While some analysts are calling for calm and urging cooperation, the US head of SolarWorld has voiced confidence in the US Department of Commerce’s announcement for anti-dumping duties on Chinese imports of solar material claiming it will restore competition within the industry.
Last week, the US Department of Commerce imposed tariffs of between 31 and 250% on solar imports from China. Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI) has issued a statement calling for all parties to work together on measures to eliminate trade and investment barriers to solar energy.
Belectric has announced that it has installed more than 1GW of solar energy. Following the commission of a number of different PV projects this week, in its tenth year of operation, Belectric is the first company worldwide to reach the 1GW mark.
Nanosolar has installed a 1MW ground-mounted solar project at Camp Roberts, California, the company has announced. The installation at the National Guard’s training facility in San Miguel is equipped with 4,992 Nanosolar panels and part of the Department of Defense’s (DoD) Energy Security Technology Certification Program (ESTCP). Under this program, different green technologies are tested to optimize energy generation and cost reduction as well as reducing reliance on fossil fuels.
Despite full-capacity utilization and increased shipments of polysilicon and wafers, Daqo New Energy suffered falling revenue and continued losses in the first quarter of 2012. Based-on previously guided poly production cost reduction timelines and current spot market pricing - Daqo is fighting a loosing battle to sell polysilicon above cost levels through 2012 and 2013.
SolarEdge Technologies has announced that it has shipped an excess of 1 million of its solar power optimizing and monitoring solutions worldwide. The company ships its optimizers to over 30 different countries.
The Intersolar Awards 2012 will be presented on June 13 at Intersolar Europe in Munich. In its fifth year, entries from Intersolar China, North America and India have been invited to enter for the first time. The ceremony will be held at 4.30pm at the Intersolar Europe Innovations Exchange in hall B3, booth B3.450.
Ascent Solar has entered into a development agreement with Shenzhen Radiant Enterprise and the Third Railway Survey and Design Institute (TSDI), the company has announced. Under the agreement, the three companies aim to install Ascent solar panels into already existing as well as future railway stations in China. TSDI has been involved in designing over 50,000km of Chinese railways, as well as the design of the Beijing South railway station.
American-based Fluor Corporation has finished constructing one of LDK Solar’s polysilicon plants in China, the company has announced. Fluor provided EPC services for the plant in Xinyu City, China.
JinkoSolar will supply the state-owned Chinese developer GSHHSD with PV modules for a 50MW project in the Northwest of China. The PV plant is part of China’s plan to add 15GW of energy to the grid by 2015.
Qatar Solar Technologies and Qatar Electricity and Water have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to develop solar power in Qatar. QST is currently constructing a US$1.1 billion polysilicon manufacturing plant in the Ras Laffan Industrial City in Qatar.
SunEdison has signed a loan agreement for over US$65 million with the North American Development Bank (NADB), the company has announced. The loan will finance the construction of a 20MW PV plant in Picture Rocks, Arizona.
Endemic overcapacity and continued price declines towards manufacturing cost levels within the polysilicon sector have forced Korea’s largest poly producer to delay previously announced plans to build further plants. OCI is estimated to have reached an annual capacity of 42,000MT at the end of 2011 and had plans to reach 62,000MT with contributions from its 20,000MT P4 plant and a 24,000MT P5 plant that was revealed in April 2011, with the project expected to be operational at the end of 2013.
The Japanese Photovoltaic Energy Association (JPEA) announced figures for Q4 and fiscal 2011, finding that total quarterly shipments fell 23% to 554.2MW from Q3, while shipments of PV cells and modules increased by a small percentage point during Q4. Domestic and import sales of thin-film also took a hit, falling by 68% while import of PV materials for the period went up 3%. Monocrystalline products increased 16% while multicrystalline products dropped 13%.
Dominion Virginia Power filed a petition with the Virginia State Corporate Commission (SCC) today asking for permission to buy solar-generated electricity from residential and small commercial customers at US$0.15/kWh for a five-year demonstration period. The power company aims to encourage solar electricity through a proposed new rate that includes a premium, so that customers are more likely to install solar panels and sell the electricity to the company.
