Installations

The Ontario Power Authority (OPA) has announced that following a 30-day consultation period, it has finalized the price for the new microFIT ground-mounted solar price category at 64.2 Canadian cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh).??

Solar inverter shipments reached 4.9 gigawatts (GW) in the second quarter of this year (Q2), says IMS Research, growing by 284 percent. More than half of these shipments were for installations in Germany, which grew by 388 percent in Q2 says the company. Consequently, total shipments hit more than eight GW for the first six months of the year – a three-fold increase over the same period last year.

Solarfun Power Holdings Co., Ltd., based in China, has signed a photovoltaics (PV) module distribution agreement with Japanese company, Fujimi Fine Technology Inc., a manufacturer of silicon wafers and distributor of semiconductor products.

Sky Solar Holdings Co., Ltd, and Sinoma International Engineering Co., Ltd, a cement engineering system integration service provider, have joined hands to establish a new photovoltaics (PV) company in Beijing, China.

LDK Solar Co., Ltd. is to invest in a 1.5-gigawatt (GW) solar cell and module facility in Hefei High-Tech Industrial Development Zone in China, following an invitation from the country’s the Anhui Provincial Government. The aim, says the company, is to establish a renewable energy manufacturing hub in the Province.

The Spanish government has announced fresh plans to slash incentives for new solar photovoltaics (PV) installations by up to 45 percent, although it appeared to edge away from proposals that would have resulted in reduced support for existing installations, reports the Guardian. However, a key PV analyst tells pv magazine that with a bit of long-term planning, the country can recover itself.

Germany-based Solon SE has reached an agreement with British project developer, 35 Degrees Ltd, to build a 1.3 megawatt peak (MWp) photovoltaics (PV) solar power plant near Bissoe in Cornwall, the U.K. Pending the necessary planning permits for the energy park, the company says it could be the first ground-mounted solar power plant ever built in the country.

SunPower Corp. has announced that it has signed an agreement with Arizona Public Service (APS) in the U.S. to design and construct a 15-megawatt (MW) (AC) solar photovoltaics (PV) power system at Luke Air Force Base in Glendale, Arizona. Scheduled for completion next summer, it is expected to be the largest solar power installation at a U.S. government facility. According to the company, approximately 550 local jobs will be created during construction.

The state of Washington in the U.S. is set to house one of the largest photovoltaics (PV) facilities in the world, according to the Teanaway Solar Reserve (TSR).

Canadian Solar Inc. has announced that production will begin at its first solar module manufacturing facility in Canada early next year. Expected to be one of the largest solar panel module manufacturing plants in North America, the new facility will be the company’s first feed-in tariff domestic content compliant solar plant in Ontario. It will have a manufacturing capacity of 200 megawatts a year and will employ around 500 people.