The dust is yet to settle on tariff determinations against Chinese manufacturers, but the Coalition for American Solar Manufacturing (CASM) has released a statement warning of a “conspiracy to commit offence or to defraud the United States”. According to CASM, Chinese solar cell and panel exporters are reportedly planning to evade antidumping/countervailing orders. It asserts that this will not be effective, could be illegal and may expose US importers, in addition to Chinese exporters, to liability under US law, including significant financial penalties and criminal prosecution.
Thin-film manufacturer NovaSolar has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. That’s not unusual, a number of companies have gone bankrupt in the last months. NovaSolar, though, is the US arm of Chinese NovaStar, a company that was created with the remaining assets from bankrupt OptiSolar three years ago.
Under intense pressure to remain the low-cost leader, First Solar is taking a leaf from the semiconductor industry by teaming up with materials specialists Intermolecular to fast-track R&D research in materials and processes to shorten the time-to-market for higher efficiency CdTe-based, thin-film PV modules. Taking record cell and module efficiencies from the lab to the fab has proved to be a perennial problem for all types of PV technology.
Solon Corporation has agreed to build a 1.15MW PV system for the Tanque Verde Unified School District (TVUSD) in Tucson, Arizona, the company has announced. The system will be installed across the four campuses of Tanque Verde High School and Elementary School, the Emily Gray Junior High School and the Agua Caliente Elementary School. Solon Corporation will design and construct the system and maintain its operation once completed; the energy generated will we sold to TVUSD under a 25-year PPA. The project is expected to commence operation in early 2013.
SunPower has completed a 1.8MW PV installation at the main building of Bloomberg’s New Jersey campus, the company has announced. The system is owned by Integrys Energy Services and Bloomberg will be buying the generated electricity at below-retail rates. The system is equipped with SunPower PV panels as well as the SunPower T0 tracker system.
Distributed Energy Research & Solutions, or EnergySage, has been the recipient of one of 10 Department of Energy (DoE) SunShot Incubator investments worth US$500,000. The funding will be used to develop a web-based PV comparison-shopping platform that aims to deliver pricing transparency and encourage online networking among property owners and solar PV installers.
SPI Solar has obtained the rights to co-develop and construct 68 solar sites in Hawaii, which will total around 29MW and be developed across the islands of Oahu, Kona and Maui. The facilities will mostly be ground-mounted fixtures with some rooftop and shade structures built as well. All of the solar projects will feed into Hawaii’s utility power grids.
Tomorrow, GTM Research and the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) will release their “US Solar Market Insight: Q1 2012” report, which has found that the US solar industry continues to expand at the rapid pace that was seen in 2011. During Q1, the US installed 506MW, more than any other Q1 on record. The stellar growth seen over the first three months of the year is attributed to the strong expansion in the commercial market segment.
SolarCity and US Bancorp have announced a US$250 million fund to finance residential and commercial PV projects. The renewable energy tax equity fund is intended for homeowners as well as businesses, administrative, school and county buildings. The fund will be used to finance the solar panels and installations, while customers pay a discounted amount for the electricity. In the three years that SolarCity and US Bancorp have been collaborating, this is the sixth and largest fund, designed to make PV systems more accessible and affordable.
Energy Finance Company (EFC), using the Funding Solar Energy (FUSE) fund, activated its 625kW solar installation in San Antonio, Texas early last month. The rooftop project is located on a warehouse complex and uses over 2,700 solar panels. It will sell 100% of the power produced to CPS Energy under a 20-year PPA and is expected to generate nearly one million kWh of electricity in its first year of operation.
