The Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE in Freiburg, Germany has taken its megawatt laboratory for solar photovoltaic (PV) inverters into operation. It is the first and currently the only laboratory in Europe where manufacturers can commission certification, in accordance with the medium-voltage grid codes that have applied since July 1st 2010, of inverters with a power rating of up to one megawatt. Manufacturers can have their products characterized and tested in full compliance with the certification specifications in the megawatt laboratory. "With a so-called 'Low-Voltage Ride-Through' test unit, we can investigate the performance of inverters with regard to voltage dips in the medium-voltage grid, as is required by the new regulations", stated Sönke Rogalla, the laboratory manager. Read more...

On September 1st, 2010, Lux Research Inc. (Boston, Massachusetts, US) issued a new report that analyzes the value offered by various inverter and various solar photovoltaic (PV) cell and module companies, measuring innovation as well as other factors. "Sorting Solar Module and Inverter Manufacturers on the Lux Innovation Grid" identifies leaders in CIGS thin-film, concentrating photovoltaics (CPV), and inverter technologies, predicting a "shakeout" in module manufacturing, and emphasizing technological advances among inverter makers. Read more...

On August 31st, 2010 Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. (ECD, Rochester Hills, Michigan, US) posted its financial results for the quarter and year ending June 30, 2010, reporting a USD$20.4 million loss amid rising sales and revenues. The company reports quarterly revenues of USD$86.2 million, a 68% increase over a year ago and a 19% increase over the previous quarter, however recent losses contribute to a total of USD$456 million for the year. Read more...

SunPower Corp. (San Jose, Calif.) on August 30th, 2010 announced that SunPower's world-leading solar technology has been selected for installation at several U.S. government properties, including for the Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL), the General Services Administration (GSA), the Navy and the Air Force. SunPower expects to create more than 1000 local jobs during the construction of these projects. These contracts represent a minimum of 20 megawatts (MW) of new solar photovoltaic (PV) projects for SunPower. Read more...

Masdar PV, a manufacturer of extra-large thin-film photovoltaic (PV) modules, has supplied PV modules for installation on a building façade for the first time. This BIPV façade solution has been realized in cooperation with Gehrlicher Solar AG, which recently presented this new type of façade system at Intersolar. The system is based on the proven gehrtec mounting system. The test façade is composed of a total of 80 modules, each with a size of 1.4 square meters, with a nominal power of 7.1 kWp. Read more...

On August 30th, 2010, clothing maker Diesel SpA (Breganze, Italy) announced that it has installed a 198KW rooftop thin-film solar photovoltaic (PV) system at its headquarters in Breganze, Italy. The PV plant uses United Solar Ovonic's (Rochester Hills, Michigan, US) Uni-Solar thin-film laminates, with Solar Integrated Technologies GmbH (Mainz, Germany) serving as the engineering, procuring and construction contractor. Read more...

The US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has issued a final environmental impact statement (FEIS) for the Blythe Solar Power Project, which is composed of four adjacent 250MW concentrating solar power (CSP) plants, totaling 1GW of generation capacity. Solar Millennium AG (Erlangen, Germany) and Chevron Energy Solutions (San Ramon, California, US) will jointly develop the plants, which when complete will occupy 9,400 acres of desert managed by the BLM in Southern California. The issuance of the FEIS begins a 30-day comment period, after which the BLM will make a final decision on the plant, which must also receive approval by the California Energy Commission (CEC) before construction can begin. Read more...

On August 30th, 2010, AEG Power Solutions GmbH (Warstein-Belecke, Germany) announced that it has signed a contract to deliver 260MW of electrical system components, including inverters, for 20 13MW photovoltaic (PV) plants in Eastern Europe. The company will design the electrical systems and supply its TKS-C shelters containing its PV.250 and PV.500 inverters, monitoring and supervising equipment and other components for a complete balance of electrical system for the plants, beginning in December 2010. "The inverter used in this solution will initially be the Protect PV.250, renowned for its premium efficiency, and in the second phase of the project, the next product in the Protect line, the Protect PV.500," says AEG Power Solutions Solar Division Vice President Enrique de la Cruz. Read more...

On August 30th, 2010, Mecasolar S.L. (Fustiñana, Spain) announced that by the end of 2010 it will have installed more than 4,200 trackers and fixed structures in Italy, for a total of more than 42MW of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems, making it the largest supplier of trackers and similar systems in the nation. These systems are part of the more than 22,000 tracking systems that the company has installed globally, to support a total of 282MW of PV. Read more...

Underscoring its ongoing commitment to developing and delivering cleaner, more efficient energy solutions, DuPont announced that production of polyvinyl fluoride (PVF) polymer resin, a critical raw material used to make high-performance DuPont Tedlar polyvinyl fluoride film, has begun at the DuPont Fayetteville (North Carolina) Works facility. Tedlar films serve as the essential component of photovoltaic (PV) backsheets, providing long-term durability and performance for solar modules in all-weather conditions, the company reports in its press release. Increasing production at Fayetteville is part of the previously announced multi-phase $295 million investment by DuPont to more than double Tedlar film capacity for the fast-growing photovoltaic industry. Startup of this second production line for PVF resins at Fayetteville enables DuPont to provide higher volumes of Tedlar film through next year. Beyond that, additional Tedlar film production is expected to start up at Circleville, Ohio, in September 2011. Read more...