Prolonged time frames for weathering testing services for PV modules due to capacity constraints could be easing with the announcement of a strategic alliance between Underwriters Laboratories and Atlas Material Testing Technology. UL currently operates Photovoltaic Centers of Excellence in San Jose, Calif., and Suzhou, China, and will open two new state-of-the-art testing facilities this year: one in Germany and one in Japan. Atlas Weathering Services Group has five laboratories and over 20 outdoor exposure sites around the world in a variety of climates, including desert, subtropical, high-altitude and corrosive.
Norwegian power generator Statkraft has reached an agreement with Siemens Energy to build up to 40MW of new solar capacity in 2010. The company opened its first solar power plant in Aprilia, Italy, which will go towards this goal, on March 11. The 3.3MW Casale solar park is expected to reach the annual power production mark of 4.5GWh.
Applied Materials announced last week that it has opened the newly expanded Tainan Manufacturing Center in southern Taiwan, a nearly 15,000 square-meter facility that the company says will enhance its capability to serve thin-film solar photovoltaic and flat-panel display (FPD) customers in Asia. The center employs approximately 150 people and is expected to build and ship about 100 new plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) and physical vapor deposition (PVD) production systems this year
Two grants totalling US$1.5 million have been awarded to SunPower from the California Solar Initiative Research, Development, Deployment and Demonstration (CSI RD&D) Program to explore the planning and modelling for high-penetration PV on the California transmission and distribution network. Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) is also partnering with SunPower on a second project to research the required hardware and software tools needed for providing bi-directional communication and management between PV systems and utility controls using advanced metering infrastructure.
SunEdison has received final approval from the Italian government to develop and construct what will be the largest solar power plant in Europe. The 72MW project will be based in Northeastern Italy, near the town of Rovigo.
Concentrated photovoltaics systems company Soliant Energy has brought Ben Jamison on board as its new VP of marketing. Jamison, who will report to chairman/CEO Terry Bailey, is a seasoned marketing executive with more than three decades of experience with leading companies in dynamic and growth markets. He will be responsible for all marketing-related activities at the Monrovia, CA-based CPV firm, including product management and field applications.
Recurrent Energy has named Patrick Caramante as its new VP of engineering and construction. In this role, he will lead the company's E&C Group, responsible for the design, installation, commissioning, and operation of Recurrent's portfolio of distributed-scale solar projects.
SPG Solar has named Chris Robine as the new company senior vice president and chief financial officer. Robine succeeds Paul McKnight who is leaving SPG Solar to pursue other opportunities.
Prime Sun Power has signed a definitive agreement for the sale of a 25MW PV power plant in Italy. PSP receives interest for €12 million of strategic investments in the company from module suppliers; it is expected to generate gross revenues of over €100 million in 2010. This contract is the first to be signed under the terms of a signed frame agreement to sell 100MW projects on a turnkey grid-connected basis to an institutional investor.
In a move to bring its production capacity up to 1GW by the end of 2010, Yingli Green Energy will add 300MW of monocrystalline-silicon-related solar manufacturing capabilities at its Baoding headquarters campus in China. The expansion news came as the company announced record PV module shipments for its recently completed fourth quarter and fiscal-year 2009. The vertically integrated company will build ingot, wafer, cell and module lines, and the solar cells will be based on the high-efficiency mono-c-Si technology developed through the Project Panda collaboration (which also includes the Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands [ECN] and equipment supplier Amtech Systems). To help finance the new construction and buildout, the company has received a five-year project loan of RMB 1.5 billion ($219 million) and a working capital credit facility of RMB 250 million ($36 million), both granted by the Bank of Communications, Hebei Branch (BOCOM).
