Rise & Shine: January 21, 2009
The Rise & Shine is your daily source for all solar-industry news. Brought to you by Sweet Solar Home and the Experts at SunRun.
CALIFORNIA NEWS
SunRun Offering New Plans for Homeowners
SunRun announced the availability of two new flexible payment options that could help make residential solar power systems more accessible to homeowners.
Solar Industry Looks for Light at Tunnel’s End
The industry currently finds itself under cloudy skies and buffeted by threatening winds.
Solar Plant Application Submitted to SLO County
SunPower Corp. Wednesday filed its application with San Luis Obispo County planners to build a 250-megawatt solar power plant in eastern SLO County called California Valley Solar Ranch.
Marshall Medical Center Completes Solar System
Solar Power, Inc. together with Solar Power Partners and Marshall Medical Center, has completed a new photovoltaic solar electric system to provide power to Marshall Medical Center located in Cameron Park, California.
El Cerrito Home Powered by the Sun
For many customers, lowering the upfront investment has been a key selling point with SunRun, a two-year-old company operating throughout California.
Solana Beach Offers Solar Financing
Edging ahead of San Diego, Solana Beach has become the first city in the region ? and the third statewide ? to launch a financing program that eventually will help homeowners and small businesses buy solar panels without paying the full price upfront.
SMA America’s Solar Academy Attracts Solar Installers Nationwide
The training center recently opened at SMA’s U.S. headquarters in Rocklin is just one component of the academy, which offers a comprehensive range of seminars regarding SMA products, code compliance and installation best practices.
Residential Solar PPAs Continue to Drive Solar Market Growth
PPAs, which were introduced into the residential sector in late 2007 and spring 2008, are driving a demand in California that appears quite resistant to the nation’s current economic morass.
Solar technologies Receives Green Business Certification
The Monterey Bay Area Green Business Program recognizes local solar power installer for environmental business operations.
German Solar Integrator Agrees to Buy Modules from Solar Power Inc.
Solar Power Inc. (“SPI”) has completed its first sale to a prominent German solar integrator of its photovoltaic (“PV”) solar modules for use in the integrator’s Germany-based installation projects.
Open Energy Corp. Changes Name to Applied Solar
The name change reflects a new strategy to offer solar solutions for every rooftop, as well as provide the ability to produce solar power, measure and control its usage, and offer developers and homeowners the ability to improve the return on investment through a power purchase agreement.
Solyndra Opens European Headquarters
Solyndra Inc. says it has officially opened its European headquarters near Munich, Germany, in Holzkirchen, Germany, in response to the high demand in Europe for its thin-film PV systems.
SFPUC Plans Rooftop Solar Projects
These projects will total over 1 MW of rooftop solar projects located on municipal buildings in San Francisco, including San Francisco City Hall, Davies Symphony Hall, The War Memorial Opera House and Terminal 2 of the San Francisco International Airport, as well as other municipal facilities.
NATIONAL NEWS
California Company Shows Off Solar Technology in Surprise
The Surprise, AZ City Council last fall waived both building-permit and plan-review fees for residents and business owners who install solar-power systems. The city also is actively trying to recruit solar companies to locate in Surprise.
Green Mountain Power Goes Solar with groSolar
In a partnership between two Vermont companies that know a thing or two about electricity, Green Mountain Power (GMP) and groSolar have teamed up to construct one of the state’s largest solar power systems.
Spire and HHV Enter into PV Strategic Relationship
Spire and HHV will cooperate to better address the Indian PV industry by offering a more complete and competitive portfolio of solar manufacturing equipment and service capabilities.
Meanwhile, Sarah Palin Embraces Renewable Energy
Ms. Palin said last week that her oil- and gas-producing state will endeavor to get half its electricity from renewables by 2025.
Solar Energy Systems and Big Sue, LLC Unveil NYC?s First Commercial Net Metered Solar PV System
New York City’s renewable energy future looks bright as Con Edison gives full support to pioneering effort
UTILITY INDUSTRY & REGULATORY NEWS
Indiana Rep. Introduces Feed Law Bill & Wisconsin PSC Opens Docket on Renewable Tariff
The Midwest has have become a hot bed of activity around feed-in tariffs since the introduction of HB 5218, the Michigan Renewable Energy Sources Act, in the fall of 2007 by Rep. Kathleen Law.
