Manufacturing

It is time for the U.S. to implement feed-in tariffs (FITs), according to representatives of the state and regional solar industry associations, who met during last week’s Intersolar North America, held in San Francisco.

Spain’s government wants to pass drastic retroactive and future cuts as well as ceilings for photovoltaics (PV) feed-in tariffs, pv magazine has learnt. This is the result of a two-day round of talks between government and industry representatives.

Germany-based S.A.G. Solarstrom AG has announced it is to set up a 28 megawatt (MW) ground-mounted photovoltaics (PV) system in the northern Italian region of Veneto, in the municipality of Canaro. Once completed, the company says it will be one of the largest connected ground-mounted projects in the region and its largest project to date. Construction is due to start before the end of the year.

AEG Power Solutions (AEG PS) has said it expects sales of its solar inverters to increase ten fold this year, following the news its Protect PV.250 solar inverter has yielded an efficiency grade of 98.7 percent from the the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE) and Bureau Veritas.

Leoni AG of Nuremberg, Germany has significantly raised its sales and earnings forecast for this year. The company, which supplies power cables to photovoltaic (PV) plants and a flat wire for PV panels, among other business activities, told pv magazine that the solar industry “is increasingly contributing to [its] sales and earnings”.

Payom Solar AG and EGing Photovoltaic Technology Co., Ltd. have concluded a framework agreement, under which China-based EGing will provide Payom with 100 megawatts (MWs) of solar modules. The agreement will begin this year and is set to run until 2013.

Pacific Blue Energy Corp. (PBEC), a development stage renewable energy company, has entered into an agreement for the acquisition of 100 acres in Gila Bend, Arizona, the U.S. in order to develop a 150-megawatt (MW) solar farm.

?China-based JinkoSolar Holding Co., Ltd. has entered into an agreement to supply 24 megawatts (MW) of solar photovoltaic (PV) modules to Enfinity Asia Pacific Limited this year. Module shipments have already begun, says the company, and will continue throughout the year.?

Centrosolar France, the French subsidiary of Centrosolar Group AG, has completed three sloping-roof solar plant projects, worth a total of a €4 million in the southern French region of Ardeche. The company says it has achieved a new record for sloping-roof plants by installing over 5,000 modules.

SunPower Corp. and Solar Ventures S.r.l., a developer of solar parks in Italy, France and the Mediterranean area, have signed a contract to design and build three solar power plants in the Piedmont region of Italy. Totaling 11.1 megawatts (MW) over 30 hectares, the companies say the development represents one of the largest solar power developments in the region. Construction on the plants is due to start this month and is expected to be completed by the end of the year.