Having bucked plans to aggressively pursue potential new markets in the Middle-East, Phoenix Solar has found the eastern-edge of Europe as a better bet, signing an exclusive partnership with Turkey’s leading installer, iRES Enerji.
Struggling Dutch module manufacturer, Solland Solar said it was forced to drastically reduce its remaining operations after the successful sale of its solar cell production facility, due to tough market conditions. Both its commercial and module assembly operations are being curtailed, without providing details, affecting approximately 100 employees.
Zep Solar advised that three of its latest PV continuing education courses had been approved and registered by the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners’ (NABCEP), giving NABCEP certified PV installers the option to receive continuing education units for training on Zep’s mounting and grounding products. The approved Zep curriculum includes a two-hour “Zep System: Design and Installation” course and a four-hour intermediate and six-hour advanced course options.
San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) has filed with the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) for approval of a proposal offering its customers solar purchasing options. The proposal complements rooftop solar and includes two different pilot programs. Customers can opt buy some or all of their energy from solar projects located in SDG&E's service territory or negotiate directly with a local solar provider, even if they do not own a home, cannot afford a solar investment, or do not have the ability to put photovoltaic panels on their roof.
MEMC has been forced to lower fourth quarter revenue guidance, just over a month after revisions were made as the company announced a major restructuring effort due to lower than expected PV project interconnections carried out by project developer subsidiary, SunEdison. MEMC revised revenue to be in the range of US$698 million to US$733 million, compared to December, 2011 guidance of between US$789 million to US$861 million.
JinkoSolar has announced that it has connected China Guangdong Nuclear Solar Energy Development’s 18MW PV power plant to China’s grid. The plant, located in Dunhuang, Gansu Province in west China, consists of 76,000 of JinkoSolar’s modules on a plot area of 400,000m2.
Tensions in German chancellor Angela Merkel’s government continue over the future of feed-in tariffs. Economy minister Philipp Roesler is calling for an overhaul to the country’s subsidy system for renewable energy, created in the 1990s to ensure the clean-power industry remains competitive.
MEMC has issued a statement of clarification in regard to its recent release that appeared to claim that its parent company, SunEdison, has plans to establish solar projects in Japan in the near future. Media reports’ assumptions that there are concrete plans for Japanese projects have been refuted by MEMC, which cites “uncertain project economics” and a lack of government incentives for the company’s ambiguity on its plans for the country.
Dow Solar is taking its Powerhouse Solar Shingles to the US, as it has announced that it has named three authorized sellers of its BIPV roofing solution in Colorado. Academy Roofing, B&M Roofing and D&D Roofing will be supplying the solar technology to the homeowners of Colorado, while Dow Solar has plans to roll out the product across the country.
Solar cell and module manufacturer, China Sunergy, supplied 13MW of solar modules to a 25MW solar project in Gujarat, India. The project was completed in partnership with Visual Percept Solar Projects.
