Citing the inability to sell the business, Siemens AG (Munich, Germany) has announced that it will close its concentrating solar power (CSP) subsidiary, including eliminating 280 positions. Read more...

The nations at the nexus of the continents of Europe, Asia and Africa, along with those along the strip of land between the Sahara Desert and the Mediterranean, have long been pivotal for global energy development. The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is also blessed with a quantity of annual sunlight which until recently has been more of a liability than an asset, as large areas of the region's land is too dry for agriculture. This report by Solar Server will explore both the current state and future potential of solar technologies in the MENA region, a land where the energy from the sun and the energy in deposits in the ground have an unusual relationship that may hold the key to growing solar markets and industries. Read more...

Solar Server: Can you talk a little about ADEREE, its origins, and its work? Saïd Mouline: Morocco has been involved in renewable energy for 30 years. But a new approach was developed two years ago. It was decided then at the highest level of the state to give priority to renewable energy and energy efficiency in our energy policy. At the same level, we had created a renewable energy development center in 1982. This center worked many years for the development of technologies, looking at sites, looking at different applications, mainly for rural electrification, communications, solar pumping. Then, in the 1990's, we started looking at the wind regime in the country, and we developed ambitious wind measurements. Read more...