Market News – Page 16 – Solar Magazine

PV generation saved by the Japanese government. The companies are offer low-interests loans

The government in Japan is willing to help the Pv industry bloom. Regarding this matter, the government thought is for the best that the companies are offered low-interest loans for. The offer is available to those who install rooftop power systems.

The Japanese government is offering to help rooftop PV installers boost.

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in Japan will soon provide secure low interest loans to companies burrowing rooftop space for solar panels.

Citing the Nikkei newspaper, Bloomberg informs that the credit will be available via public financial institutions such as the Development Bank of Japan.

Companies will be allowed to sell electricity produced by the solar panels on the rooftops of people’s homes. These homeowners will also have something to gain in return for renting their rooftop space: they will receive between 10,000 yen ($97, €75) and 20,000 yen ($195, €150) a year.

Roxana Moraru

A new South African PV project has Google’s $ 10m investment

Richard Needham, the Google director, announced that his company invested ZAR103 million, meaning US$10 million in the Jasper Project. The search engine giant believes that the African country can become a renewable energy driver for the entire continent.

Google’s director for energy and sustainability believes that there are points to take into account when analyzing PV investments. It can have an economic sense or it can attract other investments that will “bolster the growth of the renewable energy industry and move the world closer to a clean energy future”, in the director’s terms.

The failure of the Google’s investments is almost never revealed but Bloomberg did not failed to announce that the giant is one of the equity investors in the african PV project together with SolarReserve, a U.S project developer, development partner Kensani Capital Investments; Intikon Energy; the state-owned Development Bank of Southern Africa; non-profit organization P.E.A.C.E.; and state pension fund Public Investment Group.

The search engine giant never fails to announce its investments in renewable energy so Reuters says that the company funded $94 million of photovoltaic projects in California and launched a $280 million financing package with SolarCity for residential solar installations among with acquiring a 49% stake in a German solar project in 2011.

Roxana Moraru

300 MW of solar projects are to be constructed by Chinese Merchants

The Chinese city of Xingtai and China Merchants New Energy Group signed a deal to develop 300 MW of solar projects in home market.

China Merchants New Energy Group (CMNE), a renewable energy project developer is going to build this year a third of the initial project, meaning 100 MW of solar project will be located in China’s Hebei province south of Beijing, as the company spokesman announced during this week.

The representatives of the company also said they will not give information regarding the financial details of Xingtai enterprise. Despite this, the company allied with Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps Investment Co. so that they could develop 300 MW of solar projects in the Xinjiang province in northwestern China by 2015 with a total investment of invest CNY 3 billion ($489 million, €378 million).

Moreover, in the past year CMNE invested CNY 10 billion in solar projects. The money came from China Development Bank. This was also a joint venture with with Chinese polysilicon giant GCL-Poly Energy Holdings with whom they would produce 973 MW of PV facilities.

Last year CMNE secured CNY 10 billion from the China Development Bank to finance solar projects and the group partnered with Chinese polysilicon giant GCL-Poly Energy Holdings to develop some 973 MW of PV facilities in the country.

Roxana Moraru

A new line of PV related products will be unveiled by Solar Edge Technologies

The North American market would be provided with end-to-end solar power optimization systems and monitoring solutions as announced by SolarEdge Technologies, a global supplier.

The new line of Pv related products will be available for starters for commercial applications in North America.

The global provider offers: a line of 3-phase solar inverters from 9kW to 20kW in size; a 600W capable power optimizer enabling a two-to-one connection for 60 cell modules; and a new gateway for site communication and PV monitoring.

Among with the implementations of the new line, comes the possibility to alter a simpler photovoltaic system design. Above all this is the lowering of the installation cost.