Southern States Pick Up Pace on Renewable Power
Southern U.S. states are picking up the pace to force electric utilities to diversify fuel resources to include wind, solar, biomass and other renewable power resources, according to regulators.
Study: Electricity Usage is Down
A new Washington Post analysis shows that local homes and businesses used about 2 percent less electricity in the first nine months of 2008 than they did in 2007.
Over the Next Five Years, Consumers Energy is Spending $500M on a New System that will Help Customers Have More Control Over Energy Costs
In the coming months, Consumers Energy will take the first steps toward a system that promises to make all of that a reality.
FINANCIAL NEWS & MARKETS
Got Money? eSolar Needs New Investors
eSolar CEO Bill Gross announced at the World Future Energy Summit that the company was looking to sell off 10 percent.
MARKETS & MARKET RESEARCH
Roadmap for a Changed Landscape: Consolidation and Integration in the Solar PV Business
Factors such as the transformed financial markets and a looming polysilicon glut are shaping a changed competitive landscape in solar.
Solar Industry Growth Dimming With Economy
While the field continues to grow, the rate of progress may be slowing as the credit crunch and technological difficulties blunt the effect of government subsidies, industry sources say.
GOVERNMENT & POLITICS
Solar Power, Suffering in the Recession, Needs a Bailout Too
As House Democrats unveiled the details of their planned $825 billion stimulus package on Thursday, renewable energy advocates were watching closely.
Cleantech Crowd Cheers Obama’s Inaugural Speech
After being ignored in the last two inaugural speeches, the issue of climate change got plenty of attention at U.S. President Barack Obama?s inauguration Tuesday.
Not Enough Green in Stimulus Bill
The bill does not address the most pressing issue facing renewable energy companies today: the credit crunch has dried up financing just as billions are needed to fund factories and the construction of solar power plants and wind farms that will be connected to smart grids and new transmission lines.
TECHNOLOGY
Germans Claim New Solar Cell Breakthrough
The Fraunhofer solar institute says its three-layer solar cell can make a good candidate for commercial deployment of concentrating solar energy systems.
Can You Go Cheaper Than First Solar?
Colorado’s BrightPhase Energy says it can dramatically lower the total cost of solar power by exploiting photovoltaics, solar thermal and natural light.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
REC Secures $ 340 Million Wafer Sales Contract
REC Wafer, the world’s leading manufacturer of multicrystalline silicon wafers, has signed a long-term agreement with LG Electronics Inc. in Korea for the supply of multi crystalline wafers.
Suntech Solar Panels to Power Largest PV Solar Project in the Middle East
Suntech Power has supplied 5MW of Suntech solar panels for a 10MW solar electricity system to power Masdar City, the world’s first carbon neutral city being built in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Wal-Mart Store Goes Solar
Wal-Mart Mexico successfully concluded the installation of a photovoltaic complex that will generate 20% of the energy used by Bodega Aurrera Aguascalientes.
EPFL and Romande Energie to Build Switzerland’s Largest Photovoltaic Center
The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL) and Romande Energie have joined forces to build a photovoltaic center covering an area of around 20,000 m2 on the EPFL campus.
Greek Parliament Gives Green Light to a New PV Law
A new PV law was introduced in Greece on January 15th 2009, amending the legislation originally voted in mid-2006.
ReneSola Announces Wafer Supply Agreement With BP Solar
Under the terms of the contract, ReneSola will supply BP Solar with 120 megawatts of monocrystalline and multicrystalline solar wafers in 2009 and BP Solar will supply 700 metric tonnes of polysilicon to ReneSola.
Ferrari Unveils Photovoltaic System in Maranello
The installation comes as part of the Ferrari’s ongoing environmental sustainability and renewable resources investment program.
CTDC Unit Secures $36M Credit Line to Expand Solar PV Manufacturing
A subsidiary of China Technology Development Group Corp. has lined up $36 million credit from a leading Chinese commercial bank to expand the solar PV company’s manufacturing plant.
Yingli Green Energy Signs 15MW Sales Contract with GOLDBECK solar
Yingli Green Energy Holding Company has announced that it has entered into a sales contract with GOLDBECK Solar GmbH, a leading German PV system specialist company for PV applications on industrial buildings.
Spain Installed More Than 3GW of Solar
The latest estimates from the Spanish government show that the new capacity added last year exceeded some expectations by as much as threefold
Are you in California and interested in solar for your home? Call us at 877.SUN.MOJO or visit our website to learn more.
Click here to subscribe.