Situated in California’s Mojave Desert, and located on 164 acres between Twentynine Palms and Joshua Tree, SolarWorld’s 25MW (DC) Desert Star Solar project is now under construction. The company’s EPC division, which owns the land and projects near Twentynine Palms, will oversee all phases of the project, including design, engineering, procurement, permitting and construction.
Germany’s K2 Systems has launched its newest global arm; a US division known as Everest Solar Systems, which is based in Oceanside, California. K2 noted that its expansion stems from its confidence that the commercial and residential solar markets will grow and, therefore, require its racking technology.
Dow Corning, a specialist in silicon-based solar products based in the US, has named Eric Peeters as vice president of its electronic solutions business taking over from James Helwick, who has led Dow Corning’s electronics business since 2010. His appointment became effective on September 1.
Solar Universe Network and Sunrun entered a strategic partnership, which will bring Sunrun’s solar service to more US customers. The partnership will be offered to homeowners in California, Arizona, Hawaii, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Oregon.
Constellation Solar announced that its 16.1MW (DC) PV project in Emmitsburg, Maryland has been completed and connected to the grid. The project, part of Maryland’s Generating Clean Horizons initiative, is financed, owned and operated by Constellation. The US$50 million solar site will sell its electricity to the Department of General Services and the University System of Maryland under a 20-year PPA with Constellation.
Phoenix Solar, a developer of large-scale PV projects, has started to install more than 33,000 PV modules at Volkswagon’s plant in Chattanooga in Tennessee, US, WDEF News 12 has reported. The ground-mounted project, which costs in the region of US$30 million, is said to be Tennessee’s largest solar park when complete.
SolarVision, a developer of solar energy projects, has successfully closed an US$18 million transaction to fund its 5MW utility-scale PV project in Celina, Ohio, US. The funding was the result of a comprehensive partnership with New Energy Capital Cleantech Infrastructure Fund, Q-Cells North America, Finance Fund and JPMorgan Chase & Co.
8minutenergy Renewables, a developer of utility-scale solar PV projects, has received conditional use permits (CUP) for three of its large-scale PV projects from the Imperial County Board of Supervisors. The projects have a total capacity of 275MW and will be built in the Imperial Valley, California, US, in partnership with Gestamp Solar.
Canadian Solar advised that the sale of its Canadian Solar 1 installation has been completed with the utility-scale power plant sold to Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners for US$48.4 million. Canadian Solar was the developer, EPC and construction financier for the project, which is built near the town of Napanee. The installation is connected to the grid and uses nearly 50,000 of the company’s CS6M modules.
