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Indian state-owned bank IDBI has raised US$350 million through the issue of green bonds, which also received orders of around US$1 billion.

The bank has taken up prime minister Narendra Modi’s programme to grow clean energy and green infrastructure in India. The country is planning to reach 175GW of installed renewable energy by 2022.

The Export-Import Bank of India issued a US$500 million green bond in March, meanwhile India-based Yes Bank and Hong Kong-listed utility CLP Group recently became the second lender to raise financing through green bonds to the sum of US$49 million.

The Climate Bonds Initiative (CBI), a not-for-profit looking to mobilise global investment in renewables, said that a record US$38.4 billion of green bonds have been issued globally so far this year.

Sean Kidney, chief executive and co-founder of CBI, said: “IDBI has been ramping up it’s lending in green infrastructure – but not just for the big stuff. They’re also supporting distributed generation: for example, they’re providing the capital for roll-out of loans for solar irrigation pumps for hundreds of thousands of farmers.”

Kidney said the bonds are built around a mixed pool of assets including solar and wind energy, and other renewables initiatives.

He even suggested that state-owned power company National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) could issue green bonds in the coming year, having been mandated to build 10GW of solar by the central government.

Kidney concluded: “There’s a long way to go in India before all this planning comes to fruition, and there are still a lot of coal-fired power plants we have to figure out how to close down. But the ambition for change is what we need to see around the world; not just in Mexico, Egypt and Turkey, but in the dirtier developed economies of Poland, Korea and Australia.”

Spanish industrial auctioneer Escrapalia, a subsidiary of Surus Inversa, is holding an online auction of module assembly equipment and a complete automated assembly line from defunct PV manufacturer Isofotón.

According to the auctioneer, the Isofotón facility in Malaga, Spain was the largest in the country before the company went into bankruptcy in late 2013.

Bidders have the opportunity to buy individual lots from the 200MW module production facility as well as bid on the 120MW complete automated turnkey line supplied by Reis as well as a 100MW semi-automated line.

Other equipment to be auctioned includes a Maier laminator, a Komax 2800i string tester as well as a full suite of assembly tools.

Saudi-owned Spanish firm Fotowatio Renewable Ventures has signed an agreement with Jordan’s utility company to build a 50MW PV power plant in the country.

Under the 20-year power purchase agreement with Jordan’s National Electric Power Company, electricity from the plant will be sold at 6.93 US cents per kilowatt hour.

Fotowatio, owned by Jeddah-based Abdul Lateef Jameel Energy and Environmental Services, was selected as a preferred bidder under the 200MW second round of Jordan’s solar tender, held earlier this year. It is the first bidder under this round to complete a PPA.

The 50MW project will be built near Mafraq in northern Jordan. Completion is scheduled for 2017, after which the plant is expected to generate 155 million kWh of power, representing around 1% of Jordan’s generation capacity.

Roberto de Diego Arozamena, chief executive of Abdul Latif Jameel Energy and Environmental Services, said: “This signing signifies an important milestone for our energy business and we are well-positioned to further the growth of Jordan’s national energy production and support the government’s plans to source 10% of its total power from local resources by 2020. This agreement in Jordan builds on our commitment to develop the renewable energy sector throughout the Middle East North, Africa and Turkey region.”

Jordan’s fledgling solar market has seen mixed fortunes so far. The 52MW Shams Ma’an project, which was selected under the country’s first renewable energy tender in 2014, is being built by US firm First Solar. But the 400MW third-round tender, which included 200MW of solar, was cancelled last year, with grid costs blamed.

Other developers in the country have reported bureaucratic difficulties in completing PPA deals in Jordan.

Saudi-owned Spanish firm Fotowatio Renewable Ventures has signed an agreement with Jordan’s utility company to build a 50MW [url=Saudi-owned Spanish firm Fotowatio Renewable Ventures has signed an agreement with Jordan’s utility company to build a 50MW PV power plant in the country.

Under the 20-year power purchase agreement with Jordan’s National Electric Power Company, electricity from the plant will be sold at 6.93 US cents per kilowatt hour.

