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Hybrid solutions for Mini Grid Applications

Growing requests for Mini – Grid applications push Omron Inverter’s technology

SunSniffer – New module-level rapid shutdown solution in the market starting December 2016

In cooperation with LEONI and QC Solar, SunSniffer releases its first junction boxes with the special monitoring sensor AND a rapid shutdown function for solar modules.

ET Solar Powers Largest ACPV Project in USA

ET Solar, an advanced solar module manufacturer, announces that its AC modules have been selected by Energy Consultants Group (ECG) to power the largest ACPV project in the United States. The recently grid-connected 145 kWp ACPV rooftop project is in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, with ECG acting as developer and contractor.
ET Solar is a Tier 1 PV panel manufacturer, and its AC module system provides up to 25% more power yield compared to conventional PV systems, minimizing system-shading loss from trees and other obstructions on or near residential and commercial roofs. Another advantage of the ACPV system is its simplicity: PV system design and installation costs are reduced by up to 50%.

With the premium performance of ET Solar’s AC modules, the 145 kWp system will offset 65% of the energy the building requires from the grid. Reduced consumption, including a retrofit to LED lighting, may increase the offset to 85%. Moreover, the project will produce approximately 181,000 kWh of green electricity every year, offsetting 3,711 tons of CO2, which is the equivalent of planting 86,466 trees.

"This project breaks new ground for ET Solar in the American market," said Eric Zhang, Vice President of ET Solar’s Global Sales & Marketing. "With our premium modules and best-in-industry customer support, the 145 kW output almost doubles the previous US ACPV record, an 83.2 kW ACPV system installed at Harvard University, a system for which ET Solar also served as exclusive module supplier."

"Our relationship with ET Solar has been great; the support is there when we need it and they are prompt and attentive to our needs. It is rare in the PV industry to have this level of commitment with a module company," said Jason Gideon, President of ECG.

http://www.etsolar.com.

Solar Micro Inverters Market Revenues Poised to Increase at Over 16% CAGR Through 2026

The demand for solar micro inverters is expected to witness a significant upsurge on account of increase in the number of photovoltaic (PV) installations and the need to improve overall system efficiency and safety. In 2016, the global solar micro inverters market is anticipated to register a y-o-y growth of 11.4% over 2015, and reach US$ 488.2 Mn in terms of market value. The escalating demand for solar micro inverters will continue to penetrate the market for module-level power electronics, owing to falling prices and upcoming products.
The higher adoption of photovoltaic installations is a key factor driving the growth of the global solar micro inverters market. Moreover, rising preference for fully integrated PV modules or AC Modules, is anticipated to fuel the demand for solar micro inverters. The U.S. National Electric Code (NEC) also favours the usage of micro inverter technology and is driving the demand for micro inverters in the North American market. However, the use of power optimisers as an alternative to micro inverters can restrain the growth of the global solar micro inverter market.
On the basis of system type, the global market for solar micro inverters is expected to be dominated by Stand Alone system sales, followed by micro inverter systems sold for developing AC Modules, named as integrated systems. In 2015, the stand alone solar micro inverter systems procured global market share of 96.7%, and are expected to attain estimated revenues of US$ 471 Mn by 2016-end.

By end-user type, the residential segment of the global market will continue dominance over the commercial segment by attaining a market share of 76.2% in 2016. Among residential end-users, changing consumer preference for more efficient and safe inverter alternative will prompt the replacement of conventional inverters with solar micro inverters. Dropping prices and rising commercial scale PV installations will incite extensive growth in the demand for solar micro inverters among the commercial segment as well.

Due to the varying use of micro inverters across the world, global players are concentrating on regions where awareness about using renewable energy resources is higher. Robust adoption of PV storage systems in the U.S. will continue to fuel demand for solar micro inverters in North America, and the region is expected to attain market value of US$ 282.2 Mn in 2016. Moreover, Asia Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ) is expected to be a lucrative region for the growth of the global market. The growing trade of inexpensive inverters in China and India will boost the demand for solar micro inverters in APEJ region. The key players contributing to the growth of the global solar micro inverters market include, SMA, Darfon Electronics, ABB, APSytems, Chilicon Power, iEnergy, Enphase, NEP, SunPower, and Sparq Systems among others.

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/solar-micro-inverter-market

New executive to lead a new team to provide additional services and greater value for customers

Heraeus Photovoltaics today announced that Dr. Albert Lu has joined the organization as Global Head of Application Development. In this new position, Dr. Lu will be responsible for leading team to provide value added service solutions to customers, which will enable solar customers to fully capitalize on Heraeus expertise in photovoltaics and renewable energy technology to make their businesses more innovative and competitive.

