7 more big solar projects, the first one being a behemoth of a solar power plant: 1. Marguerite Fund acquires 36 MW of ginormous, 115-MW Toul-Rosières solar power project. This 115-MW solar power plant, if built today, would be the world’s largest solar PV project (scroll down to the bottom of that page … [continued]
California’s Imperial Valley is rich in solar and geothermal energy resources, but its drive to build itself into a clean, renewable energy hub is creating some controversy among the local community, which in large part has been built around agriculture. County commissioners on Tuesday approved LS Power’s application to build the Centinela 275-MW solar photovoltaic energy array on private farmland, bringing the debate, and tensions, to the fore.
With the spotlight on environmental issues, many investors have been looking into green stocks. Green stocks are businesses involved in sustainable, environmentally-friendly practices, ranging from production of solar panels and hybrid/electric vehicle parts to tech-related pursuits such as IP trunking and designing energy-efficient data centers. Any significant effort to reduce … [continued]
First Solar continues to shed ownership stakes in its thin-film solar PV mega-projects as tough economic and industry conditions prompt a more defensive posture. Warren Buffet and Berkshire Hathaway have been known to swoop in and invest in businesses and industries experiencing difficult times, looking to realize greater value from them over the longer term.
It was another event-filled week of clean and renewable energy news. Among this week’s briefs and links: Chinese solar anti-dumping case moves forward, First Solar’s 550 MW DesertSolar project, offshore and trans-national grid flows hot topic at European Wind Energy Association’s annual conference, Madrid’s big smart grid project, Japan clean energy investment fund & more…
As Susan wrote back on September 1, GE Energy Financial Services, Verve Energy, and First Solar have teamed up to build a large (“utility-scale”) solar farm in Australia. The farm will be 10 times larger than any other solar farm in Australia to date. Construction on the 10-megawatt AC Greenough … [continued]
Bank approves $86 million loan to Reliance Power which will source thin-film panels from First Solar for its 100 MW PV projects.
Government officials, community and business leaders joined in a dedication ceremony for First Solar’s thin-film solar PV module manufacturing facility in Mesa, Arizona last week. Investing $300 million to build the four-line factory, it will employ some 600 full-time associates and is designed with the capacity to produce 250 megawatts (MW) worth of thin-film PV modules per year. Mesa Mayor Scott Smith highlighted the plant’s potential to serve as anchor for the local economy, one based on the emerging clean energy economy.
The giant 290-megawatt Agua Caliente Solar Power Project is one step closer to bringing 400 new green jobs to Arizona, thanks to a $967 million loan guarantee from the Department of Energy that will get the thin-film photovoltaic project off the ground. The new facility, sponsored by solar giant NRG, will deploy two cutting edge technologies that improve the stability of power supply from the plant to the grid.
First Solar has set a new world record for converting the energy from sunlight into electricity. One of its latest cadmium-telluride photovoltaic cells, which are used in its thin film solar PV panels, achieved a 17.3% conversion efficiency in testing at the NREL in Colorado, blowing away the previous record of 16.7%, which was set back in 2001.