The proposed 3MW, US$20 million Ponterril solar project has received its final approval from the zoning board of appeals. The project will be developed across 22 acres of what used to be the Pittsfield Family YMCA’s recreation camp overlooking Pontoosuc Lake. The Berkshire Eagle advised that electricity produced by the project would be sold and transported to Western Massachusetts Electric Company (WMECO) as part of the power gird on North Street. The report confirmed that project officials want to begin work on the project this year, but actual construction timelines will depend on WMECO since it needs to advise what it would cost CTC Electric to make upgrades to the WMECO system in order for it to accept electricity from the new solar project.
Solar Gard has finished its second Environmental Product Declaration (EPD), which examines the environmental impact of a product from production to disposal . The latest EPD covers 14 more solar control architectural window films, bringing the company’s total number of carbon negative window films to 46.
PV Crystalox Solar advised that it had reached a cash settlement over a terminated wafer supply deal that amounts to €90 million. The funds will be recognized as income in the first half of this year and, according to proactiveinvestors, the news saw the company’s value more than double.
Expecting the PV equipment market to continue to slow this year, GT Advanced Technologies advised that it would be broadening its product lines with a new furnace that makes silicon carbide crystals. The company is aiming to diversify its product line in the midst of what it calls a global downshift in demand for its systems that make polysilicon and PV wafers. As reported by Bloomberg, CEO of GT Advanced, Tom Gutierrez, is looking its R&D this year by 50% to over US$65 million with sales expected to grow 6% to between US$925 million and US$975 million.
Earlier this month, Chinese vice premier Wang Qishan and state councillor Dai Bingguo met with US secretary of state Hillary Clinton and treasury secretary Timothy Geithner, in Beijing to discuss Sino-American strategic and economic relations. On May 17, the US Department of Commerce announced in a preliminary hearing that China had been exporting to the US at less than fair value.
On May 21st, 2012 Petra Solar Inc. (South Plainfield, New Jersey, U.S.) announced that it has signed an agreement with Bahrain's National Oil and Gas Authority (NOGA, Hoora, Bahrain), the Bahrain Petroleum Company (BAPCO, Awali, Bahrain) and Caspian Energy Holdings LLC (Washington D.C., U.S.) to build a 5 MW distributed solar photovoltaic (PV) project at several locations in Bahrain. Petra Solar says that the project will bring both PV generation and smart grid benefits to the BAPCO township of Awali, the University of Bahrain, and other locations. The project is a collaboration between Petra Solar, NOGA, BAPCO, Bahrain's Electricity and Water Authority (Manama, Bahrain), academic institutions, industry and government, and will serve as the first phase of a national energy plan to develop electricity from renewable energy sources in Bahrain.
On June 13th, 2012 the world's largest exhibition for the solar industry honors the innovative strength of the industry for the fifth year running by presenting the Intersolar AWARD for pioneering products and services from photovoltaics, solar thermal technologies and PV production technologies categories. The Intersolar AWARD is presented in a ceremony at Intersolar Europe's Innovation Exchange in hall B3, booth B3.450 at 4:30pm on June 13, 2012.
On May 17th, 2012, China Sunergy Co. Ltd. (Nanjing, China), a specialized solar cell and photovoltaic (PV) module manufacturer, announced that it has completed delivery of 5 MW of PV modules for the installation at Yerussalimovo Solar Park in Bulgaria. Yerussalimovo Solar Park is located in the vicinities of Yerussalimovo Village in Southern Bulgaria. The PV modules were sold to Mitsubishi International GmbH and are being installed and managed by Helios Power, China Sunergy reports.
Hightech-Engineering firm Manz AG (Reutlingen, Germany) introduced new equipment for wet-chemical processing of crystalline silicon solar cells at SNEC 2012 fair. Purpose of the tool named IPSG CEI 4800 is to remove the highly doped layer from the backside and the edges of a wafer and thereby produce a chemical edge isolation (CEI). In a second process step the remaining phosphor silicate glass (PSG) layer on the front side of the wafer that was created during the previous diffusion process step, is removed.
