First Solar (FSLR) has an agreement to expand the existing AC ground mounted solar power plant for Sempra Generation from 10 MW which it built last year to 48MW. FSLR will design, engineer and construct the power plant beginning construction this year and finishing next year, culminating in the largest PV power plant North America. The agreement is conditioned upon Sempra finding customers for the electricity and meeting state and local regulatory approvals.
First … Read the rest
The Parking Spot, which provides near airport parking services has awarded Clean Energy Fuels (CLNE) a contract to assist in the transition of the parking shuttle fleet to CNG fuel. CLNE will design, build and maintain 3 CNG fueling stations located on TPS owned properties in Austin, Dallas and Ft Worth Texas with the possibility of a larger contract to convert the nationwide fleet later on.
James Harger, Clean Energy Senior Vice President, said, … Read the rest
Symyx Technologies (SMMX) has been awarded a grant by the US Dept of Energy to conduct research and develop advanced heat transfer fluids for use in solar thermal power generation in order to lower the cost of solar thermal energy electricity.
Current solar thermal power facilities provide energy by capturing radiation from the sun with reflective mirrors which then heats oil based fluids in pipes which in turn produces steam to power electricity turbines. Current … Read the rest
It’s deja vu all over again as we watch MEMC Electronic Materials struggle. Earlier this month, we reported that they had laid off 200 workers. Now, they’ve laid off 200 more, according to SEC filings. This time, the cuts are happening in Korea.
EETimes.com has more details from the regulatory filing:
… Read the restThe company has now committed to further reductions in force affecting an additional 200 employees of the company’s Korean subsidiary, MEMC Korea Company,” according
LDK Solar (LDK) is announcing this morning it has received a loan of about $29 million from China Development Bank as well as approval for a credit line of around $145 million from Agricultural Development Bank of China which will help fund continuing business operations at a time when financing can be difficult. It appears China is ready and willing to fund their strongest solar companies.
“We are very pleased to secure this loan and … Read the rest
the rally is cracking.. http://bit.ly/SRzIZ… Read the rest
Are we replacing our dependence on foreign oil for a dependence on Chinese neodymium? http://ow.ly/2V2P… Read the rest
There is a good article out in The Atlantic today discussing the concern of neodymium shortages, most of which is produced by China. Neodymium is a key component used in hybrid and electric cars as well as wind turbines to manufacture powerful, light weight magnets for high torque, efficient performance. It should be noted that neodymium is also used in data storage devices and just about every computer, so the supply crunch is very … Read the rest
Trina Solar (TSL) announced today the completion of a 4.7MW solar energy facility developed by Ergy Capital at the end of February in which Trina was the supplier of the PV modules used in the rooftop installation. The project in the town of Serravelle Scrivia is currently the largest single mounted rooftop solar system in Italy, using about 38K square meters of solar panels and generating around 5 GW/hour of electricity per year.
“We are … Read the rest
Abound, a small, privately held US start-up, is taking on industry giant First Solar. What’s more, they think they can win. Like First Solar, Abound makes cadmium telluride solar panels. First Solar has managed to reduce the cost of its solar power to 98 cents per watt. According to Reuters, Abound thinks it can do better:
We think we have a slight technological advantage over First Solar," Chief Executive Pascal Noronha said in an interview. … Read the rest