Installations

Ford, Detroit Edison and Xtreme Power are teaming up to establish what they say is one of Michigan’s largest solar power generation systems and electric vehicle charging stations at Ford’s Michigan Assembly Plant in the U.S. Construction is scheduled to begin later this year.

Cogentrix Energy LLC has entered into a contract with Public Service Company of Colorado (PSCo), in the U.S. to develop what it says is expected to be the world’s largest concentrating photovoltaics (CPV) solar power generation facility at 30 megawatts (MW).

Solon Corporation has announced an agreement with Tucson Electric Power Company (TEP), under which the company will install a 1.6 megawatt (MW) turnkey solar power plant in Tucson, the U.S.

Conergy Italy has announced the completion of two more solar parks in Apulia, Italy, worth a total of 1.5 megawatts (MW). Combined, the company says its six solar parks, which are located in the region, produce over 6,600 megawatt hours of energy for more than 2,100 households, and save around 3,500 tons of carbon dioxide a year.

Every house under India’s first Zero Energy Satellite Township (ZEST), to be developed in Rajarhat in eastern India, will include rooftop solar photovoltaics (PV) modules and building-integrated PV (BIPV), according to the West Bengal Green Energy Development Corporation Ltd.

TerniEnergia has entered into an agreement with TRP PVE BV, an Italian-Chinese joint-venture company, and Milis Energy SPA to build two solar parks in Sardinia, with a total power output of 12 megawatts (MW). The deal is said to be worth €40 million.

A team of researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), funded by the U.S Department of Energy’s solar technologies program, has released a 144-page renewable energy feed-in tariff (FIT) guide, aimed at helping to “improve future policy design”.

Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd. has stopped manufacturing amorphous silicon thin film solar panels, in order to focus on crystalline silicon solar cells at its Shanghai, China facility. The “rapid cost reduction and improving competitiveness” of crystalline silicon solar panels was cited as the main reason. The company says that, as a result, it expects to incur a thin film equipment non-cash impairment charge of approximately USD$50 million to USD$55 million in the second quarter of this year.

SunPower Corp. has announced that Etrion Corporation, an independent solar power producer, has signed a €48 million definitive sale and purchase agreement to acquire the equity in the first two phases of the Montalto di Castro solar photovoltaic (PV) power park, which it says is the largest in Italy at 28 megawatts (MW). It hopes to increase this to 72 MWs by the end of the year.

Astronergy is to increase its production capacity from 30 megawatts (MW) to 75 MW this year. The announcement comes as the company signs a follow-up purchase agreement for Oerlikon Solar’s thin film equipment. The company says the order will help it to reach its goal of producing 400 MW of thin film solar photovoltaics (PV) modules “within the near future”.