Rise & Shine: September 24, 2008
The Rise & Shine is your daily source for all solar-industry news. Brought to you by Sweet Solar Home and the Experts at Sweet Solar Home and the Experts at SunRun.
CALIFORNIA NEWS
Amid Protests, Solar Companies Plant Desert Projects
Solar power projects are running into mounting opposition and not from hard-nosed, coal-fired naysayers, but from environmentalists. The opposition is particularly strong in Southern California.
Solyndra Plans Huge Thin-Film Factory
The Fremont, CA startup, which tries to keep a low profile, has filed an application to build a factory and offices on a whopping 1.4-million-square-foot site in the city, and also mentions two other facilities.
Toyota and SunPower Complete Largest Single-Roof Solar Installation in North America
The 2.3MW SunPower system will begin operation in early October at Toyota’s North America Parts Center California in Ontario, CA.
Solar Panels Are Vanishing, Only to Reappear on the Internet
Police departments in California — the biggest market for solar power, with more than 33,000 installations — are seeing a rash of such burglaries, though nobody compiles overall statistics.
NATIONAL NEWS
Rutgers University Breaks Ground on 1.4 MW PV System
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, broke ground for the construction of a seven-acre 1.4MW - solar energy facility.
Yingli Green Energy Will Supply PV Modules to Larges University Campus Solar Energy Facility in US
Yingli Green Energy will supply 1.4 MW of PV modules to SunDurance from December 2008 to January 2009, which will be used for a solar power plant under construction on the Livingston Campus of Rutgers University.
Trina Solar to Power North America’s Largest Single Rooftop Installation
Shipments began to provide more than 13,400 solar PV modules to power the Atlantic City Convention Center. American Capital Energy is managing project integration and installation. The agreement provides for up to four additional megawatts (”MW”) to be supplied during 2009.
Ascent Solar, Medis CEOs Step Down
The solar company Ascent is still seeking a permanent replacement for former CEO Matthew Foster, while fuel-cell maker Medis has signed on a former Spansion, Lucent and Nortel exec.Former CEO Robert Lifton will stay on as Medis’ chairman.
Conergy Restructures Solar Companies in the Americas
In conjunction with a global restructuring spearheaded by Conergy’s headquarters in Germany, the Conergy Americas region is consolidating the SunTechnics and Conergy brands under a single name, Conergy.
UTILITY INDUSTRY & REGULATORY NEWS
Intel CEO Touts Greener Footprint, Products
Intel is working with the Electric Power Research Institute, a nonprofit in Palo Alto, on wireless home appliances that can connect to the power grid and be automatically controlled to save energy, Intel CEO Paul Otellini said Tuesday.
GridPoint Raises Massive $120M, Grabs Plug-in Startup V2
GridPoint, a smart grid company that helps utilities balance energy loads, just announced that it has more than doubled its funding, adding a $120 million equity financing round.
Northeast Preps for Carbon Cap-and-Trade
Permits for America’s first carbon cap-and-trade scheme will go on the auction block on Thursday this week. The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) will auction permits for some 188 million tons of carbon emissions for 2009.
Austin Energy Launches Smart Grid Deployments
Austin Energy is initiating the 1st phase of its smart grid deployment. The software will improve Austin Energy’s ability to prevent outages and quickly restore power if outages do occur.
Berkeley Eyes Carbon Tax, Higher Rates
Berkeley is considering a carbon tax and parking rate increases to pay for its ambitious plan to reduce the city’s greenhouse gas emissions.
Western Initiative Sets Up Emissions-Trading Plan
Seven Western states and four Canadian provinces proposed a sweeping regional crackdown on global warming emissions Tuesday in the face of continuing reluctance by the Bush administration and Congress to pass comprehensive climate legislation.
Michigan Wins New Energy Game
Michigan’s new RES requires the state’s utilities to obtain 10% of their power from New Energy sources by 2015.
FINANCIAL NEWS & MARKETS
Confluence Solar Secures Series A Financing
Confluence Solar Inc., a manufacturer of single-crystal silicon for the solar photovoltaic industry, has raised $12.7 million in capital and says it is opening a new facility in Hazelwood, Mo., to develop its HiCz silicon product.
GOVERNMENT & POLITICS
Senate OKs Extending Energy Tax Credits
The U.S. Senate on Tuesday approved a package to extend $18 billion in tax credits for using renewable energy sources like wind, solar and geothermal and also provide incentives to cut energy consumption.
TECHNOLOGY
Aussie Panel Could Halve Solar Cost
Scientists have invented a new breed of solar panel which generates electricity and hot water at the same time and could halve the cost of going solar.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Spain Eases Plan to Slash Subsidy for Solar Power
Energy Secretary Pedro Marin said the proposed limit on total capacity of new solar power panels entitled to subsidies in 2009 will be 500 megawatts, which compares to an earlier draft proposal to set the cap at 300 MW.
Trina Solar Remains Confident About Long-Term Polysilicon Contracts
China-based Trina Solar Ltd. cited contracts with several virgin polysilicon makers as the logic behind an April decision to discontinue plans to set up its own 10,000-ton facility.
Ascent Solar, Texsa Pursue BIPV for European Market
Ascent Solar Technologies Inc. has signed a definitive cooperation agreement with Texsa SA of Spain to develop new photovoltaic roofing products intended for the European marketplace.