Kriegers Flak to become the world's largest offshore wind farm

If also the Danish side of Kriegers Flak would be used for wind power, the total complex could be the largest offshore wind farm in the world with up to 299 turbines and an output of up to 1,5 GW. It would also be the first international wind farm area with projects from three countries meeting each other. Several wind studies and the Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) for the German and Swedish side of Kriegers Flak showed that the area is well suited for wind power generation.

Danish Offshore Wind A/S (08/30/2006)

Chinese PV-Producer Suntech establishes wholly owned Subsidiary in the USA

Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd. (WUXI, China; NYSE: STP), one of the world’s leading manufacturers of photovoltaic cells, announced in August 2006 that it has established Suntech America Inc., a wholly-owned Delaware corporation, as part of a long-term strategy to establish a major market for its solar modules and solar cells in North America. “Suntech is a fast growing player in the solar market, and we are especially interested in the long-term potential of the US market for residential and commercial applications", commented Dr. Zhengrong Shi, Suntech’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

“Through our US subsidiary, Suntech America, we intend to establish long-term relationships with US companies that share our vision of promoting the uses of alternative energy", Dr. Shi continued.

Warehouse facility on the west coast to be established

Roger Efird has been named as President of Suntech America and will also serve on its board of directors. For the last 20 years Efird has been actively involved in solar module sales, distribution, and marketing. "Our immediate objectives include the continuation of a regular, dependable supply of solar modules to our existing customers, the establishment of a warehouse facility on the west coast, and pursuing new relationships with US customers,” Efird said. "The long-term solar wafer supply agreement we recently entered into will better position us to expand our market share in the United States.”

Suntech Power Holdings Co. (08/24/2006)

BP Alternative Energy buys US Wind Company

BP announced on August 15th that it has purchased Greenlight Energy, Inc., a US-based developer of wind power generation projects. The purchase will allow BP to accelerate its plans to develop a leading wind power business in North America. BP has acquired all the shares of Greenlight Energy for a consideration of some $ 98 million, excluding working capital and tax adjustments. Greenlight is a developer of large-scale wind energy projects across the USA. Founded in 2000 and based in Charlottesville (Virginia) the company has a portfolio of some 39 mature and early stage development projects across the USA with a potential total power generating capacity of 6.5 GW. This portfolio contains a number of projects which BP expects to be able to develop over the next five years.

The Greenlight Energy portfolio contains a number of projects which BP expects to be able to develop over the next five years.

Greenlight Energy is a developer of large wind energy projects in the United States.
Picture Source: BP Alternative Energy

The purchase shall further accelerate the rapid growth of BP's US wind power business, a key part of BP Alternative Energy, the company's low-carbon power generation business. In July, BP Alternative Energy announced it had reached agreement with the wind project developer and turbine manufacturer Clipper Windpower to acquire a 50 per cent stake in a 2 GW wind development portfolio in the USA as well as an agreement for the supply of turbines with a generating capacity of up to 2.25GW over the next five years.

This purchase gives BP Alternative Energy immediate access to a large number of high quality wind development projects across the country, including a number of projects we expect to be able to develop over the next few years," said Steve Westwell, chief executive of BP Alternative Energy.

"We look forward to working closely with the Greenlight team, who have built the company over the past six years", Westwell added. "Greenlight went through a rigorous process to find a strategic partner that would enable the company to accelerate the development of projects in our pipeline," said Matthew Hantzmon, Managing Director of Greenlight Energy. "The strategic mandate of BP Alternative Energy is a perfect fit to scale up our business and enable the build-out of Greenlight's portfolio."

BP Alternative Energy (08/23/2006)

SCHOTT Solar: Increased stability of ASE modules under load confirmed

The ASE solar electricity modules produced by the solar power company SCHOTT Solar GmbH located in Alzenau are certified since June 2006 for an increased pressure load of 5,400 pascals [Pa], the company reports in a press release. Testing was performed by the TÜV (German technical control board) and by the testing institute of the Association for Electrical, Electronic and Information Technologies (VDE) in accordance with the recently issued second version of the IEC 61215 test standard. First of all, the modules were subjected twice to an alternating pressure and suction load test of 2,400 Pa for a duration of 60 minutes in each case. This was followed by a third cycle involving a pressure load of 5,400 Pa. In total, the modules were subjected to six hours of extreme loading as part of this test.

The items tested were the ASE-type crystalline modules from SCHOTT Solar GmbH as well as the InDaX-250. All tested modules are thus capable of withstanding a load of 551 kg per square meter.