“Lower LCOE [levelized cost of energy] with a differentiated and optimized solution is the key to winning in the commercial market, Improved energy harvest, superior operation and maintenance capabilities, and a simplified system design have already led to the successful installation of 150MW of 3 phase systems in Europe and we expect to encounter similar high demand in North America” announced Peter Mathews, Vice President of Sales for SolarEdge North America. “

The new Pv related products line allows the installation of a much longer module strings. The new inverters reach a high weighted CEC efficiency of up to 98%, with the help of string voltage design that can guarantee an optimal dc/ac conversion.

The new power optimizer reaches a maximum efficiency of 99.5%. SolarEdge can also optimize the PV system by developing the magnitude of energy harvest and allowing module level monitoring and enhancing system safety.

Roxana Moraru

New PV software solutions presented by Diaspark Inc

The entire PV energy business will have personalized and adjustable software solutions. This also aims at commercial and utility-scale solar markets.

The full line of PV software solutions will be named Diaspark Energy. This new PV solutions includes photovoltaic systems connected to a utility source or electrical service provider among software development features.

The most promising articles are Performance Monitoring and Analysis, Project Management, Alert Management, Comparison of Prediction vs. Actual Power Generation, Management of Compliance and State Incentive Programs.

“Diaspark has always been focused on high performance, reliable and customizable software solutions and will continue to develop robust software solutions under this new brand, which will help us distinguish our services in the renewable energy market” announced Parvindar S Gujral, VP Enterprise Services, Diaspark Inc.

The O & M unit will increase the competence, full proofness and safety by preventing the equipment’s problem. It also identifies routine and unplanned equipment maintenance and sends automatic notifications through email.

Roxana Moraru

ABB is being sued by Power-One stockholders

A lawsuit has been filed by U.S. inverter manufacturer Power-One stockholders against ABB, claiming that the $1 billion acquisition price is too low.

Power-One stockholders believe that their value has been underestimated by ABB who offered $1billion for purchasing the company. The former believe that the energy market is “set to explode over the next decade.”

Mario Furtado was the one who filed the class action and announced the main reasons to do so. He implied that figures from the U.S Department of Energy are in the opinion of the fact that global energy requests will raise by 100% in the next 12 years. Moreover the International Energy agency says that photovoltaic systems market will increase with 10% every year for the next 8 years.

One day before the announcement of the deal, the stocks were rated at the price of $4.04 by NASDAQ. ABB offered a bonus of 57% on top of that, bringing a stock to $6.34 and announced after the offer of a 59% bonus. However, Furtado said that the price could go higher, in the past year the stock range being around $7.

Thus the deal is said to be closed in the upcoming half of this year.

Roxana Moraru

Lightway Solar, a Chinese producer, has been approved in developing a 50 MW photovoltaic sites in Prundu, Romania. The project rises to € 76 million.

€ 76 million will be invested in 50 MW PV project in Romania

Lightway Solar, a Chinese producer, has been approved in developing a 50 MW photovoltaic sites in Prundu, Romania. The project rises to € 76 million.
China Development and Reform Commission agreed with this project thus giving a boost to the solar energy harvest in Romania.
Regarding to the NDRC’s statement, the project’s cost will reach the amount of RMB 610 million, the equivalent of € 76 million.
The project has not been acquired yet. The parts of interest are still negotiating. As evidence, there hasn’t been any confirmed purchase, fact declared by a Lighway Solar spokesperson.

“We are now starting the first move in Romania where the government has introduced a series of PV policies. Lightway will cooperate with our end investors to win the support; also in Germany, our team will further upgrade for an intensified European PV market competition, including distributed generation market”, are the words of Wei Zhen, general manager of Lightway Deutschland GmbH, unraveling their European strategy.

