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
Report Warns Silicon Valley Could Lose its Edge
Factories that once made chips would have to be revamped to make solar panels, and venture capital firms are unlikely to be able to provide enough money to build such capital-intensive companies.
SunPower to Buy Europe’s SunRay for $277M
SunPower Corp. said Thursday it agreed to acquire SunRay Renewable Energy, a solar power plant developer with offices in Europe and the Middle East, for about $277 million.
NATIONAL NEWS
Renewable Funding Solves Solar Financing Problem
Easy financing of energy efficiency eliminates the enormous upfront cost.
Renewables Industry Promotes its Potential
Funds from the $787 billion stimulus package and other federal assistance kept growth in the renewable energy sector strong in 2009, a trend that will probably persist as federal investment continues to pay off over the coming year, industry leaders said in a teleconference Tuesday.
Group Urges Texas to Promote More Solar Power Use
With a surplus of both land and sunshine, Texas could easily be the nation’s leader in solar power generation but needs more help from state leaders, advocates said Wednesday.
Evergreen Solar Claims Cost Competitive with Chinese Competitors at US Plant
The 100MW plant, operated by Jiawei Solarchina is expected to ramp to 20 to 25MW of capacity per quarter in early 2011 and produce a wafer for about US$0.45 per watt and a panel for around US$1.25 per watt.
US Solar Startup Aims to Match First Solar’s Cost
Solar thin-film start-up MiaSole is aiming to be a viable competitor to industry leader First Solar (FSLR.O) by lowering manufacturing costs of its panels as it ramps up production and opens a new U.S. plant.
UTILITY INDUSTRY & REGULATORY NEWS
Bill Clears Way for Distributed Renewable Energy
The measure would establish in statute what New Mexico regulators have already decided, that developers are not considered public utilities if they install, own and operate renewable energy generation equipment—such as solar panels—on a customer’s property and sell the power to the customer.
Ohio Issues RFP for Energy Gateway Grants
The state of Ohio is seeking proposals for $40 million in federal and state funding tied to an advanced energy job creation program unveiled in Gov. Ted Strickland’s State of the State speech last month.
The 2010 North American Utility Smart Grid Deployment Survey
GTM Research polls utility smart-grid decision makers on deployment plans.
FINANCIAL NEWS & MARKETS
1BOG Gets Funding for a New Way to Sell Solar
Llorens is founder of a San Francisco-based startup called One Block Off the Grid — or 1BOG for short — which today will announce $5 million in first-round funding from New Enterprise Associates, or NEA, the venture capital powerhouse playing a growing role in the cleantech trend.
TECHNOLOGY
Going Smaller to Boost Photovoltaic Cell Efficiencies
The Spanish Foundation for Nanotechnology Research and Development (FideNa) and the Spanish National Centre for Renewable Energies (CENER) have joined forces for the first time to try to apply nanotechnology to push up solar cell efficiency rates.
Trina Solar Develops High Efficiency Square Monocrystalline PV Cell Using Proprietary Process
Using specially designed metallization and passivation techniques, the company says that the advanced cell structure should significantly boost cell conversion efficiency, achieving up to 18.8% in test laboratory production.
Prism Solar and PPG Industries Partner to Test Performance of Anti-Reflective Glass in Standard and Holographic Solar Modules
Prism Solar Technologies and PPG Industries have partnered on a project to test the performance of different types of glass in both standard and holographic photovoltaic (PV) modules at various incident and direct angles.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Canadian Solar Completes its First 250 kW PV Rooftop System in Ontario
Canadian Solar Inc. has installed Ontario’s first 250 kW photovoltaic rooftop system through its subsidiary Canadian Solutions Inc. The installation, the first of its kind in Ontario, is being completed with Towcon Holdings and Aecon.
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.
Volthaus Signs Long Term Module Supply Agreement with CNPV
CNPV will supply Volthaus with a total of 35MWp of PV Modules from 2010 to 2012, which includes 10MWp of scheduled delivery during 2010.
GDF SUEZ to Build France’s Largest Photovoltaic System
GDF SUEZ and its joint venture partners together with the Mayor of Curbans, Daniel Rolland, signed an agreement to build France’s largest photovoltaic solar power facility in Curbans (south east of France).
ET Solar Signs Module Supply Agreement with USE
ET Solar has signed a module sales agreement with Umwelt Sonne Energie GmbH (“USE”) in Germany. Under the contract, ET Solar will deliver a total of 31 MW solar modules to USE in 2010.
Czech Grid Warns Will Block Solar, Wind Plants
Generous feed-in tariffs have led to an explosion in new power projects, especially solar plants, which guarantee high returns thanks to a drop in prices of photovoltaic panels.
India’s Airvoice Plans 13GW of Renewable Energy
Airvoice Group has joined hands with Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam to build 13 GW of solar and wind energy capacity in India.
ET Solar & USE Reach 31MW PV Module Deal
Under the contract, ET Solar will deliver a total of 31 MW solar modules to USE in 2010.