Standard Solar Installs 9MW of Solar on High-Density Urban Rooftops in New York City and Washington, D.C.

Tony Clifford transitions to Chief Development Officer to reflect an increasingly critical role in project development, corporate strategy and policy

SoloPower Systems Launches World’s Lightest Off-Grid Energy Solution to Bring Electricity to Emerging Economies

Company to Deploy 10,000 Units in South Africa

Professional monitoring of PV plants with Solar-Log provides additional benefits

Energy yields from PV plants can only be secured over the long term with professional monitoring. However, many PV plants are still “flying blind”. Solare Datensysteme GmbH (SDS) wants to promote PV plant monitoring. That is why SDS is now starting to reward their installers and PV plant operators with a bonus payment.

Sky Solar Holdings, Ltd. Reports Second Quarter 2016 Unaudited Financial Results

Sky Solar Holdings, Ltd. , a global developer, owner and operator of solar parks, today announced its financial results for the second quarter of 2016 ended June 30, 2016.
Highlights:
Q2 2016 total revenue of $17.0 million, up 34.6% over Q2 2015
Q2 2016 electricity revenue of $15.6 million, up 40.2% over Q2 2015
Q2 2016 Adjusted EBITDA of $8.6 million, compared to $4.5 million in Q2 2015, up 91.5% year-over-year; Q2 2016 annualized Adjusted EBITDA return on equity ratio of 28.4%1
133.1 MW of IPP assets in operation as of June 30, 2016. Including the recent acquisition of operating assets in the U.S. on July 15, 2016, total IPP assets in operation currently stand at 155 MW.
As of June 30, 2016, 27.9 MW under construction, 232.3 MW of shovel-ready projects, and 1.0 GW of solar parks in pipeline.
Mr. Weili Su, Founder, Chairman and Chief executive officer of Sky Solar, commented, “We have begun operating 22 MW solar parks with average remaining PPA of 15 years in the United States since the completion of our acquisition of these assets from Greenleaf-TNX and SunPeak Universal Holdings on July 15, 2016, on top of our existing assets in other key markets. We believe the sustainable cash flow expected to be generated from these solar parks provides a strong foundation for future business development. The efforts we implemented in previous years to develop our business in key markets have resulted in attractive cash-on-cash return, and we expect these efforts to result in stable earnings over the long run. We have a very bright future in the renewable energy industry and appreciate the loyalty of our shareholders.”
Mr. Sanjay Shrestha, Chief Investment Officer of Sky Solar, and President of Sky Capital America commented, “As Mr. Su highlighted, we are pursuing opportunities in the U.S. and continue to remain disciplined with our investment return metrics. In addition to the recent acquisition of operating solar parks in the United States, we aim to enter into definitive agreements to acquire additional PV development pipeline in the U.S. within the third quarter of 2016. This is in addition to the 22.5 MW development stage permits in the U.S. that we acquired last month. We also expanded our partnership with Hudson to be a strategic financial partner for opportunities in the U.S. as well as in Latin America and we are in discussion with other potential strategic partners to expand our presence in key target markets. Our strategic objective remains on reducing our cost of capital and focus on owning or developing renewable assets with higher returns on capital. We look forward to reporting on our progress throughout the fiscal year.”
Second Quarter 2016 Financial Results
Revenue was $17.0 million, up 34.6% from $12.6 million in the same period of 2015.
Electricity sales were $15.6 million in the second quarter of 2016, up 40.2% from $11.2 million in the same period of 2015. The year-over-year growth in electricity sales was primarily due to the increase in the Company’s operational IPP assets globally. Electricity sales in the second quarter of 2016 was up 57.4% from $9.9 million in the first quarter of 2016, due to seasonally higher solar irradiation across most of the Company’s major geographic markets.
Systems and other sales were $1.4 million in the second quarter of 2016, down 7.5% from $1.5 million in the same period of 2015. The year-over-year decline in systems and other sales was primary due to the lower sales in Japan. Systems and other sales in the second quarter of 2016 were down 24.4% from $1.8 million in the first quarter of 2016, primarily due to the same reason.
The following table shows the Company’s sequential and year-over-year change in revenue for each category, geographic region and period indicated.