Roxana Moraru

China – Market research predicts China’s demand for PV in 2014 is 0.9-3.6GW

China – Market research predicts China’s demand for PV in 2014 is 0.9-3.6GW
Taking in consideration China’s reputation as the promised land for the solar industry, the newst report from Solarbuzz sayz that there are wild fluctuations in demand of the country, this could mean suppliers which rely on markets outside the People’s Republic will enjoy an advantage.
The solar market research company, in its latest edition of NPD Solarbuzz Quarterly, predicts that demand in China up to April 2014 will vary wildly between 0.9 and 3.6 GW per quarter.
Although NPD Solarbuzz is forecasting that will add up to more than 20% of global demand over the next four quarters, it will make managing inventories tough for companies focused on the Chinese market, whereas companies dependent on other regions will benefit from more predictable levels of demand.
The report’s authors say demand in Europe, of which 65% will come from established German, Italian, French and U.K. markets, will amount to between 2.7 and 3.2 GW quarter on quarter.
The rest of the world, with Japan predictably strong in the first half of the 12-month cycle and the U.S. mirroring that seasonality in the following six months – supported by emerging markets in south east Asia and the Middle East – will also supply more predictable demand in the year ahead.

A new „Top Brand PV” award is given to Trina Solar in Germany

A new „Top Brand PV” award is given to Trina Solar in Germany!

Taking in consideration the their brand and brand awarness, german installers have once more given Trina Solar top marks. For this achievement, EuPD Research has rewarded the manufacturer with the premium seal “Top Brand PV” for the second time running.

The PV module, solutions and services provider Trina Solar has once again been awarded the “Top Brand PV” seal in the “Modules” category in Germany. EuPD Research awards this seal only to leading photovoltaic manufacturers who have completed an in-depth quality check.

Therefore, Trina Solar now belongs to the worldwide elite brands in the solar industry. The seal is awarded each year only to those manufacturers whose brands are rated unusually highly in comparison to their competitors by installers. Trina Solar has received top marks for their brand, brand awareness and market penetration for the second time running in an independent installer survey by the Bonn based market and opinion research institute EuPD Research.

The “Top Brand PV“ seal was developed by EuPD Research in 2010 as a way of objectively evaluating the brand management strategies of module and inverter manufacturers. The branch seal is awarded after the completion of a complex market analysis based on qualified statements regarding the brand awareness of market intermediaries and the buying behavior of their customers. This way, manufacturers receive an unfiltered assessment of their own brand as well as feedback on where potential lies to optimize their brand management.

For wholesalers, installers and end customers, the PV seal provides an independent aid for orientation when choosing a premium brand. Trina Solar now once more belongs to the small group of elite brands worldwide who are qualified to carry the seal.

Ulrich Mamat, Regional Sales Director and Managing Director of Trina Solar Germany, explained: “It is an honor to receive the Top Brand PV award in back-to-back years. We have continually increased our brand awareness over the last few years – our strong local presence, with contacts on the ground, has been crucial to achieving this. Furthermore, we see ourselves as a partner to our customers, offering not only modules of the highest quality but also value-added services as a key part of our portfolio. For example, installers benefit from the training opportunities provided by the Trina Solar Training Academy, and from our popular Partner Plus program, which was very well received and played a major role in increasing awareness of the Trina Solar brand.”

Solar Cell Made of a Single Molecule

A method to measure the photocurrents of a ‘single functionalized photosynthetic protein system’ has now been developed by researchers.

The researchers are confident that they can show that such a system could be integrated and “selectively addressed” inside of an artificial photovoltaic device’s architecture while still being able to retain its “biomolecular functional properties.”

The researchers were investigating the photosystem-I reaction center — that’s a chlorophyll protein complex that is located in the membranes of chloroplasts from cyanobacteria. Photosynthesis is used by algae, plants, and some bacteria in order to convert the Sun’s energy into usable and storable chemical energy.

The primary challenge to the physicists was that they had to develop and master “a method to electrically contact single molecules in strong optical fields.

The research was the result of interdisciplinary cooperation between researchers, led by Joachim Reichert, Johannes Barth, and Alexander Holleitner (Technische Universitaet Muenchen, Clusters of Excellence MAP, and NIM), and Itai Carmeli (Tel Aviv University).