GERMANY: The World Wind Energy Association (WWEA), the German Wind Energy Association (BWE) and the German Small Wind Turbine Association (BVKW) are releasing their small wind turbine market surveys, reports and studies at the New Energy Husum trade fair.
“Small wind turbines are an important topic for New Energy Husum and for the renewable energy industry as a whole. Together with the three associations we want to strengthen and internationalise the small wind turbine industry,” says exhibition boss Peter Becker.
International market data about small wind turbines
The World Wind Energy Association has compiled 31 detailed country reports in its “Small Wind World Report 2013”. The 138-page book provides information about worldwide standards and certification procedures, and statistical information about worldwide use of small-scale wind power.
The report also lists 330 manufacturers from the small wind turbine industry. The English language work can be ordered at the WWEA stand (2A05) in Husum for 75 euros.
Guidebook and software for calculating profitability
On the other hand you can get a handbook about the engineering, profitability and approval procedures for small wind turbines at the German Wind Energy Association (BWE) stand in Hall 1, Stand A14. The “BWE Market Overview Special – Small Wind Turbines” informs its readers about all the important steps to be taken on the way to having their own small wind turbine.
The approximately 320 pages contain contributions from operators of small wind turbines, building contractors, architects and finance experts. The book can be purchased for 27 euros from BWE direct, and includes software for calculating the profitability of small wind turbine projects.
Journal for building law and engineering
In its special exhibition issue of the Kleinwindjournal, the German Small Wind Turbine Association (BVKW) provides a current overview of the state of the small wind turbine industry. The Journal also contains articles about building law and the assessment of rated output data.
At this year’s New Energy Husum the BVKW is also organising a congress on 23 March with practical examples of the planning, approval, erection and operation of small wind turbines.
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Suntech appoints Philip Fan and Weiping Zhou to board of directors
CHINA: Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd has appointed two new directors to the company's Board of Directors effective immediately.
Philip Fan has been appointed as an independent director and Weiping Zhou has been appointed as an executive director of the board and President of Suntech. With the new appointments, Suntech's board of directors now has seven members including four independent directors.
"We are delighted to welcome Fan and Zhou to Suntech's board of directors," said Ms. Susan Wang, Suntech's chairwoman. "Fan brings deep experience across multiple industries and is a seasoned director of publicly listed companies, and Zhou has broad experience in executive and financial management positions during his time at Guolian Group. We are confident that their knowledge and expertise will be invaluable as we navigate near-term challenges and realize Suntech's long-term potential in the solar industry."
Fan was formerly an executive director and is now an independent non-executive director of Hong Kong Stock Exchange listed China Everbright International Ltd., a developer and operator of multiple waste-to-energy and wastewater treatment plants in China. He also serves as an independent non-executive director at HKC (Holdings), Hysan Development Co., First Pacific Co., Zhuhai Zhongfu Enterprise Co. Ltd and Goodman Group.
Prior to that, he was an executive director of CITIC Pacific Ltd in charge of industrial projects in China. Mr. Fan holds a Bachelor's degree in industrial engineering, a Master's degree in Operations Research from Stanford University and a Master's degree in Management Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
As president of Suntech, Zhou will manage business operations and work with David King, Suntech's CEO, and the board to define the strategic direction of the company. Prior to joining Suntech, Weiping Zhou served as chairman of Guolian Futures Co. Ltd and finance department manager of Guolian Development (Group) Co. Ltd. Prior to that, he held management roles at Guolian Securities and Hengda Securities. Zhou holds a Bachelor's degree in accounting from Hebei College, and an executive MBA from Southeast University in China.
Philip Fan has been appointed as an independent director and Weiping Zhou has been appointed as an executive director of the board and President of Suntech. With the new appointments, Suntech's board of directors now has seven members including four independent directors.
"We are delighted to welcome Fan and Zhou to Suntech's board of directors," said Ms. Susan Wang, Suntech's chairwoman. "Fan brings deep experience across multiple industries and is a seasoned director of publicly listed companies, and Zhou has broad experience in executive and financial management positions during his time at Guolian Group. We are confident that their knowledge and expertise will be invaluable as we navigate near-term challenges and realize Suntech's long-term potential in the solar industry."
Fan was formerly an executive director and is now an independent non-executive director of Hong Kong Stock Exchange listed China Everbright International Ltd., a developer and operator of multiple waste-to-energy and wastewater treatment plants in China. He also serves as an independent non-executive director at HKC (Holdings), Hysan Development Co., First Pacific Co., Zhuhai Zhongfu Enterprise Co. Ltd and Goodman Group.
