Dow Corning announced that it had contracted Bardawil Group to distribute its silicon-based solar solutions for the UAE, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Bardawil will market and support Dow Corning’s solar products while additionally representing the company at strategic conferences and exhibitions in the specified region.
Mercury Solar Systems has completed the installation of a 3.6MW solar system, with over 12,000 solar panels, in Manalapan, one of the largest ground-mounted, grid-interconnected solar systems in New Jersey.
According to reports from Bloomberg, AES Gener, a division of AES Corp., is preparing to construct a US$572 million solar farm in northern Chile, which will help bring electricity to copper mines in the Atacama Desert. The company is pursuing a permit to build the farm in Chile’s Antogafasts region where, Bloomberg reports, BHP Billiton and state-owned Codelco, manage copper mines.
The US DOE has advised of a US$12 million investment in the SunShot Incubator program; funding which will go towards advancements in hardware, reduction of soft costs and the development of pilot manufacturing and production projects in the American solar energy and manufacturing industry. The Incubator program is best known as a launchpad for new start-ups and business units within existing companies to move solar technology development forward at a faster pace.
A US$646 million US DOE loan and loan guarantee for First Solar’s 230MW Antelope Valley Solar Ranch One (AVSR) PV power plant project in northern Los Angeles County, California has hit a snag over an outstanding construction permit issue. The timeframe for initial funding of the loan has been pushed back to February 24, 2012 but if the issue isn’t resolved by that date, First solar said it could have to acquire the project from customer, Exelon for approximately US$75 million.
PV LEGAL has conducted a two-and-a-half-year initiative investigating the extent of renewable energy up-take in Europe. The study found France, Greece, Germany, the Netherlands and Portugal have all been successful in encouraging access to renewable energy. However, Italy, Spain, Bulgaria and the UK are yet to make satisfactory progress.
An undisclosed Chinese investment company that is said to own a portfolio of PV power plants in Italy is planning to recoup the investment in a frame agreement signed with 3Power Energy Group.
California’s Vote Solar Initiative advised that January saw a record amount of homes and business in the state going solar. According to the initiative, January saw 42.4MW of behind-the-meter solar installed, which is the largest amount in the history of the California Solar Initiative program. Additionally, 49.5MW of incentive applications were received, and while that number doesn’t mark a record, it is said to be higher than normal.
Chinese Powerway Renewable Energy and Japanese West Holding have partnered to construct a 2MW capacity installation in Japan to fill the nuclear gap. West Holding will provide the investment and Powerway will design and construct the plant using its PowerScrew foundations and mounting structure products.
Last year, the Israeli Ministry of Interior approved a plan for an 8MW solar PV plant to be built adjacent to the Bedouin community of Tarabin in the Abu Basma region of the north west of the Negev Desert, which has finally been given the go ahead. This will be a joint project between the Tarabin tribe and Arava Power Company, costing approximately US$30 million. The plant will cover 15 hectares of privately owned agricultural land.
