SunEdison has been awarded a solar service contract with Davis-Monthan Air Force Base (DMAFB) in Tucson, Arizona, the U.S. to build a 14.5-megawatt (MW) solar farm. Construction is scheduled to begin next year.

Following the news that the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy has called on the European Union (EU) to include photovoltaics (PV) under the Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive (RoHS), Professor Martin A. Green has told pv magazine he would like to see a fixed date for RoHS compliance.

Constellation Energy and Denver-based Oak Leaf Energy Partners are to install a 4.4-megawatt (MW) photovoltaics (PV) project at Denver International Airport in the U.S.

Using carbon nanotubes – hollow tubes of carbon atoms – Massachusetts Institute of Technology chemical engineers say they have found a way to concentrate solar energy 100 times more than a regular photovoltaic (PV) cell. Such nanotubes could reportedly form antennas that capture and focus light energy, potentially allowing much smaller and more powerful solar arrays, according to Chinese news agency, xinhuanet.

??Solarwatt, located in Dresden, Germany has invested over €35 million in a new solar module production line and logistics center. Operations have already begun on the production line, where capacity has been expanded from 200 to 400 megawatts peak. The company added that up to 140 new jobs are expected to be created in the region.

The largest solar power station in the Czech Republic opened on Wednesday in the village of Veprek, some 20 kilometers north of Prague, according to Chinese news agency, xinhuanet.

Spain-based photovoltaics (PV) module maker, Eurener has told pv magazine it is working with the Chilean government and University of Atacama to develop a PV installation in the Atacama desert. Although still in the planning stages, the company’s aim is to provide off grid solutions to people who are still living without electricity in the periphery of the Atacama, based in Chile, South America.

Germany-based Singulus Technologies has announced it has received further orders of an unknown quantity for its Singular inline coating systems, from unnamed Chinese customers. One of the machines will reportedly be shipped this September.

Comtec Solar Systems Group Limited has said orders for its monocrystalline solar wafers have already exceeded 600 megawatts (MW) for next year. The news came as the company announced it has signed around 200 MW worth of supply framework agreements. It added that it will be focusing on its 400 MW expansion, with the aim of reaching one gigawatt (GW) of capacity by next year.

In a second round of funding by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), U.S.-based SunPower Corp. is set to receive a grant of around USD$1.8 million from the California Solar Initiative Research, Development, Deployment and Demonstration (CSI RD&D) Program.