Rise & Shine: October 1, 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
Sempra Gen Aims to Build, Sell 500MW of Solar Power
Next, Sempra Generation aims to develop as much as 500 megawatts of solar- power plants that use solar panels and/or solar-thermal technology, on more than 4,000 acres of land the company controls near Phoenix.
Benefits of Solar Power to Shine in Santa Cruz Saturday
The National Solar Tour is coming to Santa Cruz County this weekend to showcase homes that are using the sun’s energy for power.
NATIONAL NEWS
APS 290 MW Concentrating Solar Project Terminated
Arizona utility, APS has received notice from Starwood Energy Group Global, LLC that it is terminating the long-term purchase power agreement the two companies signed in May 2009.
Wisconsin Solar Tour
Home and business owners around the state are sharing their secret: renewable energy is technology for today! The public is invited to see renewable energy up close during the 2009 Wisconsin Solar Tour, October 2 and 3.
Ausra Gets a Piece of 100MW Solar Thermal Plant in Jordan
The project, called JOAN1, will also include a backup fossil-fuel boiler to guarantee 24-hour dispatchable electric power, a move that might be intended to make the project more appealing to utilities and financiers.
MIT Spin-off Stores Sun’s Energy to Power the World
Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Daniel Nocera is a “huge centralised energy person”, but when he looks at the world’s energy challenges, he thinks the key is to make energy generation cheap and distributed.
Technipower Participates in National Solar Tour
Technipower recently energized its Instant Solar(TM) system at its Danbury, Connecticut facility. The Instant Solar system is a factory-assembled, pre-wired, ground mounted solar PV system, targeted at both grid-tied and off-grid applications in the 2kW to 10 kW power range.
MATC, Johnson Controls to Build State’s Largest Solar Power Project
Milwaukee Area Technical College and Johnson Controls Inc. will build the state’s largest solar power project, a $6.9 million “solar education farm” that will help train technicians in the renewable energy field.
UTILITY INDUSTRY & REGULATORY NEWS
Positive Energy Signs Up 20 Utilities, Rebrands
Opower also said this morning that it’s signed up more than 20 utility customers for its energy efficiency tools, which can lower consumer’s energy consumption by as much as 3.5 percent.
MARKETS & MARKET RESEARCH
Japan Likely to Become Largest PV Market
While Germany and Italy may reduce feed-in tariffs for grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) power generation, Japan will bring into force its rates in January 2010, and thus Japan stands a chance of becoming the largest PV market around the world, according to Taiwan-based PV product makers.
Solar Panel Tariff May Strain US-China Trade Relations
Companies that import solar panels to the United States are facing up to $70 million in unexpected tariffs.
PV Module Prices Likely to Fall 1.2-1.4E/W in 2010
Estimations made by participants in the 2009 (24th) European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition (EU PVSEC) indicate that international PV module prices may keep falling to 1.2-1.4 euro/watt in 2010 if material and production costs continue to drop.
PV Module Production Doubles in 2008
According to the analysis, global PV production increased to about 7.3 GW in 2008, an 80% rise on the previous year.
The Power of Solar Now
It’s indisputable that solar energy is positioned for unprecedented growth in the years ahead, but does repeated emphasis on that promising future actually hold the industry back?
GOVERNMENT & POLITICS
Sens. Kerry & Boxer Introduce Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act
John Kerry (D-MA) and Barbara Boxer (D-CA) today introduced the Kerry-Boxer legislation to create clean energy jobs, reduce pollution, and protect American security by enhancing domestic energy production and combating global climate change.
Climate Control Debate Heats Up in the Senate
President Barack Obama’s drive to fight global warming got a boost on Wednesday as Democrats in the U.S. Senate unveiled a bill aimed at slashing greenhouse gas emissions in the next four decades.
Interior Department to Approve Seven Renewable Energy Projects
The Department of the Interior expects to approve seven major, renewable-energy transmission projects on western federal lands by the end of next year, part of the administration’s effort to step up use of wind and solar power.
