Monthly Archives: March 2012
A Smaller Route to Solar Success
By MATTHEW L. WALD AoraAt Aora’s plant in Almeira, Spain, mirrors focus the sun’s energy on a modest tower where the heat is captured and used to spin a turbine. In the evening, a fuel can be used. There are at least a dozen major ways to turn sunlight into electricity, but one of the more […]
Insights On The Solar Industry’s Pricing Trends
March 26, 2012 | includes: CSIQ, CSUN, DQ, HSOL, JASO, LDK, SOL, STP, TSL, YGE Prices for silicon based solar photovoltaic products declined dramatically in 2011. From peak levels at the end of 2010, average selling prices (“ASPs”) for components among the four major crystalline solar verticals dropped by as much as 70%. Polysilicon ASPs declined from over $80/kg to under $30/kg while silicon wafer ASPs went from […]
Trina Considering U.S. Factory to Increase Solar Market Share
By Bloomberg News – Mar 21, 2012 7:18 PM MT Trina Solar Ltd. (TSL), China’s third- biggest maker of solar panels, may build a U.S. factory to increase its market share as President Barack Obama’s administration imposes tariffs on solar equipment imported from China. Trina is evaluating strategies to increase U.S. sales and minimize the impact of the tariffs, Chief Executive […]
Enbridge Buys First Solar’s 50-Megawatt Nevada Power Plant
By Christopher Martin – Mar 22, 2012 7:14 AM MT Enbridge Inc. (ENB), Canada’s largest oil-pipeline operator, purchased a 50-megawatt solar farm in Nevada from First Solar Inc. (FSLR) to help offset carbon emissions from the electricity it consumes. The Silver State North project, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) south of Las Vegas on federal land, will be completed in May and […]
Texas Tops Finds From Brazil to Bakken as Best Prospect: Energy
By Edward Klump – Mar 23, 2012 1:52 PM MT Energy companies in search of oil riches rivaling the biggest finds from Brazil to Angola are flocking to Texas shale, where new wells have triggered a 230- fold increase in crude output in three years. More than 115 years after a gusher 55 miles (88 kilometers) south of Dallas ushered in Texas’ first oil […]
Solar’s 80% Plunge Hurts Utilities From Hawaii to Spain
By Ben Sills and Marc Roca – Mar 20, 2012 5:00 PM MT On grassy pasture in western Spain, Fotowatio SL is preparing to build a solar plant to supply electricity 25 percent cheaper than a local utility charges for traditional power, a breakthrough that’s sending tremors through the global energy industry. The Spanish developer, which was […]
DOE FUNDING OPPORTUNITY ANNOUNCEMENTS
FUNDING OPPORTUNITY ANNOUNCEMENTS Jump to a FOA: FOA Number FOA Title DE-FOA-0000704 In-Water Wave Energy Conversion (WEC) Device Testing Support – Notice of Intent (NOI) DE-FOA-0000661 Regional Test Centers: Validation of Photovoltaic (PV) Modules and Systems DE-SOL-0003846 Reaching $2/Watt Installed Price for Residential Scale Solar DE-FOA-0000699 Solar Energy Evolution and Diffusion Studies (SEEDS) Request for […]
Smart grid: from deployment to applications
Some 200 million smart meters have been deployed worldwide, forty million of them in North America; a new white paper from Pike Research says that the year 2012 represents a turning point for the sector The smart grid promises a dramatic transformation of the world’s electricity infrastructure, with a long list of goals essential to maximizing […]
Germany’s $270 Billion Renewables Shift Biggest Since War
By Stefan Nicola – Mar 18, 2012 5:00 PM MT Not since the allies leveled Germany in World War II has Europe’s biggest economy undertaken a reconstruction of its energy market on this scale. Chancellor Angela Merkel is planning to build offshore wind farms that will cover an area six times the size of New York City and erect power […]
First Solar to build new solar plant for NRG
Reuters – Mon, Mar 12, 2012 (Reuters) – First Solar Inc will build a 26-megawatt solar power plant for power producer NRG Energy Inc in Arizona under the latest deal between two of the biggest players in the U.S. renewable energy sector. NRG is the majority owner of the 290-megawatt Agua Caliente plant that First Solar is building nearYuma, Arizona, and the two companies previously teamed up on […]
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