Underwriters Laboratories and Atlas Materials Testing Technology released key information for the PV Durability Asia conference. Scheduled to take place December 7th through 8th, 2010, at the Crown Plaza Century Park Shanghai Hotel, China, it will focus on the developments, research and new approaches for environmental durability, performance and service life of materials. Additionally, the conference will center on compliance and certification testing with topics on module manufacturers and suppliers.
The European Commission recently approved a US$126.8 million (€97.5 million) regional investment aid, which German authorities will be endowing to Wacker Chemie to produce solar grade polysilicon in Nünchritz, eastern Germany. The EU Commission concluded that the act was in line with the requirements for the Regional Aid Guidelines 2007-2013. The US$126.8 million grant will go towards the expansion of Wacker’s facility in Nünchritz, which will add a solar grade polysilicon plant next to its silicon/silane plant.
Azure Power has welcomed Glen Minyard to its team as the new vice president of design and engineering. The company is looking at Minyard to oversee its commercial and off-grid business, deeming him a solar power veteran. He was the founder of Minyard Solar Electric and brings over thirty years of experience in covers design, supply, project management and complete installation of residential and large-scale commercial PV and renewable energy projects.
Throughout classrooms in Arizona, students will soon not only go to school knowing that they’re learning environment is using renewable energy, but will also have the chance to learn about emission-free solar power generation. Kennedy Partners with NRG Solar, Pinnacle West, APS and Arizona public officials have all partnered for the creation of a clean energy program, with the first stage seeing NRG Solar and Kennedy constructing twelve large solar pavilions...
The Transgreen Initiative was recently developed to foster the development of a Trans-Mediterranean electric power transmission network within the Mediterranean Solar Plan. Joining with the initiative is Concentrix Solar, a division of Soitec. The company joins the initiative in order to help sustain the expected needs for electricity between the two sides of the Mediterranean.
Wills Transfer, working with Enfinity Canada, will be implementing rooftop solar systems on three of its warehouses. The rooftops used will be located at Wills’ Ottawa, Brockville and Perth, Ontario locations. Enfinity will be financing, developing, monitoring and maintaining the three rooftop systems, which will have a total installed capacity of 1.308MWp and produce around 1.5 million kilowatt hours per year. Construction is slated to begin early in 2011.
The Denver International Airport (DIA) is no stranger to solar projects being the site of a 2MW installation, which was completed in 2008 and a 1.6MW facility constructed earlier this year. However, Constellation Energy and Oak Leaf Energy Partners announced that they will be building the third and, so far, the largest solar installation for the airport at 4.4MW. Constellation is set to finance, own and operate the system, while DIA will be able to buy the energy produced from Constellation over twenty years.
Akeena Solar, d/b/a Westinghouse Solar, will be leaving its solar panel installation business in California behind as it begins its exclusive focus on manufacturing and distribution in the state. Since the company will no longer be in the California installation business, it has advised that its third quarter 2010 records will show a restructuring charge of around US$2.5 million. This amount accounts for headcount reductions, equipment and inventory write-offs, lease accelerations and write-off of goodwill, which will mainly be non-cash charges.
Taking a page from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the California Energy Commission gave its approval for three loans, which total more than $10.5 million, to three California-based PV companies: Stion, Soliant Energy, and Energy Innovations. The low-interest loans fall under California’s Clean Energy Business Financing Program (CEBFP), which is supplying around $30 million in federal stimulus money to businesses that create or preserve clean energy manufacturing jobs in the state.
During the past two years, Underwriters Laboratories (UL) has opened new facilities in San Jose, California, Suzhou, China and Zeppelinheim, Neu-Isenburg, Germany to better serve the PV community. Recently, UL added a new facility to that list with the opening of its testing and certification center for PV equipment in Ise City, Mie Prefecture, Japan. The center will not only test PV equipment for performance and safety standards, but also provide technical support for Japanese PV equipment manufacturers.
