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
Enviros, Growers on Farmland Reuse for Solar
Cash-strapped farmers in California’s agricultural heartland and environmentalists at odds over water rights and wildlife protections finally agree on something: that thousands of acres of cracked, salty farmland is the perfect site for a sprawling utility-scale solar farm.
SunPower to Build 1MW PV Plant in Yolo County
Yolo County, SunPower Corp. and Bank of America announced that SunPower will design and construct a 1-megawatt (MW) solar power system at the Yolo County Justice Center in Woodland, California.
NATIONAL NEWS
First Solar Flies Too Close to the Sun
Solar power relies almost completely on subsidies, and those are being slashed in Germany, where First Solar made 65% of its sales last year.
Buy American Solar Rules Threaten Tit for Tat
“Buy American” provisions that could be attached to government-funded stimulus projects have foreign solar panel manufacturers scurrying to set up U.S. facilities — and worrying that countries like China might follow suit.
Willingboro Municipal Utilities Authority Breaks Ground on 1.05 MW PV System
The solar installation, comprised of 5,300 Sharp® solar panels will be installed by APS Contractors, Inc. of Paterson, New Jersey at two WMUA venues, the waste treatment and drinking water plants.
Thornapple Kellogg Middle School Installs Wind Turbine, Solar Panel for Study
Renewable energy sources appear to be a wave of the future and Thornapple Kellogg Middle School students will get some first-hand knowledge of the systems.
Skyscrapers Give Back to the Environment with Solar Energy Use
Solar panel development brings solar energy to large companies by switching from windows to solar panels. Skyscrapers can now run on energy from to sun in order to protect earth’s nonrenewable resources.home
UTILITY INDUSTRY & REGULATORY NEWS
Power Grid Connection Wins First Approval
A transmission project to link the nation’s three major electric grids won an initial approval Thursday from federal regulators, but fell short on its bid to resolve a thorny jurisdiction issue.
FERC Approves Negotiated Rates for Project
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has authorized a proposed transmission superstation to negotiate prices on its services.
Smart Grid Data: Too Much for Privacy, Not Enough for Innovation
That’s the gist of a discussion last week about smart grid privacy at the California Public Utilities Commission, which is forming policies for how the state’s utilities implement smart grid systems.
It’s Come to This: Citizens Against Smart Meters
The small group is also holding rallies outside of Oncor’s headquarters and using social media to get the word out.
MARKETS & MARKET RESEARCH
Clean Tech Sector Thriving, Survey Finds
The recession has battered investors, but new data suggest that the clean technology sector was largely immune from the global economic collapse.
Cost of Solar Going Down, Industry Says
A typical residential system that cost $8 to $9 a watt a year and a half ago would cost about $5 to $6 a watt today.
FINANCIAL NEWS & MARKETS
SunPower Shares Tumble More than 10% After Hours
San Jose-based SunPower disappointed investors Thursday with weaker-than-expected results and a sharply reduced forecast for future sales, sending its shares down more than 10 percent in after-hours trading.
Solyndra’s Estimated Market Cap Up to $2B
Solyndra’s production and sales growth could lead to a market cap of between $1.76 and $2 billion.
Solon Gets 146M Default Guarantee
The German federal government and the federal states of Berlin and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern last week said that they will provide Solon SE with a combined default guarantee of €146 million which will secure both the organizational restructuring program that was initiated last year and the restructuring of the company’s funding.
Trina Makes Follow-on Public Offering
Trina Solar intends to grant the underwriters an option to purchase up to additional 1,185,000 ADSs.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Flextronics Opens Module Manufacturing Facility; Plans 1 GW Capacity in Two Years
Flextronics has dedicated one million square feet to create a clean tech supersite established at its facility in Port of Tanjung Pelepas (PTP), Malaysia.
DelSolar Announces Legal Action to Resolve Contractual Dispute with Swiss Wafers AG
After multiple attempts to negotiate, DelSolar and Swiss Wafers AG have been unable to reach any settlement in their dispute arising out of what DelSolar says is Swiss Wafers’ contractual breach.
Conergy Partners on 3 MW Project in Thailand
The megawatt park is situated in Ayutthaya, 70 km north of Bangkok. The plant is expected to produce 4,471 megawatt hours of clean energy annually, while also saving at least 1,971 tons of carbon emissions per year.
CNPV Solar Power Receives 21 MW Module Order from CTS Solar GmbH
CNPV will supply CTS Solar with a total of 21MWp of PV Modules from 2010 to 2012, which includes 5MWp of scheduled delivery during 2010.
Alpheon Completes Solar Energy System at TNT Warehouse
Alpheon Energy, an alternative energy service provider, has completed the delivery of a 130 kWp solar PV system on the roof of the TNT Express operation in Boom, Belgium.
EnBW to Build Solar Park with 5.5MW of Solarfun PV Modules in Ulm-Eggingen, Germany
The solar park, one of the largest in the region, will be constructed on a former dumpsite and is expected to be connected to the grid in June 2010.
China Plans the World’s Largest Solar Plant
President Barack Obama has expressed concern that the U.S. will be surpassed by other countries in the race to develop and use alternative energy technology.
Retired Brandeis Professor Brings Clean Power to African Villages
Where nightfall once meant only darkness in the tiny Tanzanian island of Tumbatu, now there are 200 points of light.
Ascent Solar and Kirloskar Partner to Market Thin Film PV Modules in India
Under the terms of the multi-phase agreement the two companies will commence integration, marketing and distribution of Ascent Solar’s flexible CIGS photovoltaic modules into products designed to address multiple market opportunities in India.
NDPL 1500 kW Solar Plans Before 2010 Games
NDPL has put forward plans to generate up to 1500kW power from solar energy before the Commonwealth Games.