Q2 2016 Sequential
Change Q1 2016 Year-Over-Year
Change Q2 2015
(US$ in thousands, except percentages)
Asia 10,242 32.0 % 7,761 55.9 % 6,569
Electricity Sales 9,804 53.5 % 6,389 69.2 % 5,795
System Sales and Other 438 -68.1 % 1,372 -43.4 % 774
Europe 4,436 73.1 % 2,563 -0.6 % 4,465
Electricity Sales 3,870 80.9 % 2,139 2.0 % 3,794
System Sales and Other 566 33.5 % 424 -15.6 % 671
South America 409 -46.5 % 764 – –
Electricity Sales 127 -83.4 % 764 – –
System Sales and Other 282 – – – –
North America 1,909 195.5 % 646 20.0 % 1,591
Electricity Sales 1,838 184.5 % 646 17.1 % 1,569
System Sales and Other 71 – – 222.7 % 22
Electricity Sales 15,639 57.4 % 9,938 40.2 % 11,158
System Sales and Other 1,357 -24.4 % 1,796 -7.5 % 1,467
Cost of sales and services were $5.4 million, compared to $4.3 million in the same period in 2015. The increase was mainly a result of the increased capacity of IPP solar parks during the second quarter of 2016.
Gross profit was $11.6 million, up 38.8% from $8.4 million in the same period in 2015. Gross margin increased to 68.2% from 66.2% in the same period in 2015 because of the higher percentage of revenue contribution from electricity sales, which had higher margin compared to system sales and others. The increase in percentage of electricity sales primarily came from increase in electricity sales in Japan.
Selling, general and administrative (“SG&A”) expenses were $6.8 million, up 21.4% from $5.6 million in the same period in 2015 due to the increased project financing activities in Japan.
Other operating income was $119 thousand, compared to $75 thousand in the same period of 2015. The increase in other operating income was due to land lease income during the second quarter of 2016.
Operating profit was $4.9 million in the second quarter of 2016, compared to $8.8 million in the same period in 2015. Included in the operating profit in the second quarter of 2015 was a $6.0 million reversal of tax provision of previously-recorded VAT and other tax provision.
Finance costs were $1.5 million, compared to $0.8 million in the same period of 2015. The increase in finance costs was primarily due to the increased average balance of bank loans in the second quarter in 2016.
Other non-operating expenses of $2.2 million mainly represented fair value changes of financial liabilities – FVTPL of US$1.4 million and loss from hedge ineffectiveness on cash flow hedge of $0.7 million – compared to other non-operating expenses of $1.9 million in the same period of 2015. These other non-operating expenses were primarily due to an increase of charges in fair value change as a result of increase in external financing as compared with the same period in 2015.
As a result of the above, the net loss for the second quarter of 2016 was $1.4 million, compared to a net profit of $8.8 million in the same period in 2015.
Basic and diluted loss per share was $0.004 compared to earnings per share of $0.02 in the same period in 2015. Basic and diluted loss per ADS were $0.03 compared to earnings per share of $0.18 in the same period in 2015.
Adjusted EBITDA was $8.6 million, compared to $4.5 million in the same period in 2015.
Pipeline Analysis
As of June 30, 2016, the Company owned and operated 133.1 MW of IPP assets, which remained at the same level as of the end of March 31, 2016. Including the recent acquisition of operating assets in the U.S. on July 15, 2016, among others, the Company’s total operating assets now stand at approximately 155 MW.
The Company had 27.9 MW of projects under construction as of June 30, 2016, compared to 24.1 MW under construction as of March 31, 2016. All of the 27.9 MW of projects under construction are located in Japan.
In total, the Company had 1.2 GW of projects in various stages of development as of June 30, 2016, which included the projects under construction described above as well as 232.3 MW of shovel-ready projects and more than 1.0 GW of projects in pipeline. This does not include any incremental opportunities associated with project opportunities in the U.S.
Balance Sheet and Liquidity
As of June 30, 2016, the Company had bank balances and cash of $37.0 million, trade receivables of $28.0 million and IPP solar park assets of $323.2 million. Total borrowing was $142.5 million, including $19.2 million of borrowing due within one year.

http://www.skysolargroup.com/

SPI 2016: Hanwha Q CELLS Completes Strong Q.ANTUM Portfolio with Monocrystalline Solar Module Series “Q.PEAK”

Q.PEAK Q.ANTUM modules reaching up to 370 Wp (72 cell) and 305Wp (60 cell) will be available starting from Q3 2017 and Q1 2017 respectively.

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