Prior to that, he was an executive director of CITIC Pacific Ltd in charge of industrial projects in China. Mr. Fan holds a Bachelor's degree in industrial engineering, a Master's degree in Operations Research from Stanford University and a Master's degree in Management Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
As president of Suntech, Zhou will manage business operations and work with David King, Suntech's CEO, and the board to define the strategic direction of the company. Prior to joining Suntech, Weiping Zhou served as chairman of Guolian Futures Co. Ltd and finance department manager of Guolian Development (Group) Co. Ltd. Prior to that, he held management roles at Guolian Securities and Hengda Securities. Zhou holds a Bachelor's degree in accounting from Hebei College, and an executive MBA from Southeast University in China.
Stellar Solar celebrates 15th year with launch of residential solar loan
USA: Stellar Solar, one of California's leading commercial and residential solar integrators is celebrating their 15th year in business by offering a revolutionary new solar loan that is expected to allow even more homeowners to install solar on their homes. The loan is backed-up by Bosch Solar, a division of the leading global brand Bosch.
"In our 15 years in business, this is by far the most attractive solar financing option we have offered," said partner and CEO Kent Harle . He added, "Every homeowner in San Diego County with an electric bill over $150 per month should take a look at this."
Stellar Solar partners Kent Harle, Michael Powers, and Brian Grems obtained their contractor's license in 1998 and began installing solar soon after. Their hard work, dedication to quality, and dedication to hiring only quality, ethical employees paid off in 2011 when they were voted Best Solar Company by readers of the UT San Diego. Since then, they have received by far, the most five star reviews on YELP of any solar provider in San Diego.
Their reputation as an honest, low-pressure solar company with an obsessive attention to detail has led to commercial installations with some of Southern California's most recognizable institutions, including The Salk Institute, Cedars Sinai Hospital, Vandenberg Air Force Base, US Foods, and San Diego Cardiac Center.
Founding Partner Brian Grems heads up the engineering side of the business and attributes their residential and commercial solar success to a combination of attention to detail and a design team that never cuts corners.
He said: "I've never been a part of a business that so consistently goes the extra mile to provide an excellent customer experience. Sometimes that has cut into our profits but that's one of the reasons we are still in business; people trust us and they refer us to their friends, neighbors and other business owners."
"In our 15 years in business, this is by far the most attractive solar financing option we have offered," said partner and CEO Kent Harle . He added, "Every homeowner in San Diego County with an electric bill over $150 per month should take a look at this."
Stellar Solar partners Kent Harle, Michael Powers, and Brian Grems obtained their contractor's license in 1998 and began installing solar soon after. Their hard work, dedication to quality, and dedication to hiring only quality, ethical employees paid off in 2011 when they were voted Best Solar Company by readers of the UT San Diego. Since then, they have received by far, the most five star reviews on YELP of any solar provider in San Diego.
Their reputation as an honest, low-pressure solar company with an obsessive attention to detail has led to commercial installations with some of Southern California's most recognizable institutions, including The Salk Institute, Cedars Sinai Hospital, Vandenberg Air Force Base, US Foods, and San Diego Cardiac Center.
Founding Partner Brian Grems heads up the engineering side of the business and attributes their residential and commercial solar success to a combination of attention to detail and a design team that never cuts corners.
He said: "I've never been a part of a business that so consistently goes the extra mile to provide an excellent customer experience. Sometimes that has cut into our profits but that's one of the reasons we are still in business; people trust us and they refer us to their friends, neighbors and other business owners."
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Solar3D begins fabrication of newest prototype
USA: Solar3D Inc., the developer of a breakthrough 3-dimensional solar cell technology to maximize the conversion of sunlight into electricity, announced that the fabrication of the next prototype of its next generation silicon solar cell is underway.
Dr. Changwan Son, Solar3D's director of Technology, commented: "When we completed our first prototype, we were thrilled with the results. We achieved more power, relative to current technology, that we dared to hope. As we continue our work, we have discovered a number of ways to fine-tune our process so the product will produce even more power, and be less expensive to manufacture. As we fabricate the new prototype, I am confident we will see increasingly better results."
Solar3D's first prototype exceeded management's expectations in dramatic fashion -- producing 250 percent of the power of a conventional solar cell fabricated under the same conditions. Two powerful characteristics of the Solar3D Cell make it superior to current technology.
First, it is substantially more efficient in producing power. Second, is a wide-angle light collection feature, which allows the Cell to collect light at more times of the day, month, and year, and in times of diffused light -- such as on cloudy days. This attribute is unique in the solar world.