SolarEdge Technologies (Hod Hasharon, Israel), a leading global provider of end-to-end solar photovoltaic (PV) power optimization systems and monitoring solutions, on May 21st, 2012 announced the milestone of one million power optimizers shipped worldwide. SolarEdge established the market for distributed solar power optimization and, on own account, is leading the market with over 70% share.
On May 18th, 2012, SunEdison LLC (Beltsville, Maryland, U.S.) announced that it has signed a USD 65 million loan agreement with the North American Development Bank (NADB, San Antonio, U.S.) to support the building of a 20 MW solar photovoltaic (PV) plant in the U.S. state of Arizona. The plant will be comprised of MEMC crystalline silicon PV modules mounted on a single-axis tracking system, and will occupy 80-100 hectares of land owned by a department of the city of Tucson (Arizona, U.S.). SunEdison will serve as engineering, procurement and construction contractor for the project.
Global market leader BELECTRIC (Kolitzheim, Germany) has achieved a historic milestone for the solar industry. With the commissioning of multiple photovoltaic (PV) systems in the middle of May 2012 BELECTRIC has become the first company in the world to install more than one gigawatt (GW) of photovoltaic power, which corresponds to the system output of a large conventional power plant. “This is an outstanding event for BELECTRIC and the photovoltaics industry in general. My special thanks go to all the employees who have driven forward the development of the company in all parts of the world in the past 10 years,” stated Bernhard Beck, CEO of BELECTRIC, with no small measure of pride at this shared achievement.
Major Chinese solar photovoltaic (PV) manufacturers and polysilicon maker Hemlock Semiconductor (Hemlock, Michigan, U.S.) have issued statements condemning a preliminary ruling by the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) in its anti-dumping investigation of imports of Chinese-made PV products. Suntech Power Holdings Company Ltd. (Wuxi, China), Trina Solar Ltd. (Changzhou, China) and Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Ltd. (Baoding, China) have all vowed to continue their participation in the U.S. PV market, while warning of potential damage to the U.S. PV industry. The Chinese government has also expressed "extreme dissatisfaction" with the ruling, which industry analysts predict will benefit Taiwan and other nations.
On May 17th, 2012 Renewable Energy Corporation ASA (REC, Sandvika, Norway) announced that it plans to open a new applications and research center in Shangyu, China, to serve as a technology development and training facility. REC states that its Silicon Technologies Applications and Research (STAR) Center will provide localized support for its Chinese customers. Additionally, Tore Torvund, executive VP of subsidiary REC Silicon delivered the keynote speech at the silicon materials session at the SNEC conference in Shanghai.
On May 17th, 2012 the California Independent System Operator (ISO) announced plans to streamline the process for interconnecting distributed generation plants, including small solar photovoltaic (PV) plants, which will allow these facilities to obtain delivery status in roughly half the time as the current process. ISO estimates that it will be able to conduct the first allocations in spring 2013, following FERC approval and internal studies. The organization will also publish information showing quantities of potential distributed generation at various grid locations, to be used by utilities, developers and regulators.
On May 14th, 2012, Konarka Technologies Inc. (Lowell, Massachusetts, U.S.) announced that it has integrated Konarka Power Plastic solar panels into Dri-Design's metal rainscreen panels for building façade applications. The integrated solar photovoltaic (PV) panels offer superior building performance, a recurring revenue stream for building owners, tax credits and renewable energy credits where applicable, along with aesthetically pleasing designs for architects, Konarka emphasizes.
In May 2012 Skyline Innovations (Washington, D.C., U.S.) announced that it has completed solar water heating systems for three multifamily buildings in southern California. The buildings are owned by Williams Holdings Inc. Skyline states that it provided the solar water heating systems at no upfront cost, while Williams Holdings will receive solar hot water at a 25% fixed discount to their utility rate for water heating.