Asia Report: Is Japan’s Solar Market Overheating?

Published on Mar 20 2013 // business, Energy, Money and Business, solar energy
Asia Report: Is Japan’s Solar Market Overheating?
Most of the projections we’ve seen for 2013′s biggest solar markets (Solarbuzz, IHS iSuppli, Deutsche Bank) put Japan as #4 behind China, the US, and Germany, and ahead of a number of countries led by Italy. Maxim Group and Lux Research have Japan squeaking into third place. But now, one...

Florida’s Broward County Encourages Solar Energy with Easier Permits

Published on Mar 20 2013 // economy, Energy, Money and Business, solar energy
Florida’s Broward County Encourages Solar Energy with Easier Permits
Making energy from the sun seems a no-brainer for the Sunshine State, but cost has proven to be a hurdle. Broward County has taken a big step to cut costs for solar-panel systems on rooftops and homeowners, businesses and other counties are taking notice, a Go Solar conference showed Friday. With help...

Ready or Not: Arizona Takes Steps Toward Incentive Free Solar

Published on Mar 20 2013 // economy, Energy, Money and Business, solar energy
Ready or Not: Arizona Takes Steps Toward Incentive Free Solar
Over the past several years Arizona has become one of the fastest growing solar markets in the United States due in large part to a strong policy framework coupled with excellent market fundamentals. However, as of February 2013 Arizona’s solar incentive program was severely curtailed and uncertainty...

Operations, Maintenance, and Solar Sheep

Published on Mar 20 2013 // business, Energy, Money and Business, solar energy
As gigawatts of commercial- and utility-scale PV power plants spring up around the world on a monthly basis, one critical industry sector that’s growing in tandem is operations and maintenance, usually referred to simply as O&M. Whether the service is provided by the engineering, procurement,...

CSP giants Abengoa, BrightSource partner on giant Palen Solar project

Published on Mar 20 2013 // business, Energy, Money and Business, solar energy
CSP giants Abengoa, BrightSource partner on giant Palen Solar project
Two of the giant concentrating solar power (CSP) companies, Abengoa and BrightSource Energy have agreed to jointly develop, build and operate the 500 MW Palen Solar Power Project. BrightSource purchased the Palen project from Solar Millennium, which went bankrupt. But now the two CSP companies will...

Week in review: Solar booms into 2012 and beyond

Published on Mar 20 2013 // Energy, solar energy, Week in Review
Week in review: Solar booms into 2012 and beyond
Last week the U.S. solar industry reported that the amount of newly installed solar power was 76 percent higher in 2012 than in 2011. And while that’s great for the industry, some states are having legislation introduced that would curtail the growth of solar—on purpose. Meanwhile the government...

IMUT’s Green Sun Team Solar Decathlon 2013 gets First Solar modules

Published on Mar 20 2013 // Energy, solar energy
First Solar announced today (March 18) that Inner Mongolia University of Technology’s (IMUT’s) Team Green Sun will compete in China’s first Solar Decathlon with 13 kilowatts of First Solar’s modules. The company donated the 150 photovoltaic modules to the university and will provide support...

Indy airport array leading Midwest solar development

Published on Mar 20 2013 // Energy, solar energy
Indy airport array leading Midwest solar development
The new 75-acre solar farm at the Indianapolis International Airport that broke ground last week is one among about 30 new solar projects in development in Indianapolis Power and Light’s portfolio. “This has been two years in the making,” said IPL spokeswoman Brandi Davis-Handy. “We’re very...

India Set to Auction More Solar Capacity than Planned this Year

Published on Mar 20 2013 // economy, Energy, Money and Business, solar energy
India Set to Auction More Solar Capacity than Planned this Year
India, which plans to raise solar capacity eightfold by 2017, will probably auction more megawatts than planned this fiscal year in a bid to cut chronic power shortages in the world’s second most-populous nation. The government will tender 750 megawatts of capacity in the first week of May, kicking...

Abu Dhabi Boosts Solar Power 10-Fold with Shams CSP Plant, Plans for Increased Growth

Published on Mar 19 2013 // economy, Energy, Money and Business, solar energy
Abu Dhabi Boosts Solar Power 10-Fold with Shams CSP Plant, Plans for Increased Growth
Total SA and Abengoa SA, the European energy producers behind the Middle East’s largest concentrated-solar plant, intend to expand further in the region as governments promote renewables to free up oil for export. The execution of solar programs in the Middle East would bring “thousands of...