Tag Archives: solar power

Evergreen Solar (ESLR) Signs Chinese Production Contract

Evergreen Solar just signed a Chinese production contract for its String Ribbon solar wafers. Under the agreement, Evergreen Solar will work with Jiawei Solar (Wuhan) Co. and the Wuhan Donghu New Technology Development Zone Management Committee to manufacture its String Ribbon solar wafer products in Wuhan, China, starting next year. The wafers will be manufactured at a leased facility to be built on Jianwei’s campus. By subcontracting the manufacturing process to Jianwei, Evergreen Solar will … Read the rest

Applied Materials’ (AMAT) Tandem Junction SunFab Line Certified By Sunfilm

Applied Materials just announced that the  Tandem junction SunFab Thin Film production line installed in Sunfilm’s Grossroehrsdorf factory has been certified and has achieved factory acceptance. The production line, the first of its type in the world, passed certification tests to produce solar modules at up to 8% efficiency. This milestone is important because tandem junction thin-film panels use 1/50th the amount of silicon per watt of electricity than traditional panels do. Using this technology … Read the rest

Evergreen Solar Panels (ESLR) To Be Used in German EV Charging Station

Evergreen Solar’s solar panels will provide the juice for a new electric vehicle recharging station in Frankfurt, Germany. The station, which provides power for small electric vehicles like electric scooters, is located conveniently close to a shopping center, so customers can re-charge their EVs while they shop.

According to SustainableBusiness.com, here’s what Peter Rusch, Evergreen Solar’s director of marketing and sales for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, had to say about the installation:… Read the rest

FPL Group, Inc. (FPL) To Set Up Solar-Powered City

Do you want to live in a carbon-neutral city? There’s no longer any need to move to Masdar City in Dubai to make that dream a reality. FPL Group, Inc, just announced that it will work together with Kitson & Partners, a real estate investment firm, to build a carbon-neutral, zero-waste city right here in the USA. The city, which will be called Babcock Ranch and located in Florida, will be powered by a 75-MW … Read the rest

Start-Up Abound Throws Down The Gauntlet For First Solar (FSLR)

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

First Solar (FSLR) Acquires OptiSolar’s PV Projects

First Solar just finished gobbling up OptiSolar’s PV project pipeline on Friday. The company plans to take the projects in the pipeline, build them and then sell them.

Renewable-Energy-Sources.com has the details of the deal:

First Solar acquired all of OptiSolar’s project development business in an all-stock transaction valued at approximately $400 million. As a result of the closing today, First Solar will issue approximately 3 million shares of common stock representing a dilution of … Read the rest

Akeena Solar (AKNS) To Supply MS Solar Solutions Corp With Solar Panels

Akeena Solar just announced that it has entered a supplier relationship with MS Solar Solutions Corp, a subsidiary of Morgan Stanley. Under the agreement, Akeena Solar will provide MS Solar Solutions with its Andalay AC panels and grant the company a royalty-bearing limited license to manufacture and sell them. MSSS Solar Solutions will use those panels in its efforts to help low-income households across the country get solar power. Akeena Solar will be MSSS’ exclusive … Read the rest

First Solar (FSLR) Pushing Further Into Utility Scale Solar Power With Purchase of OptiSolar

First Solar (FSLR) announced after the bell today that it will acquire all of OptiSolar’s project development business in an all stock transaction valued at approximately $400 million. The acquisition is expected to be completed in the 2nd quarter and includes:

– 550MW AC solar development project under a power purchase agreement with PG&E
– A project pipeline of an additional 1300MW AC that’s in negotiation with Western regional utilities
– Land rights of about … Read the rest

LDK Solar (LDK) Cuts Electricity Needed To Produce Silicon By 2/3

LDK just announced that it has been able to substantially cut the electricity needed to produce one kilogram of silicon, reducing it from 300 kwh to 100 kwh.  The improvements in efficiency took place at LDK’s new polysilicon plant in Xinyu, Jiangxi province.

However, as Cleantech.com notes, LDK has been struggling lately:

The good news comes as LDK continues to battle negative reports from analysts, including ThinkEquity’s Jonathan Hoopes, who downgraded the stock to ‘sell’

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Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) Breaks Ground On DeSoto Solar Facility

Florida Power and Light announced that they have broken ground on their planned DeSoto Solar Energy Center, Florida’s first commercial solar energy facility. Once the center is completed, it will produce 25 MW of solar energy, making it the largest solar PV  facility in the US.

FPL Group President and Chief Operating Officer Jim Robo commented on the event:

"We’re proud to be the company that is bringing commercial-scale solar power to the Sunshine State.

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