Americas

The initial public offering (IPO) of SunEdison’s TerraForm Power yield co has exceeded expectations, according to the company.

Internet giant and increasingly active clean-tech player, Google, is offering a US$1 million prize for a proposal to shrink the “humble” solar inverter to the size of a laptop.

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) is to begin construction of its 250MW Beacon Solar project.

Leading PV manufacturer, Yingli Green is targeting supplying PV modules to large-scale projects in Chile, having established a new office in Santiago, Chile and headhunted industry veteran Robert Muhn from Trina Solar to serve as Managing Director of Yingli Green Energy Chile.

The first grid-connected energy storage facility in Canada, in the country’s leading solar province, Ontario, is now operational.

US-based PV company NRG Energy, Inc. has obtained a 4MW PV facility on the island of St. Croix in the US Virgin Islands from Toshiba International Corporation.

US PV energy provider SunEdison’s yield co subsidiary, TerraForm, will begin trading on the NASDAQ stock exchange today.

Chinese manufacturer, BYD, has chosen Sao Paulo in Brazil for a new manufacturing campus, including a solar panel factory.

PV is set to become the second most important source of power in the US after natural gas by 2040, according to the US government's Energy Information Administration (EIS).

Solar installations in the US have increased by over 40% year on year, according to the 2014 edition of US clean tech research firm Clean Edge's annual Clean Tech Leadership Index (CTLI).