New technique speeds cell production

Netherlands, Delft — TU Delft has demonstrated that the speed at which relatively inefficient but inexpensive amorphous solar cells are produced can be increased by a factor of ten. This means more solar panels can be produced per day from a given capital investment. Whilst the basic production technique used was developed by Eindhoven University of Technology; Michael Wank’s project, which was subsidised by Agentschap NL, used a special method to overcome the disadvantages of heat introduced in the original Eindhoven project. The...

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Boeing goes solar

(summary of news from Associated Press, CNN, ABC) Not content with using solar power on its satellites, and energy saving carbon-composite panels on its new Dreamliner, the Boeing Company has decided to completely cover the roof of its Dreamliner assembly centre with solar panels. The more than 18000 thin film laminate panels will be laid flat on the surface, and are expected to provide up to 2.6 megawatts of electrical generation capacity — enough to power about 250 homes. It will be the sixth largest solar installation by...

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Chinchilla solar project to cut coal consumption

The largest solar thermal project in Australia is coming to Queensland’s rural town of Chinchilla. Many residents in nearby areas already use solar thermal technology in their rooftop solar hot water systems. The Federal government in partnership with the state government have approved one of the biggest solar thermal projects in the world and confirmed funding to build a solar energy system on the site of an exisiting coal-fired power station near Chinchilla in Queensland. This type of arrangement is known as a complementary or hybrid...

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Conergy installs 2MW Plant

Germany-based Conergy has finished a 2.2 MW PV plant in Brandenburg, Germany. Conergy says it installed 27,300 modules on its own Conergy mounting systems in just six weeks. Power from the plant is fed into the network with the help of 130 units of Conergy’s new IPG 15 T inverters. The plant is expected to produce at least 2,134 MWh of electricity annually.

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Another feed-in tariff success story

Off the back of the German solar feeding tariff laws, Solarworld AG built a thriving solar panel export business that is now a truly global player, with 1.4GW capacity expected to be online by the end of this year. As a result of continued success, SolarWorld Groupwide earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) increased in financial year 2010 by 26 % , climbing 40.0 million euros to € 192.8m (for comparison, in 2009 it was € 152.8m). This stellar result was achieved by increasing volumes in the face of low industry pricing. Solarbuzz...

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SMA HF Series inverters now available

Cutting edge SMA Sunny Boy HF Series Solar Inverters are now available at Greenforce In partnership with RFI and BP Solar, we are proud to announce the arrival of the narrow profile SMA HF series, high efficiency inverters that keep many of the safety benefits of transformer based inverters. With leading conversion efficiency of up to 96% (depending on input power level) and numerous other technological innovations, the Sunny Boy HF series provides a secure yet even faster return on solar power system investment. Like the TL series of...

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Latest news

Greenforce Energy is a participant in the BP Solar ‘Discover our Energy’ campaign in the inner west area of Sydney. The campaign has uncovered significant latent demand in Marrickville for quality Solar PV generation systems from trusted names.

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Conergy announces sales increase of 50%

Hamburg, Feb 23, 2011 – (Source: Conergy AG) In the past financial year Conergy AG increased its sales by more than 50% to € 913.5 million (2009: € 600.9 million). The improved result can be attributed to its efforts to further expand both its national and international business. With 54% of the total, Conergy´s international sales remained on a high level. At the same time, the solar PV firm also improved earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA). For the first time since 2006, Conergy was in the black...

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BP Solar building massive USA plant

Houston, USA — Industry leader BP Solar and American financial group MetLife inked an agreement confirming joint ownership of the Long Island Solar Farm, a giant 32 MW solar PV generation plant in Upton, New York. BP Solar is leveraging its manufacturing and engineering capacity to build the plant, and will operate and maintain the 200-acre facility, whilst MetLife is an investor partner. All solar energy generated from the facility will be sold under a 20-year power purchase agreement to the Long Island Power Authority. The solar park,...

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NSW Solar PV Bonus Scheme Review – 20c is new baseline

Upon reaching 50MW installed capacity, the NSW Government has reduced the successful 60c solar feed-in tariff to 20c, as a result of unexpected demand. Review points of note Will still operate until original 31 December 2016 deadline; Existing customers will continue to receive the 60 cent credit for export, provided the system size and ownership are unchanged; New customers will connect at the base rate of 20c, although retailers are offering between 20 and 28c for exported power; and Once 300MW of installed capacity is reached, a further...

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