Solar PhotoVoltaics – Page 22

Renewable solar energy found new investors in India

A coal giant company, the largest in India, named Coal India Limited is said to be willing to invest in renewable solar industry.

The company is ready to acquire a 2 MW project in the renewable solar industry with the purpose of altering into PV energy.

An Indian news agency called DNAIndia announced that the Indian company, Coal India, is taking measures for a 2 MW solar PV plant at Sambalpur. Moreover, the company plans to extend a rooftop PV installation at its Central Mine Planning and Design Institute research facility in Ranchi.

As the Sambalpur plan is concerned, the Indian company is thinking of taking over nine acres of Coal India land. This is viewed as a commercial project, thus DNA says that the Ranchi rooftop would be functioning to minimize the company’s energy bills.

DNA also brings into the center of attention the fact that Coal India is barely following a veer that has seen public sector mining rival Neyveli Lignite Corp in the middle of developing the first 10 MW phase of an eventual 25 MW project near Neyveli airstrip. This means that Coal India is not even close to being an unequalled volte face.

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

Analysts from Luxor Research predict a 100% growth until 2018

The photovoltaic sector is said to reach US$155 billion until 2018, in the perspective of Luxor Research.

The analysts claim PV industry will jump up to 61.7 GW, although in 2013 there was only a minor increase to 35 GW. China is ready to jump to the top and become the biggest market.

The sector has dropped since 2011, but the researchers claim that it would have a “healthy 10% compound annual growth rate.”

The investigations also show that China, Japan and India will continue from the point where Germany and Italy have left off. Moreover, the U.S is going to be the second largest market with 10.8 GW of installations in the already mentioned year. Above it will be China, leading 12.4 GW.

Luxor Research show that commercial applications will become the head segment because of the U.S. and Japan increasing markets in the rooftop installations area.

“Manufacturers’ nightmare is turning into a long-term boon for the industry. Record low prices pushed gross margins to near zero or below, but they’ve made solar installations competitive in more markets, Supply and demand will come back into balance in 2015, easing price pressure, returning manufacturers to profitability and restoring the industry to equilibrium,” announced Ed Cahill, Lux Research Associate and the lead author of the report.

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

Photovoltaic art. A PV sunflower was design for an exhibition in Austria

Paul Klee’s word to describe art are: “Art does not reproduce what we see, rather it makes us see”.

Starting from this concept, Konrad Feichtinger created a sunflower sculpture with ertex-solar photovoltaic modules.

The sculpture was designed in order to participate in the national outgoing exhibition in Austria, “Alte Spuren, neue wegen”, or, in other words “Old Traces, new ways”.

The innovative plants produce up to 1400 watts of power. This power, with the help of a control software developed by the Ars Electronia Center in Linz, is delivered to the exposition’s visitors Their height reaches seven meters and they are distributed over nine areas.

The visitors of the exposition are enwrapped in the evening hours by the flower’s colorful light reflected by it’s LEDS. The atmosphere there is fascinating.
Konrad Feichtinger says that the plant produces more energy than the visitors consume.

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.”

Bosch confirmed exiting the crystalline solar sector

After some time of speculations, today Bosch has confirmed that the will exit the crystalline solar sector. From 2014 they will suspend the ingot, wafer and cell productions. More than 3000 employees will be affected.
Bosch
Ending a shaky week for solar – Suntech finally entered into insolvency on Monday after mounting rumors – Robert Bosch GmbH has today confirmed it will cease its solar activities, following months of speculation. The engineering and electronics company has been investing in the industry since 2008.
In addition to ceasing production of ingots, wafers and cells, Bosch has said it will “quickly” sell off its individual business units, and end all development and marketing activities. This will include selling its 150 MW photovoltaic module plant in Vénissieux, France (which opened just last year) and scrapping its Malaysian plans for a manufacturing facility.
Aleo solar AG, of which Bosch owns 90.7%, will also be heavily affected, as Bosch seeks to sell its shares. According to aleo, Bosch has “assured aleo solar AG of financing until the end of March 2014.”
In a statement, it said, “Irrespective of the search for a buyer, aleo solar AG has already taken action: We have closed our factory in Spain, commenced the liquidation of our joint venture in China and have disposed of our shares in Bosch CISTech. We are now examining further activities for improving our earnings.”
Justifying today’s decision, Bosch said that it has been unsuccessful in achieving competitiveness in the solar industry, despite having “comprehensively examined every aspect of its solar business.”
“We have considered the latest technological advances, cost-reduction potential, and strategic alignment. And there have also been talks with potential partners. However, none of these possibilities resulted in a solution for the Solar Energy division that would be economically viable over the long term,” stated Volkmar Denner, chairman of the Bosch management board.
Stefan Hartung, chairman of the Bosch Solar Energy AG supervisory board and member of the Robert Bosch GmbH management board responsible for the Energy and Building Technology business sector, added, “Despite extensive measures to reduce manufacturing cost over the past year, we were unable to offset the drop in prices, which was as much as 40 percent.”
Despite the cutbacks, Bosch has said it will keep on Bosch Solar CISTech GmbH, located in Germany’s Brandenburg. “Its future alignment will be decided at a later date,” said Bosch in a statement released. Aleo solar sold its equity stake in CISTech to Bosch in December.
A Bosch spokesperson further told pv magazine that voltwerk electronics GmbH, Conergy’s ex-photovoltaic inverter subsidiary, which was acquired by Bosch last April, will not be affected, since it is not part of the company’s solar business.
Overall, Bosch’s solar division employs 3,000 people, of which 850 are based at aleo and 150 at CISTech. It is not yet clear how many jobs will be lost.
In the figures
In January, Bosch reported that while sales rose across all its divisions by 1.6% in 2012 to total revenues of €52.3 billion (US$69.7bn), the company forced to take an impairment of as much as €1 billion from its solar business.
Meanwhile, last August, the company announced the closure of its thin film production in Erfurt. However, it also took over Ersol and Johanna Solar, as well as a part of Aleo Solar; and acquired Voltwerk, the inverter partner of Conergy.