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T-RECs Invade California Energy Market

To meet renewable goals, California utilities can buy power from Arizona households. It’s a new ball game.

To meet their renewable standards, California utilities are now able to look outside the state. What happens next should be interesting.

California's Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS)… Read More ›

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Showa Shell Shows Off Second-Gen CIGS Panel

Efficiency in the champion cell is at 16 percent.

Showa Shell Solar Co. Ltd exhibited its second-generation CIGS (copper indium gallium selenide) photovoltaic panel at PV EXPO 2010, a trade show that took place last week in Tokyo.

The PV panel was developed with a technology that will be introduced to the company's third plant, which is now being built in Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan. Showa Shell Solar showcased it under the name "Solar Frontier," which will officially go into effect as of April… Read More ›

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Will Agribusiness Be A Growth Market for Solar?

Two businesses that depend on the sun come together.

Produce and solar, it turns out, have a lot in common.

Agribusiness has a number of characteristics that could make it a prime sub-market in the solar business, according to Mike Miskovsky, General Manager of Canadian Solar's U.S. operations.

Typically, farmers grow their crops in relatively sunny areas with lots of open space and a lack of neighbors to complain about the size or site or a project. Many large Ag states like California have also… Read More ›

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Can Tax Incentives Bring Back Manufacturing to California?

The Energy Commission has $95 million more in incentives. And Governor Arnold is developing his own spiffs, too.

California might be expensive and highly regulated, but the state continues to try to woo manufacturers with tax credits and other incentives.

The California Energy Commission will use approximately $95 million of the $226 million it received under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to try to get heavy green industry to move here. Approximately $30.6 million will go into a fund to provide low-interest loans for companies that will… Read More ›

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Solar Inverter News Roundup: SolarEdge, Satcon, et al.

There has been a furious flurry of activity in the PV inverter market of late, including design wins, funding, personnel moves and earnings reports.

Here's a roundup of recent news from the PV inverter market.

Satcon's Biggest Orders

Satcon (NASDAQ CM:SATC) will ship 38 megawatts of its 500-kilowatt solar PV inverter products to GCL Solar, one of China’s largest utility-scale solar power plant developers. The 38 megawatts will be installed across three separate solar power plants, and all installations are expected to come online this year. 

Additionally, Satcon will deliver 30.5 megawatts of… Read More ›

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Konarka Gets $20M More for Organic Solar Cells

$150 million raised—so far—in a decade-long quest for low-efficiency, niche-market solar cells.

Whatever else one can say about organic solar cell aspirant Konarka, the startup sure is great at raising money.

Konarka just announced $20 million in strategic investment from Japan's Konica Minolta.  That brings Konarka's total to more than $150M in angel funding, venture capital, strategic investment and private equity money raised since 2001.  And throw in at least $10 million more in DARPA, DOE, NSF, U.S. Army, bank loans and credit lines… Read More ›