Solar3D filed its Patent Cooperation Treaty international application on the product, its unique features, and the manufacturing process last month.
"Our team is not satisfied, even with the initial extraordinary results," said Jim Nelson, CEO of Solar3D. "We believe in continuous improvement. Changwan and his team continue to refine the process and product to get the optimal result. This discipline will put us in an excellent position to execute our pilot manufacturing run later this year -- and accelerate commercialization in 2014."
Dr. Son continued: "Our mandate is to create a solar cell that would produce substantially more power than the current technology at a low enough cost of production to deliver a markedly lower cost per watt of solar electricity. We are making our positive initial results even better. We now forecast that the result of our work will be at least 50 percent reduction in the cost of solar electricity. The installed system cost savings may be even greater."
Nelson concluded: "We are focused on bringing this breakthrough technology to market. We are on our way to the next major step -- the production of a manufacturing prototype, which is required to undertake a pilot production run this year. The pilot run will prove the 3D Cell's performance characteristics in a production environment and lead us to a manufacturing partner and entry into the marketplace by 2014."
Dr. Changwan Son, Solar3D's director of Technology, commented: "When we completed our first prototype, we were thrilled with the results. We achieved more power, relative to current technology, that we dared to hope. As we continue our work, we have discovered a number of ways to fine-tune our process so the product will produce even more power, and be less expensive to manufacture. As we fabricate the new prototype, I am confident we will see increasingly better results."
Solar3D's first prototype exceeded management's expectations in dramatic fashion -- producing 250 percent of the power of a conventional solar cell fabricated under the same conditions. Two powerful characteristics of the Solar3D Cell make it superior to current technology.
First, it is substantially more efficient in producing power. Second, is a wide-angle light collection feature, which allows the Cell to collect light at more times of the day, month, and year, and in times of diffused light -- such as on cloudy days. This attribute is unique in the solar world.
Solar3D filed its Patent Cooperation Treaty international application on the product, its unique features, and the manufacturing process last month.
"Our team is not satisfied, even with the initial extraordinary results," said Jim Nelson, CEO of Solar3D. "We believe in continuous improvement. Changwan and his team continue to refine the process and product to get the optimal result. This discipline will put us in an excellent position to execute our pilot manufacturing run later this year -- and accelerate commercialization in 2014."
Dr. Son continued: "Our mandate is to create a solar cell that would produce substantially more power than the current technology at a low enough cost of production to deliver a markedly lower cost per watt of solar electricity. We are making our positive initial results even better. We now forecast that the result of our work will be at least 50 percent reduction in the cost of solar electricity. The installed system cost savings may be even greater."
Nelson concluded: "We are focused on bringing this breakthrough technology to market. We are on our way to the next major step -- the production of a manufacturing prototype, which is required to undertake a pilot production run this year. The pilot run will prove the 3D Cell's performance characteristics in a production environment and lead us to a manufacturing partner and entry into the marketplace by 2014."
World efficiency record for CPV cells achieved on Veeco MBE system
USA: Veeco Instruments Inc. announced that the world record for energy efficiency of a commercial-ready production solar cell by Solar Junction was achieved on its Dual GEN200 Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE) System.
Solar Junction, a developer of high efficiency multi-junction solar energy cells for the concentrating photovoltaics (CPV) market, reported last October that the power conversion efficiency of their CPV cells was measured at an unprecedented 44 percent at 947 suns, as verified by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).
Homan Yuen, Ph.D., Solar Junction’s VP of R&D, said: “Veeco’s MBE system enables us to reach critical milestones in solar cell efficiency. Their system is instrumental in pushing the boundaries of technology to make CPV a more competitive option for solar power.”
Jim Northup, Veeco’s VP and GM, commented: “We wholeheartedly congratulate Solar Junction on their world record, and are committed to supporting their new facility’s production ramp. The GEN200 is the ideal pilot production tool, and we take great pride in providing the deposition platform for this ground-breaking result.”
The GEN200 MBE cluster-tool design provides the material source and wafer configuration flexibility for R&D or for multi-wafer production applications. The flexibility of the cluster tool design enables the GEN200 system to deliver higher throughput and lower cost per wafer, in a footprint up to 60 percent smaller than comparable MBE systems.
It can support dual growth modules, allowing facilities to either greatly increase production or grow different materials within a single, integrated system.
