Rise & Shine: November 11, 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
Warming Up to Solar
Wojnowski wasn’t all that interested in buying solar panels outright and up front. But leasing from SunRun was a way to save money – and if all goes well – to save on his power costs.
Aerojet Project to be Expanded to Six Megawatts
Aerojet and Solar Power, Inc. announced jointly today that the companies have entered into agreement to add an additional 2.4 megawatts to the single-axis tracker photovoltaic solar system currently installed at Aerojet’s Sacramento, Calif. site.
1BOG Offers San Diego Residents Solar Program
One Block Off the Grid (1BOG), the nation’s largest solar buying collective, today announced the launch a San Diego solar community buying campaign to make it easy and affordable for San Diego homeowners to purchase solar energy at a group discount rate.
Solar Energy Initiatives Plans 100MW of PV
Solar Energy Initiatives Inc. announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Solar Park Initiatives, has signed a contract securing land for the design, construction and operation of a solar park in California.
NATIONAL NEWS
Mayor Gordon Launches City-Sponsored Financing Program
Mayor Phil Gordon will kick off Solar Phoenix, the nation’s largest city-sponsored residential solar financing program, in a ceremony today.
Procter & Gamble and SunEdison Activate Solar 1.1 MW PV System
SunEdison and Procter & Gamble yesterday celebrated the activation of a 1.1 solar photovoltaic system at Proctor & Gamble’s paper products manufacturing megawatt plant in Oxnard, California.
PV Trackers and Granite Bay Energy Announce Contracts for 1MW of Solar Arrays
PV Trackers®, is to supply over 1MW of trackers to Granite Bay Energy for three projects in the greater Sacramento area. The companies anticipate that these projects will be completed by year’s end.
Oregon Developers Enters Joint Venture Agreement with Vietnamese Investment Firm
Plans call for building green/solar affordable housing in Oregon and high-end housing in Viet Nam.
UTILITY INDUSTRY & REGULATORY NEWS
Weak Fla. Power Conservation Goals Rejected
The Florida Public Service Commission on Tuesday rejected proposed energy conservation goals that environmentalists had called too weak.
MARKETS & MARKET RESEARCH
Clean Energy Patent Growth Index 3rd Quarter 2009
Patents on Record Annual Pace.
Thin Film’s Solar Share to Double by 2013
With the price of polysilicon cut by more than half last year, thin-film photovoltaics has lost its edge against crystalline silicon technologies. Nonetheless, its share of the solar panel market is expected to grow from 14% last year to 31% in 2013.
GOVERNMENT & POLITICS
Venture Capitalist to Lead Energy Loan Programs
The Obama administration has hired a Washington-based venture capitalist to speed its efforts to choose alternative-energy companies and car makers that will win loan money and loan guarantees from the federal government.
A Grim Energy Report Sets Stage for Climate Negotiations
An influential forecasting agency said on Tuesday that current energy policies were not sustainable, and that a vast transformation of energy use was required to fend off the worst consequences of global warming.
Energy Industry Well Acquainted with Senate Finance Panel’s Lawmakers
Oil and gas companies and electric utilities over the past two decades have poured $8 million into the campaign coffers of lawmakers on the Senate Finance Committee who could now look to shape climate legislation.
Kerry, U.N.’s Ban Upbeat on Climate Prospects
U.S. Senator John Kerry said on Tuesday he will try to “outline” a compromise climate control bill before December’s international global warming conference and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon gave an upbeat assessment of Washington’s intentions.
FINANCIAL NEWS & MARKETS
JA Solar Announces Third Quarter 2009 Results
Revenue in the third quarter of 2009 was RMB 1.3 billion ($193.3 million), an increase of 119.6 percent from RMB 600.7 million ($88.0 million) reported in the second quarter of 2009 and a decrease of 37.8 percent from RMB 2.1 billion ($310.7 million) reported in the third quarter of 2008.
TECHNOLOGY
SMA America Expands Sunny Boy Lineup with 8,000 Watt Model
New Solar Inverter Ideally Suited for Residential and Commercial Projects.
The Solar Manufacturing Edge: software Design-for-Test
Software for solar manufacturing must be agile in the purest sense: quick to evolve, yet reliable as soon as it arrives on the factory floor.
Chemists Describe Solar Energy Progress and Challenges
Scientists are making progress toward development of an “artificial leaf” that mimics a real leaf’s chemical magic with photosynthesis – but instead converts sunlight and water into a liquid fuel such as methanol for cars and trucks.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
S.A.G. Solarstrom AG Commences Installation of 4.6 MWp Roof-Top System
Freiburg based S.A.G. Solarstrom AG will connect the 4.6 MWp roof-top system on the roof of the Dehner Garden Center in Rain to the electricity grid later this year, according to the latest status of planning and construction process.
Konarka and Arch Aluminum Unveil SolarCurtain Wall Pilot Project
The solar panels, generating 1.5 kilowatts of power to the facility, are expected to be fully operational by year’s end.
China Solar Power Purchases ThinSilicon
China Solar Power today announced that it purchased ThinSilicon, Inc., a leading developer of thin film manufacturing process technology based in Mountain View, CA. No financial terms were disclosed.
Super-Sol is Going Solar
Solar is going mainstream: both the IDB group and the Dor Alon group are planning to harness the sun to power at least some of their companies.
Solar Power Backflip Welcomed by Environmental Groups (Australia)
The state opposition says the change to the scheme means thousands of consumers will be left $300 out of pocket for equipment they bought under the old arrangements.
Cloud Over India’s Solar Power Plans
India is betting big on abundant sunshine to feed its growing power needs but funding costs and feeble solar panel manufacturing capacity are clouding its ambitions to harness the non-fossil fuel.
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