SCHOTT Solar Module " ASE 260-DG-FT". Picture Sourcee: SCHOTT Solar GmbH

Enormous snowfall showed need of extended load testing

The fact that the test was conducted on ASE production standard modules, which had not been adapted or modified structurally, testifies to the existing excellent manufacturing quality of the ASE modules from SCHOTT Solar. "We already planned this extended load testing end of last year, and commissioned the testing institutes. Last winter's enormous snowfall has shown that we are on the right track with our quality strategy," explains Michael Harre, Member of the Management Committee of SCHOTT Solar GmbH who is also responsible for marketing, sales and product management. "As a result of our many years of experience in module construction, ASE modules provide a level of security that our customers have come to trust. And we of course feel a responsibility to live up to this," Mr. Harre adds. With this step, the Alzenau-based company once again proves its quality leadership in the hotly contested market for solar electricity modules, SCHOTT Solar emphasizes.

SCHOTT Solar GmbH (08/21/2006)

Photovoltaic Roof Integration by MSK "Just Roof". Picture Source: MSK Corporation.

MSK CEO Dr. Tadao Kasahara will remain in his current role for at least four years

Based on the "2006 Photovoltaic System Market Future Outlook Report, Japan", Japan is the most important market for solar energy in terms of both total installation and production of solar cells and modules with 53% of world production. The report also states that Japan is one of the fastest growing markets in the world posting 48% annual growth in 2005 in the production of PV cells and modules. MSK Corporation is one of Japan’s largest PV manufacturers and one of the top-ranking companies in the building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) space. With more than 20 years of experience and good brand name in the PV business, MSK currently has approximately 260 employees, leading technical expertise and one of the world’s largest PV module manufacturing plants with a production capacity of approximately 100 megawatts in Nagano, Japan. In 2005, MSK had annual production capacity of approximately 200 megawatts. MSK’s CEO, Dr. Tadao Kasahara, has agreed to remain in his current role for at least four years.

BIPV applications for the Chinese market

"Through this acquisition, Suntech will also gain the advantage of MSK’s leading BIPV product and solar system design capability,” continued Dr. Shi. “This acquisition will bring two important companies in different PV sectors together and we anticipate that it will result in great synergies. It will enable us to accelerate innovation, bring to market new PV solutions that complement our existing product range, and capture new opportunities within the fast growing BIPV market. ” Dr. Tadao Kasahara, CEO of MSK, said, “MSK looks forward to continuing to provide commercial and industrial solar solutions to Japan and markets in other parts of the world with both advanced building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) and other high-quality PV products. As a subsidiary of Suntech, MSK will be able to access Suntech’s support in terms of advanced PV cell/module products and cost competitiveness, financial resources, and distribution channels, as well as have the possibility of pioneering BIPV applications in the Chinese market.”

Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd. (08/07/2006)

Sundancer solar car wins Dell-Winston School Solar Car Challenge

On July 21st 2006 the Sundancer solar car team raced away with the Dell-Winston School Solar Car Challenge open division championship trophy at Texas Motor Speedway. The Dell-Winston School Solar Car Challenge is the largest solar car competition in the United States. This is the sixth consecutive year the team from Houston, Mississippi has taken home first place honors at the competition. Powered exclusively by solar energy, this year’s Sundancer weights 356 kg, and is 5 meters long, 1.8 meters wide and 1 meter high. Energy from the SCHOTT Solar cells is stored in nine Power Sonic batteries, which feed electricity to an 8 hp SLC150 New Generation Motor.

Entirely built by high school students, exclusively powered by the sun: Solar powered racing car "Sundancer".

Picture Source: SCHOTT North America, Inc.

Top speed approximately 60 mph

Through the challenge’s four days and seven racing periods, the Sundancer solar car traveled more than 619 miles (413 laps), more laps than the 13 other cars competing in the race. Sundancer averaged a speed of almost 30 mph and reached a top speed of approximately 60 mph during the race. "The competition this year was tough", said team captain Leigh Springer. "There were several new teams at the race and some of the older teams really improved their cars. However, our redesign of Sundancer’s body, some new solar cells from SCHOTT, and great teamwork gave us the edge we needed to keep our winning streak alive."

A SCHOTT Winning Streak

Since switching to SCHOTT Solar photovoltaic PV cells in 2001, the Sundancer team has not lost a challenge. The 856 SCHOTT Solar PV cells used in this year’s car were manufactured at the company’s 20 Megawatt (MW) PV production facility in Billerica, Mass. SCHOTT Solar is one of the world's leading manufacturers of PV cells, modules, and supplies.

SCHOTT North America, Inc. (08/01/2006)