Obama Says Deeply Committed to Passing Climate Bill
Obama, whose international credibility on global warming is largely tied to the Senate’s effort, called the draft a major step forward in his plans to revamp U.S. energy policy.
FINANCIAL NEWS & MARKETS
Green-tech Companies Draw Biggest Share of Venture Capital in Third Quarter
Green-technology firms attracted the largest share of venture capital in the third quarter, with global investments rising to $1.59 billion, according to a survey released Wednesday by Cleantech Group and Deloitte & Touche.
ReneSola Prices Share Offering at $4.75
Chinese solar product maker ReneSola Ltd. said Wednesday that its public offering of 15.5 million American depositary shares has been priced at $4.75 per share. The news sent the company’s stock tumbling by nearly 8 percent.
Dwindling Tech IPOs Could Spell Bad News for Cleantech Exits
The average number of technology IPOs have been steadily declining, and in the last few years has been smaller than the number of technology IPOs before the dot-com bubble.
The Slippery Definition of Risk in Cleantech
roject finance has proven much harder to get than expected, and startups have had to turn to equity investors to fund smaller projects or switch to another less-capital-intensive strategy, such as finding a corporate partner.
Solar Stocks Might Sink: Altucher Responds to Reader Comments
When Wealth Adviser Columnist James Altucher went bearish on solar stocks, readers spoke up for, and (mostly) against his opinions.
Solar Cell Maker Gintech Swings to Profits from 1H09, Says President
Taiwan-based solar cell maker Gintech Energy has swung to profitability from the historically worst operational performance in the first half of 2009, during which the company recorded a large net loss of NT$1.44 billion.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
IBC Solar Partners with KPM Sun
With this collaboration, IBC Solar will expand its international, large-scale project business.
Trina Solar Extends Long-Term Polysilicon Supply Agreement
Trina Solar has extended its eight year long-term supply agreement with Jiangsu Zhongneng Polysilicon Technology Development Co. Ltd, a subsidiary of GCL-Poly Energy Holdings Limited by another five years.
OPDE to Build 75 Megawatt of Italian Photovoltaic Projects
The OPDE group and the regional government of Piedmont (Italy) will sign a collaboration protocol on Friday, under which the Spanish multinational will build a total of 17 solar facilities in the Italian region that will collectively result in the installation of 75 MW of solar electric systems.
Trina Solar Receives 73MW Module Order
Trina Solar has entered into a sales agreement with Italy’s Kerself S.p.A, a photovoltaic solar plant engineering, development, production, installation and distribution company.
PV CYCLE Members to Initiate PV Module Take-back and Recycling Program
The members of PV CYCLE agreed at their Extraordinary General Assembly, held in Hamburg last week, to initiate photovoltaic module take-back and recycling in 2010.
India’s 1.1B Move to Feed-in Tariffs
The world’s largest single political jurisdiction to date, India, has made a strategic move to use a comprehensive system of feed-in tariffs to develop its renewable energy potential.
Italy to Reache 1500MW PV capacity Next Year
Italy expects to reach 1,500 megawatt of installed photovoltaic capacity next year after it said it had already installed more than 600 megawatt by now, a senior official at the state-run power management agency GSE said.
China Plans to Encourage Local Use of Solar Cells
China will consider measures to support domestic consumption of solar cells made from local polysilicon materials, while taking international demand into consideration, the government said on late Tuesday.
Installed Capacity of PV solar Systems in Greece More than Doubles Within Just Seven Months
According to figures published by Greece’s Renewable Energy Sources Centre, the combined electricity output from PV solar installations throughout Greece rose more than two-fold from just 14 MW in January to 29.8 MW in July.
AMG Affiliate Timminco Provides Update on Solar Grade Silicon Operations
The value of the sale is approximately C$3.1 million. The price f the solar grade silicon is consistent with what has been negotiated for similar material with third parties and was reviewed by the designated independent representatives of the boards of directors of each of Timminco and AMG.
Gintech Shipping Solar Cells to Sharp, says Newspaper
Gintech Energy, a Taiwan-based crystalline silicon solar cell maker, began OEM shipments of solar cells to Japan-based Sharp in September.
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