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
BrightSource Alters Solar Plant Plan to Address Concerns Over Desert Tortoise
BrightSource Energy on Thursday plans to submit a new design to regulators that shrinks the size of the 4,000-acre Ivanpah Solar Energy Generating Station by 12 percent.

Solar Panels to Help Power Campo Verde High
A third of Campo Verde High School’s power could be run by a new solar photo voltaic electric generating system starting in August, saving the Gilbert Unified School District money and adding to the school’s “green” energy focus.

SolarCity Names Stanton VP of Government Affairs
He will oversee SolarCity’s work with federal and state government organizations on a wide range of renewable energy policy issues.

Recovery Act Funds to go to California Energy Efficiency and Solar Projects
The State Energy Program through the U.S. Department of Energy will funnel $110 million in Recovery Act funds into energy-efficiency and solar projects, the California Recovery Task Force said Thursday.

NATIONAL NEWS
Calisolar Acquires Ontario, Canada Based 6N Silicon
The new funds will be used to increase capacity at the Sunnyvale, California cell manufacturing facility and expand silicon purification operations in Vaughan, Ontario.

IREC Releases Updated Best Practices for Renewable Energy Training
IREC is pleased to release the February 2010 updated version of the Best Practices & Recommended Guidelines for Renewable Energy Training.

IHS Aquires Emerging Energy Research
IHS Inc. announced the acquisition of Emerging Energy Research this week. The purchase price is approximately $18 million.

UTILITY INDUSTRY & REGULATORY NEWS
FirstEnergy of Ohio to Buy Allegheny Energy for $4.7B
FirstEnergy of Ohio agreed on Thursday to buy Allegheny Energy of Pennsylvania for $4.7 billion in stock, creating a giant electricity provider with customers spread across the Midwest and mid-Atlantic.

Arizona Pulls Out of Western Cap and Trade Program
Citing financial worries, the State of Arizona has backed out of a broad regional effort to limit greenhouse gas emissions in the West through a cap-and-trade system.

FINANCIAL NEWS & MARKETS
JA Solar Announces Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2009 Results
Revenue in the fourth quarter of 2009 was RMB 1.6 billion ($238.4 million), an increase of 23.4 percent from RMB 1.3 billion ($193 million) reported in the third quarter of 2009 and an increase of 66.2 percent from RMB 979.0 million ($143.4 million) reported in the fourth quarter of 2008.

REC Announces Fourth Quarter Results
Renewable Energy Corporation ASA (REC) reported revenue of NOK 2,676 million in the fourth quarter 2009, an increase of 12 percent the fourth quarter 2008. Revenue for the full year 2009 amounted to NOK 9,156 million, which was also a 12 percent increase from 2008.

Chinese Solar company JinkoSolar Delays IPO
Chinese solar module producer JinkoSolar Holding Co. Ltd. became the fifth company this year to table its IPO.

TECHNOLOGY
Canadian Solar Modules to be Recognized for Top PV USA Ratings
PTC ratings are quickly becoming universally accepted standards for measuring real-world module power and performance.

Kyocera Achieves World Record Conversion Efficiency for Multicrystralline Solar Modules
Kyocera today announced that it has achieved a new world record of 16.6% module efficiency (aperture-area efficiency of 17.3%)* for multicrystalline silicon solar modules using 54 cells in the development stage.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Powerhouse Solar Orders 1,000 Dual Axis Tracking Units
Sonnen systeme Projektgesellschaft and Canada’s Powerhouse Solar have signed a long-term cooperation agreement which includes the sale of 1,000 sonnen_system 3_60 dual-axis tracking units.

Colexon Sells 1 MW PV System to tnp Mitteldeutsche Verwaltung & Treuhand
The companies had previously signed a framework agreement on purchasing PV power plants with a capacity of up to 15 MWp until mid of 2011.

Astronergy Solar Receives “China Oustanding Enterprise of the Year” Award
Astronergy Solar distinguished itself as the only company in the photovoltaics industry to receive the award.

Saudi Arabia Launches Solar Energy Program
The program, launched by the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), aims to help stabilize future power and water supplies inside Saudi Arabia through the creation of solar-powered desalination facilities.

Taiwan’s Hon Hai Plans $300M Solar Plant
Taiwan’s Hon Hai Group is set to invest at least 10 billion Taiwan dollars (US$300 million ) to build a solar plant in the center of the island, a report said on Feb. 11.

Germany and Italy Hint at Delays to Feed-in Tariff Cuts
There were mixed signals for Europe’s booming solar energy sector this week, after news that Germany’s ruling coalition is to delay proposed cuts to its feed in tariff scheme was followed by an unexpected postponement to Italy’s revised solar subsidy scheme.

This entry was posted on Friday, February 12th, 2010 at 7:27 am 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.