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
Virgance Acquires 1 Block Off the Grid
The addition of 1BOG to Virgance’s portfolio of sustainable projects will allow 1BOG to launch its next solar purchasing campaigns in 20 new U.S. cities, the company said.
Trina Solar to Locate North America Base in San Francisco
Trina has chosen the City of San Francisco as the location for its North America base.
“Green” Training Bolsters Laborers Skills in Marin City
Six Marin City residents have spent the past week with a crew installing solar panels on a complex of buildings in Bolinas in an on-the-job training program between Sun First Solar of San Rafael and the Marin City Community Development Corp.
NATIONAL NEWS
Florida Tax Credits Expected to Brighten Jacksonville Solar Companies
A recently passed solar investment tax credit package and increased interest in renewable energy are powering up Northeast Florida’s solar industry.
Gainesville Moves Forward on Feed-in Tariff
Business leaders and ratepayers discussed an opt out option for net metering as well as why that might not be necessary, a potential cap on the city’s FIT, how land holders and leaseholders would be affected by the policy, and the importance of protecting small- to mid-size renewable energy producers.
Solar Firm Gaines Northwest Market Share
Howard Lamb launched a small business installing solar electric and solar hot water systems in 2005. After some initial stumbles, Sunergy Systems LLC has gained significant market share in the Northwest.
Energy Conversion Devices & Marcegaglia Sign PV Cell Deal
CD’s subsidiary, United Solar Ovonic, will supply Marcegaglia with individual solar photovoltaic (PV) cells for use in integrated commercial roofing products that Marcegaglia is developing
Clear Skies Launches Carbon 612 Corporation
Carbon 612 will commercialize the company’s proprietary technologies, offering solar PV monitoring via its in-house designed and produced XTRAX system.
Boulder Voters to Follow Berkeley with Clean Energy Financing
Boulder County can issue up to $40M in bonds to finance clean energy improvements. Homeowners and businesses that elect to participate in the program will repay the county through special assessments that are added to their property taxes.
Ascent Solar and TurtleEnergy Sign Cooperation Agreement
The parties will collaborate to develop BIPV roofing materials. Ascent Solar intends to supply TurtleEnergy with product from its existing 1.5 MW production line during 2009 for TurtleEnergy to develop, test and certify integrated BIPV products.
Dallas City Council Passes 2009 Legislative Lobbying Agenda
The legislative agenda calls for council support of street car system funding, provide incentives to reduce the use of plastic bags and increase the use of solar panels.
Ocean City Goes Solar
A grant from the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, as well as tax credits from the company that installed the panels, financed the $4 million project. Now the library, fire headquarters, public works, and fleet maintenance buildings are converting the sun’s rays into electricity.
City Hall Gets Solar Power
Workers in Boulder, CO began installing solar panels on City Hall paid for with an anonymous donation to the Center for Resource Conservation, an environmental nonprofit.
UTILITY INDUSTRY & REGULATORY NEWS
California Commission Decision Could Allow Utilities to Use Credits for RPS
In late October, the CPUC released of a draft decision to allow the use of tradable (unbundled) RECS (or TRECs) for compliance with the RPS.
U.S. Electric Utility Industry Needs US $2T Investment by 2030
The utility industry will need to invest $1.5 – $2 trillion to maintain current levels of reliable energy service for customers throughout the country, according to a report by The Brattle Group.
Utilities Hunker Down for Tough Year
A recession, tight credit markets, global warming and higher costs for everything from fuel to wires are the talk in Phoenix at the annual financial conference of the Edison Electric Institute, an industry group. The meeting opened this week as shares in utilities have plunged.
Will Carbon Credits Mean Blackouts?
A study from the North American Electric Reliability Corporation raises fears that the phase out of coal could lead to a loss of power in some regions.
FINANCIAL NEWS & MARKETS
Solar Stocks Search in Vain for Bottom
Solar stocks continue to have a rough time. In stark contrast to 2007, when the bigger names in the sector were rallying month after month on the promise of solar power, there is no clear sign of where the bottom is.
IBC Solar to Seek Investors for 38 Megawatt PV Project
IBC Solar has secured ground in the north Italian region Friaul, on which PV power projects with a nominal power of 38MW are to be built. The company expects approvals for the first initial 11MW phase of the project by the end of this year.
Conergy Finances Three Spanish Megawatt Photovoltaic Projects
With the successful conclusion of the financing for the Spanish major projects Manzanares, Herrera and Chinchilla by the HSH Nordbank, the Conergy Group has now financed all its 2008 major projects realized in Spain implemented through its subsidiary EPURON.
Sunways AG Reports Third Quarter Results
Q3 sales rose 11% to 8.6M EUR. However, Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) declined against the comparable prior year period by 70% to 0.6M EUR.
SOLON AG Presents Third Quarter 2008 Results
Total Group revenues rose by 91% to EUR 637.0M in the first nine months of 2008.
TECHNOLOGY
Oerlikon’s Amorph High Performance Panel Line Hits the Market
Achieving more than 7% stabilized efficiency with this system has enabled a 16% increase in panel power output. Capacity is up by more than 50% without an increase in fab cost.
Trina Joins UMG – Silicon Play
The polysilicon shortage might be over soon, but that isn’t stopping Trina Solar from devoting its resources to developing products using a dirtier but cheaper class of silicon.
Sungevity Displays Sunshine Online at Web 2.0 Launch Pad
At the Web 2.0 Summit this week, Sungevity’s web-based solar installation program was honored as a leading example of creative ways businesses can use Web 2.0 technologies to solve real world problems.
Solzar Introduces New Solar Max and MSolar Solar Power Platforms
Solzar has announced it has broadened its solar power systems product line to include Solar-Max (Outdoor Solar Power System) and MSolar (Portable Solar Power System).
A Ray of Sunshine for Solar Energy
Morgan has developed a new type of solar panel that, like many other systems on the market, concentrates the sun’s rays on to high-efficiency solar cells. The big difference is the simplicity of his design and the lower-cost materials used.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
The European PV Industry’s New Target is 12% of Solar Power by 2020
Its current goal of covering 2 to 3% of the European energy demand with PV is not enough to make it attractive in the battle for R&D funds. What is needed is a real contribution to the solution for future energy supply.
Solar City Proves Allure of Sun’s Energy in Japan
Three-quarters of Pal Town’s homes are covered by solar panels, which are distributed for free and have become one of the main draw-cards for residents keen to minimize their power bills.
Ontario Puts CAN $5M Into Renewable Energy & Cleantech Research
Funding for the investment comes from the Ontario Research Fund. The funding will support 260 researchers involved with 34 projects at 11 different institutions.
Worldwide Energy and Manufacturing to Set Up Module Manufacturing Facility in China
Worldwide Energy and Manufacturing has leased a 128,000-square-foot facility in Ningbo, China which will house the company’s research center and part of its PV manufacturing operations.
