Solar panels carry Rosetta's lander to comet
Humanity yesterday celebrated an historic step towards unlocking the mysteries of the oldest building blocks of our Solar System: Comets. Solar cells carried the European Space Agency’s Rosetta probe, Philae, onto the first-ever landing on a comet.
SunPower bets on high efficiency and low concentrating PV
Californian solar company SunPower is building out its manufacturing capacity in both high efficiency cells and modules and in Low Concentrating PV (LCPV) in a split strategy it hopes will deliver the diversity it needs to thrive in shifting electricity markets. SunPower announced plans to construct its Fab 5 for completion in 2017 and that it would break ground on a LCPV fab in the Philippines next year as it delivered its 2015 guidance, at an analyst event today in New York.
Residential storage market to increase to 900 MW by 2018
IHS analysis released today forecasts the grid-tied residential storage market to increase from 90 MW to 900 MW over the next four years. The startling tenfold market expansion is primarily due to the increasing attractiveness of PV for self-consumption. Subsidies will also play a role, IHS concludes.
US, China vow to cut CO2 emissions, promote trade in green energy technologies
The countries intend to better promote trade in green goods and clean energy technologies, a goal that is sure to benefit from a planned U.S. trade mission to China in April led by U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz and Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker.
ACME to develop 110 MW of solar in India
The leading Indian solar company is investing nearly $150 million in new projects in the states of Telangana and Chhattisgarh.
Canadian Solar posts record third-quarter results
The company is on-track to deliver the best year in its history in terms of revenue, profitability and megawatt shipment, according to Chairman and CEO Shawn Qu.
Spain to link Mallorca, Ibiza
Spanish electricity grid operator Red Eléctrica de España (REE) announced on Wednesday the construction of a 126-kilometer long cable interconnecting the Balearic Islands of Mallorca and Ibiza. The project can potentially benefit PV, which now lags behind in the sun-washed islands of the Mediterranean Sea, but this will require time.
Largest African PV plant begins operation
Among the South African project’s investors are Google and SolarReserve, which also developed the 96 MW plant as part of an international consortium. The plant will generate enough power to supply 80,000 homes.
Bosch Power Tec shutters inverter, storage plants in Germany
The company plans to bundle production and development of inverters and storage systems at its headquarters in Baden-Württemberg after closing facilities in Hamburg and Hessen.
Italian PV companies head to Morocco
Rome-based Kenergia is developing and coordinating the Solar Breeder project in Morocco. The program is seen as the starting point in a process of investments that will involve Italian companies, local banks, private investors and the SIE and private investors.