Solar Junction, a developer of high efficiency multi-junction solar energy cells for the concentrating photovoltaics (CPV) market, reported last October that the power conversion efficiency of their CPV cells was measured at an unprecedented 44 percent at 947 suns, as verified by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).
Homan Yuen, Ph.D., Solar Junction’s VP of R&D, said: “Veeco’s MBE system enables us to reach critical milestones in solar cell efficiency. Their system is instrumental in pushing the boundaries of technology to make CPV a more competitive option for solar power.”
Jim Northup, Veeco’s VP and GM, commented: “We wholeheartedly congratulate Solar Junction on their world record, and are committed to supporting their new facility’s production ramp. The GEN200 is the ideal pilot production tool, and we take great pride in providing the deposition platform for this ground-breaking result.”
The GEN200 MBE cluster-tool design provides the material source and wafer configuration flexibility for R&D or for multi-wafer production applications. The flexibility of the cluster tool design enables the GEN200 system to deliver higher throughput and lower cost per wafer, in a footprint up to 60 percent smaller than comparable MBE systems.
It can support dual growth modules, allowing facilities to either greatly increase production or grow different materials within a single, integrated system.
Borrego Solar acquires projects in California totaling over 8 MW
USA: Borrego Solar Systems Inc., a leading designer, installer and financier of grid-tied solar photovoltaic (PV) systems, has acquired a diverse portfolio of solar projects totaling more than 8 megawatts (MW) located throughout five areas within California.
The portfolio includes two utility projects totaling 3 MW under Southern California Edison (SCE)'s California Renewable Energy Small Tariff (CREST) program. The remaining projects are power purchase agreements (PPAs) with various school districts and include bundled-solar and energy-efficiency solutions.
Borrego Solar acquired the projects and completed their development, providing all the necessary project financing, engineering, procurement and construction of the solar facilities.
The two utility projects are Borrego Solar's first projects under SCE's feed-in tariff (FIT) program, CREST, which was established to provide standardized fixed price energy payments to qualifying renewable energy generators 1.5 MW or smaller.
Qualifying projects can sell the renewable energy they generate at a set price to SCE for up to 20 years. These CREST projects are just the latest examples of Borrego Solar's momentum in the utility-scale solar market: in January 2012, the company completed two additional SCE projects on warehouses and distributions centers in Santa Fe Springs.
The portfolio includes two utility projects totaling 3 MW under Southern California Edison (SCE)'s California Renewable Energy Small Tariff (CREST) program. The remaining projects are power purchase agreements (PPAs) with various school districts and include bundled-solar and energy-efficiency solutions.
Borrego Solar acquired the projects and completed their development, providing all the necessary project financing, engineering, procurement and construction of the solar facilities.
The two utility projects are Borrego Solar's first projects under SCE's feed-in tariff (FIT) program, CREST, which was established to provide standardized fixed price energy payments to qualifying renewable energy generators 1.5 MW or smaller.
Qualifying projects can sell the renewable energy they generate at a set price to SCE for up to 20 years. These CREST projects are just the latest examples of Borrego Solar's momentum in the utility-scale solar market: in January 2012, the company completed two additional SCE projects on warehouses and distributions centers in Santa Fe Springs.
Sunvalley Solar awarded 329KW solar installation contract
USA: Sunvalley Solar Inc., a leading solar power technology and solar system integration company, has been awarded a new 329KW solar system installation contract from Amerifreight, Inc. of Walnut, CA.
The 329KW contract is for a system capable of generating 485,215kWh of electrical power annually. The system utilizes 1316 pieces of high efficiency 250 watt Polycrystalline solar panels.
"We are continuously developing our commercial solar energy installation business in Southern California and this new contract shows that. Our shareholders have eagerly anticipated an announcement of this sort and we are certain that this news will increase the confidence that our customers and shareholders have in our ability to offer high quality, cost effective solar solutions. Sunvalley is confident that 2013 will be a banner year," said James Zhang, CEO of Sunvalley Solar.
The installation is scheduled to begin mid 2013.
The 329KW contract is for a system capable of generating 485,215kWh of electrical power annually. The system utilizes 1316 pieces of high efficiency 250 watt Polycrystalline solar panels.
"We are continuously developing our commercial solar energy installation business in Southern California and this new contract shows that. Our shareholders have eagerly anticipated an announcement of this sort and we are certain that this news will increase the confidence that our customers and shareholders have in our ability to offer high quality, cost effective solar solutions. Sunvalley is confident that 2013 will be a banner year," said James Zhang, CEO of Sunvalley Solar.
The installation is scheduled to begin mid 2013.
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