Rise & Shine: March 12, 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
GoSolarMarin’s Forecast Appears Sunny
he environmental non-profit organization, which began coordinating solar installations for homeowners back in November 2007, is well into its second ‘phase’ of operation, and things couldn’t be busier.
SCE Starts Second Rooftop Installation, Awaits PUC Decision
The 1-megawatt array, slated for a Multi-Employer Property Trust building in Chino, Calif., is part of the utility’s plan to install 250 megawatts of solar panels on some 150 commercial roofs in Southern California.
Bay Area Workers Train for Clean Energy Jobs
Over the past few months, the value of such training has immeasurably increased while jobs in other Bay Area sectors have been cut by the thousands.
NATIONAL NEWS
For Mayor Gordon, A Message of Hope
With a captive audience, Gordon took the opportunity to lay out a bold plan to make Phoenix a solar hub and the greenest city in the country.
Ascent Solar Commences Production from its Littleton Production Line
Ascent as successfully begun regular production of monolithically integrated flexible CIGS modules from its production line in Littleton, Colorado.
Amtech Systems Gets $3M Order for Solar Units
Amtech subsidiary Tempress Systems Inc. is selling the solar cells to two unidentified companies located in Asia.
Small Town Making Hay
Boulder City luring solar developers with open land and a speedy approval process.
BP Solar to Develop 37MW for LIPA
BP Solar has been selected to enter into negotiations with the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) to provide nearly 37 MW of photovoltaic solar power on the grounds of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL).
UTILITY INDUSTRY & REGULATORY NEWS
Utilities to Monitor Energy Use
Austin Utilities (AU) and Owatonna Public Utilities (OPU) will be among the first in the nation to utilize a groundbreaking new program that helps homeowners save energy and money by better understanding their energy use.
FINANCIAL NEWS & MARKETS
Here Comes the Sun…And There it Goes
The sector has had a rough go of it in early 2009. The group rebounded Tuesday, but could not maintain the early strength.
ReneSolar Swings to Loss on Inventory Write-Downs
ReneSola Ltd. swung to a fourth-quarter loss on $137 million in inventory write-downs as the Chinese solar-panel maker saw demand slump.
MARKETS & MARKET RESEARCH
ABS Announces the Launch of a New Programme of Renewable Energy Reports in 2009
The new, complementary series of Renewables Reports has a different focus. Instead of concentrating on individual technologies, it cuts across all the technologies and identifies important issues affecting some or all of the technologies and investigates these.
GOVERNMENT & POLITICS
Solar Energy Jobs Initiative
I propose a Solar Energy Program that would accelerate the path of America’s progression toward carbon free renewable energy. This program would target the conversion of America’s commercial & industrial flat rooftops into distributed power generating stations.
TECHNOLOGY
Satcon Introduces Inverter for Utility Scale Applications
Building on Satcon’s solar PV inverter technologies, Solstice couples string level power conversion with a new smaller footprint central inverter design.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
50B of European Investment Needed to Kick-Start Saharan Solar Plan
Government investment worth £50bn would convince private companies that power from the Sahara solar scheme is feasible and attractive option, expert says
EnergoSolar to Supply Equipment for Chinese Thin Film Manufacturer
EnergoSolar Hungary Equipment Manufacturing Ltd. and Parity Solar have signed a contract for a new production line of solar modules in Jiangsu province, China.
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