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
Enphase Microinverters Power 221kW Solar System for San Francisco Affordable Housing
Enphase Energy’ss microinverter technology is powering two solar systems installed on San Francisco affordable housing properties Hayes Valley North and Hayes Valley South. Combined, the two systems produce 221kW of power.
Affordable Housing Goes Downtown
High-rise living with expansive bay and city views, ample outdoor terraces, easy access to public transit and, most importantly, deeply affordable rents are what await 229 low-income households next month when a 23-story tower opens in downtown San Diego.
NFL Hall of Fame Ronnie Lott to Inspire Industry Leaders at Solar Leadership Summit Dinner
SolarTech Commits to Lott’s Non-profit Organization, All Stars Helping Kids, Motivating Students for Future Solar Energy Careers.
NATIONAL NEWS
Kohl’s Department Store Announces Plans to Go Solar at 10 Colorado Stores
The largest retail host of solar power in North America, today announced plans to convert 10 of its 23 Colorado Kohl’s stores to solar power by the end of this year.
Solar Thin Films Inc Acquire BudaSolar Technologies Co
The agreement is the first phase of the Dalian City Industrial Park Project targeting the development of a complex, vertically integrated production center with cumulative PV production capacity of 1GW to be achieved in 10 phases.
Oerlikon Doing Well With Tandem-Junction a-Si
“By the end of the year, our customers will be in a position to compete with First Solar, the PV Industry’s cost leader.” What is Oerlikon Solar doing differently?
Geogenix JoinsWith NJR Home Services to Provide Easy, Affordable Solar Energy
GeoGenix, an industry leader in residential and commercial solar installations, has been selected by NJR Home Services (NJRHS) to provide installation and maintenance of renewable energy systems through the company’s new solar leasing program.
Solar America Cities Effort to Expand
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) this week announced that it will make available up to $10 million in funding over 5 years for two organizations to help accelerate the adoption of solar energy among local governments.
BP Solar Completes year Long Restructuring
BP Solar confirmed that it has completed it restructuring efforts that included stopping production at its facility in Maryland. Silicon casting, wafering, and cell manufacturing at the plant ended in late March.
UTILITY INDUSTRY & REGULATORY NEWS
Los Angeles Businesses Contemplate Ambitious Solar Feed-in Tariff Scenarios
This particular group is pretty bullish on the idea. In fact, their study encourages the county to start what it is describing as the largest solar feed-in tariff programs in the United States.
Oncor Putting $6.9M More Into Popular Solar Panel Program
Oncor Electric Delivery is pumping $6.9 million more into its program to provide rebates for installation of solar photovoltaic panels at homes and businesses.
MARKETS & MARKET RESEARCH
Does Solar Have a Future in Tomorrow’s Market?
The solar market may be booming at the factory, but there’s a lot of work left to do in the trenches.
GOVERNMENT & POLITICS
SEIA Submits Testimony for House Ways and Means Committee Hearing
Despite recession, the solar industry added new jobs in 2009, but Congress must do more to drive job growth in 2010 and beyond.
FINANCIAL NEWS & MARKETS
9REN Approves 94M Euros of Further Photovoltaic Investment for 2010
The board of directors of 9REN Asset has earmarked a further €91 million to roll out a further 25 MW of photovoltaic arrays across Italy and Spain.
Renewed Appetite for IPOs Set to Boost Solar and Wind Power
The biggest revival in stock prices since the Great Depression is reigniting interest in initial public offerings by environmental companies, spurring businesses from China to California to issue new shares.
Why I Am Short First Solar
A technology, to be a really great investment, must do two things. It must change part of the world in a useful way (a big part of the world is better, of course, but you can be surprisingly profitable in small niches), and it must keep the competition out.
TECHNOLOGY
Further Software Developments for Optimizing PV Plant Profitability
The improved application will be on show at Intersolar in June.
Innovative Cable Tray Makes the Solar FlexRack Even Easier to Deploy
Once the racks are installed, the next challenge is wire management. And once again, the Solar FlexRack makes it easy with its new and innovative cable tray system.
Solar & Wind Material Advancement On Tap
Saflex, a business unit of Solutia, is launching a solar encapsulate that it claims helps increase the efficiency of the solar module while reducing material usage.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
LDK Solar Receives Module Order from Phoenix Solar
LDK Solar has signed a contract to supply solar modules to Germany-based Phoenix Solar AG. Under terms of the agreement, LDK Solar will deliver approximately 20 megawatts (MW) of solar modules during the second calendar quarter of 2010.
EOS Energia to Build 10 MW of Photovoltaic Greenhouses
EOS Energia will manage the design, procurement and construction of these greenhouses and 10 MW of solar modules and it will ensure these plants will be connected this year.
Proinso Awarded 7.5 MW of Solar Farm Contracts in Greece
Spanish company, Proinso specializing in the distribution of modules, inverters, trackers and fixed structures for photovoltaic systems, has been awarded the supply of various solar photovoltaic farms in Greece that will together amount to more than 7.54 MW of installed capacity.
Yingli Green Energy Announces Business Updates
Yingli Green Energy provided updates on Fine Silicon, its in-house polysilicon manufacturing facility with a designed annual production capacity of 3,000 MT.
Trina Solar Introduces New “Design Series” with Black Modules
The Company has developed a high efficiency black module, the first of several new PV modules in the “Design-Series”, which aims to blend seamlessly with dark- colored rooftops, offering customers sleek design as well as aesthetically pleasing and reliable solutions for residential and commercial applications.
Suntech, Trina Solar Sign $11.7B Loan Deals
Suntech and Trina have signed framework agreements with China Development Bank (CDB) [CHDB.UL], giving them access to a combined 80 billion yuan ($11.72 billion) in loans.
Egypt in Talks with Masdar on Solar Power Plan
The Egyptian government is in talks with Abu Dhabi state-owned clean energy firm Masdar to help fund a solar power plant along the eastern Red Sea coast, an official has revealed.
Solar Power: India Inc Lines Up RS 100,000-Crore Plants
Punj Lloyd Delta Renewables is just four months old.
Ontario Solar Academy Redefines Solar Training within Canadian Context
Ontario Solar Academy graduates latest crop of students from its 5-Day PV Design and Installation Training Course.
Proinso &Mecasolar Awarded 7.5MW of PV Contracts
The agreements include the supply of 2.65 MW of 2-axis trackers from Mecasolar, a company who together with Proinso forms part of Grupo OPDE.
