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
Solar EnerTech Receives 10MW Module Order
Solar EnerTech Corporation has entered into a 10MW contract to deliver its solar modules to Solarzentrum Allgau, one of the leading solar system integrators in Germany.

eSolar to Build Second Cali Solar Plant
The deals keep coming for solar thermal startup eSolar, indicating confidence from utilities –- but also increasing pressure on the Pasadena, Calif.-based company to deliver quickly.

PG&E Signs Agreement with Alpine SunTower for 92MW of Solar Thermal Electricity
Pacific Gas and Electric Company has entered into an agreement with Alpine SunTower, LLC, a subsidiary of NRG Energy, for 92 megawatts of renewable, solar thermal power.

NATIONAL NEWS
Suntech Power Plans to Start U.S. Panel Production in Early 2010
The Chinese solar company is now choosing among four sites for its first, 100-megawatt factory to build solar panels in the United States, says an executive.

First Solar Touts Falling Costs, but Will it Be Enough
This week, the company said costs had fallen again to 93 cents per watt, down 5% in three months and down 28% in a year.

Yogurt Maker Harnesses Sun
Springfield Creamery installs a solar energy system that provides about 5 percent of the company’s power.

groSolar Gains New Regional Sales Manager
National Sales Veteran Kurt Luecke Brings Expertise to groSolar’s mid-Atlantic region.

SunWize Launches New Grid-Tie System Product Line Incorporating SANYO N-Series
Popular pre-engineered systems are now available with high-performance, lower cost 215 W solar modules.

NABCEP Receives Sponsorship from AEE Solar
North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners Welcomes AEE Solar as Silver level sponsor.

Metallization Line Upgrade Available
Solar industry metallization line company ASYS has announced the availability of a high speed upgrade kit that allows existing users of its systems to increase throughput by up to 22%.

Mercury Solar Systems Acquires K-Star Solar
Solar integrator, Mercury Solar Systems has acquired K-Star Solar, Long Island’s leading residential solar installer. The acquisition strengthens Mercury’s presence in the Northeast and its solar business in Long Island, NY. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Solar Supplier Chooses Toledo for First North  American Facility
The Toledo and Northwest Ohio area’s involvement in solar energy production t ook another major step forward with the announcement of plans to develop North America’s most advanced polycrystalline silicon (c-Si) production facility in Toledo.

UTILITY INDUSTRY & REGULATORY NEWS
Polluters Won’t Pay Yet: Air Resources Board Will wait to Decide on Carbon Fee
The California Air Resources Board determined that more time was needed to iron out the details of the new regulations, which would be used to generate revenue for AB 32, California’s groundbreaking climate legislation.

NREL Energy Analysts Dig into Feed-in Tariffs
Feed-in tariffs (FiTs) are the world’s most widely used policy to drive renewable energy development. They have helped transform cloudy Germany into the world leader of installed solar power and photovoltaic manufacturing.

FINANCIAL NEWS & MARKETS
Spire Secures Expanded $8M Revolving Credit Facility with Silicon Valley Bank
Spire today announced that it has amended its current Revolving Credit Facility.

GOVERNMENT & POLITICS
U.S. House Democrats Push for Friday Climate Vote
At the core of the 1,200-page bill is a “cap and trade” plan designed to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases by 17 percent by 2020 and 83 percent by 2050, from 2005 levels.

Energy Bill Unfinished, but Vote Nears
The House is moving toward a vote Friday on energy and climate change legislation, with several significant issues still unresolved but with Democratic leaders expressing confidence that they will muster the votes to pass it.

EPA Sees Limited Renewable Energy Growth Under Waxman-Markey
According to page 27 of the analysis, the legislation would actually result in slightly less new renewable energy generation capacity by the year 2020 than if the U.S. continued on a business-as-usual path with no emissions caps.

TECHNOLOGY
Swiss Team Unveils Prototype for Sun-Powered Plan
Adventurer Bertrand Piccardon Friday unveiled the Solar Impulse, which with its sleek white wings and pink trimming aims to make history as the prototype for a solar-powered flight around the world.

Sharp Debuts Solar-Powered Handset in Japan
Sharp’s SH002 is equipped with a solar cell module on the back of its chassis, which can be used as an auxiliary power source when the remaining battery level is low or at zero.

Advanced Energy Solaron Inverters Achieve Highest Ever CEC Efficiency Ratings
Last month, AE inverters exceeded their own record of 97 percent CEC-weighted efficiency by posting a 97.5 percent CEC efficiency rating.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS
The Case for Including Photovoltaics and Biomass into the Refit System
In March, the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) announced and approved the landmark renewable-energy feed-in-tariff (Refit) guidelines, which included five renewable-energy technologies and drew praise from many ‘green lobbyists’ and potential investors.

Trina Solar Secures $57 Million Credit Facilities
Trina Solar has secured from Standard Chartered Bank (China) Limited new credit facilities totaling approximately $57 million, consisting of trade financing and defensive hedging products.

Solea Starts Construction on 1.5 MW Solar Park
Solea AG building its activities in southern Germany with the commencement of the construction of Project Hengersberg at the end of last week.

a+f Receives Euro 40M Order
a+f GmbH, a Gildemeister Group company, has concluded a new major order for a total value of Euro 41.1 million to strengthen its presence in the Italian solar market.

Nuon Opens Test Plant for Flexible Solar Cells
The plant is developing a production method that will enable solar cells to be produced ‘on the roll’. This more efficient production process will make these flexible solar cells cheaper.

This entry was posted on Friday, June 26th, 2009 at 1:30 pm and is filed under Solar Industry News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.