Fotowatio, owned by Jeddah-based Abdul Lateef Jameel Energy and Environmental Services, was selected as a preferred bidder under the 200MW second round of Jordan’s solar tender, held earlier this year. It is the first bidder under this round to complete a PPA.

The 50MW project will be built near Mafraq in northern Jordan. Completion is scheduled for 2017, after which the plant is expected to generate 155 million kWh of power, representing around 1% of Jordan’s generation capacity.

Roberto de Diego Arozamena, chief executive of Abdul Latif Jameel Energy and Environmental Services, said: “This signing signifies an important milestone for our energy business and we are well-positioned to further the growth of Jordan’s national energy production and support the government’s plans to source 10% of its total power from local resources by 2020. This agreement in Jordan builds on our commitment to develop the renewable energy sector throughout the Middle East North, Africa and Turkey region.”

Jordan’s fledgling solar market has seen mixed fortunes so far. The 52MW Shams Ma’an project, which was selected under the country’s first renewable energy tender in 2014, is being built by US firm First Solar. But the 400MW third-round tender, which included 200MW of solar, was cancelled last year, with grid costs blamed.

Other developers in the country have reported bureaucratic difficulties in completing PPA deals in Jordan.]PV power plant[/url] in the country.

Under the 20-year power purchase agreement with Jordan’s National Electric Power Company, electricity from the plant will be sold at 6.93 US cents per kilowatt hour.

Fotowatio, owned by Jeddah-based Abdul Lateef Jameel Energy and Environmental Services, was selected as a preferred bidder under the 200MW second round of Jordan’s solar tender, held earlier this year. It is the first bidder under this round to complete a PPA.

The 50MW project will be built near Mafraq in northern Jordan. Completion is scheduled for 2017, after which the plant is expected to generate 155 million kWh of power, representing around 1% of Jordan’s generation capacity.

Roberto de Diego Arozamena, chief executive of Abdul Latif Jameel Energy and Environmental Services, said: “This signing signifies an important milestone for our energy business and we are well-positioned to further the growth of Jordan’s national energy production and support the government’s plans to source 10% of its total power from local resources by 2020. This agreement in Jordan builds on our commitment to develop the renewable energy sector throughout the Middle East North, Africa and Turkey region.”

Jordan’s fledgling solar market has seen mixed fortunes so far. The 52MW Shams Ma’an project, which was selected under the country’s first renewable energy tender in 2014, is being built by US firm First Solar. But the 400MW third-round tender, which included 200MW of solar, was cancelled last year, with grid costs blamed.

Other developers in the country have reported bureaucratic difficulties in completing PPA deals in Jordan.

US Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz announced Tuesday that US$125 million has been awarded by the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) to 41 new energy projects and technologies.

These new projects will be funded through the ARPA-E’s OPEN 2015 program and comes a week before the COP21 U.N. Climate Negotiations in Paris.

Through open solicitations, the ARPA-E funds innovative technologies that showcase potential technical and commercial impact, but are too early for private-sector investment. The OPEN 2015 projects hail from 21 different states and are made up of 10 different categories, including transportation, electricity generation and delivery and energy efficiency.

Moniz said: “The ARPA-E projects selected today highlight how American ingenuity can spur innovation and generate a wide range of technology options to address our nation’s most pressing energy issues. As we look beyond COP21, the energy technologies the Department of Energy invests in today will provide the solutions needed to combat climate change and develop a global low-carbon economy in the future."

In total, the 41 projects were produced by a number of sources, with 36% led by universities, 39% by small businesses, 10% by large businesses, 10% by national labs and 5% by non-profits.

‘Silicon Module Super League’ (SMSL) member Canadian Solar has won a further three PV power plant project in Brazil totalling 110MW to bring its project pipeline in the country to 384MW.

Canadian Solar said that the three new projects were in Pirapora, in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil and the electricity generated sold to CCEE (Camara de Comercializacao de Energia Eletrica), under a 20-year power purchase agreement at R$300/MWh (approximately US$78.8/MWh).

