior management, appointed a new COO in Johnson Chiang, and a new General Manager in Robin Chen, as well as announcing the departure of Frank Zhang, former General Manager of Suntech's Shanghai thin-film plant. Mr. Chiang takes over the role of COO from Graham Artes (pictured), who will now serve as Managing Director of KSL-Kuttler and as Suntech Corporate Vice President of Engineering, while Philip Yue has been appointed Vice President of Value Chain Development.
Bloo Solar, the California-based thin-film solar company, has added two new members to its Senior Advisory Board. The company has announced the addition of Kevin Davies (pictured) and Steve Harrer, who between them bring years of engineering and operations experience to the company from companies such as BP Solar.
M+W Zander has announced the appointment of Rick Whitney, company COO since 2002, as the new CEO with immediate effect. He served as COO and President of the Total Facility Solutions (TFS) division within M+W Zander, and in his new role as CEO will oversee the company’s development in the U.S. and overseas.
Unisolar has officially approved transformerless inverters from Sputnik Engineering for use with its products. With immediate effect, all amorphous thin-film modules from Unisolar – both branded and OEM products – can be combined with SolarMax products from Swiss inverter manufacturer Sputnik Engineering without further approval procedures.
To support a planned capacity increase, Spectrolab has placed a multi-unit order with Veeco Instruments for its TurboDisc K-475 As/P (arsenic phosphide) metal organic chemical vapor (MOCVD) deposition system. The tools will be used for the fabrication of the Boeing-owned divisions space-based solar cells.
Schneider Electric is to purchase Xantrex Technology, Inc. in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $412 million. Xantrex is a top 3 global player in the solar and wind inverter market and number 1 in the U.S. As a condition to the sale, Xantrex will divest its programmable power business to AMETEK, Inc. for $120 million in cash.
Sempra Generation has selected First Solar to provide a 10MW turnkey thin-film PV energy plant near Boulder City, Nevada. The project started in July and is expected to be completed by the end of 2008. The modules to be used at this ground-mount project will come from First Solar’s manufacturing facility in Perrysburg, Ohio, the company said.