"We are very excited to announce another win in Brazil, that increases our pipeline to 384MWp in this important emerging market," said Shawn Qu, chairman and CEO of Canadian Solar. "It is another testament of our strong capabilities in developing global solar power projects and further strengthens our position as a tier 1 global player in the solar energy business."

The company said it would develop and build the solar power plants and come on stream in late 2018.

Canadian Solar also has plans to build a 300MW module assembly plant in Brazil to meet local content rules and avoid import duties.

‘Silicon Module Super League’ (SMSL) member JinkoSolar said that capacity of ingot/wafer, solar cell and solar modules would be expanded further in 2016 to meet growing demand.

Reporting third quarter results in an earnings call, JinkoSolar’s management updated preliminary plans to increase capacity. Its current ingot/wafer capacity of 3GW would be expanded by 300MW to 3.3GW by the first quarter of 2016, primarily by upgrading existing in-house equipment, the company said.

Solar cell capacity would also be increased by a further 500MW from existing capacity of 2.5GW to total 3GW by mid-2016. Management noted that a decision on how much of the additional capacity could be added in China and or overseas had not yet been made.

The company also noted that module capacity would be increased by another 1GW to reach 5.3GW by mid-2016.

JinkoSolar had in-house annual silicon wafer, solar cell and solar module production capacity of 3GW, 2.5GW and 4GW, respectively at the end of the first nine months of 2015 and would complete a 300MW module expansion before year-end, taking nameplate capacity to 4.3GW.

Clean energy provider SolarCity and Silver Lake Kraftwerk, Silver Lake's energy and resource innovation fund, announced that they have signed off on a strategic investment of US$113 million in aggregate principal amount of SolarCity's Zero Coupon Convertible Senior Notes.

Silver Lake Kraftwerk agreed to invest US$100 million, SolarCity Chairman Elon Musk will invest US$10 million, while CEO Lyndon Rive will invest US$3 million.

The investment by Silver Lake Kraftwerk stands as almost quadruple the size of its initial investment in SolarCity in February 2012.

Josh Raffaelli, managing director at Silver Lake Kraftwerk, said: "We believe that SolarCity is a highly attractive long-term investment opportunity. We think the company's unparalleled access to solar-specific tax equity, asset-backed security and debt clearly differentiates it from providers that are funding projects constantly via equity markets. Furthermore, we firmly believe that SolarCity's near term focus on cost reduction and cash flow breakeven is absolutely the right strategy—the company is already the leader in both commercial and residential solar.

“Its technology and brand advantage coupled with its cost structure and low cost of capital position it to continue to grow in 2017 even if the federal investment tax credit steps down. Distributed solar generation is an enormous opportunity and we believe there is no other company better positioned to take advantage of it."

Rive added: “Solar overtook natural gas and coal as the largest source of new energy in the U.S. in the first half of 2015, representing 40% of new capacity. Demand for SolarCity's services has never been greater than it is today, and the global addressable market in front of us is massive. “Silver Lake Kraftwerk knows the company and category well and we're excited to work with them again."

‘Silicon Module Super League’ (SMSL) member JA Solar has reported record shipments and revenue in the third quarter of 2015, insuring previous full-year guidance would be achieved and a top 5 market ranking within the PV industry for the year.

JA Solar reported total shipments of 1,126.8MW, up 42.5% from the previous quarter and up 43.5% from the prior year period. Total shipments were well above the high end of the previously announced guidance of 900MW to 950MW.

Shipments of solar cells and cell tolling services were 53MW, down 27.8% from the previous quarter and down 42.3% on the prior year period, as the company continues to shift to a pure-play PV module manufacturer.

Module and module tolling shipments in the quarter were 1,073.8MW, up 49.7% from the previous quarter and 54.8% higher than the same period a year ago.

Baofang Jin, chairman and CEO of JA Solar said: "We are pleased to report strong financial results for the third quarter of 2015 as total shipments of 1.1 GW exceeded the high end of our previous expectations. Strong demand in China continued to drive shipment growth, as China represented 53% of our total shipments during the quarter.
“We also made great progress on our new cell manufacturing facility in Malaysia during the quarter, and are very excited to have announced the facility's launch in late October.

"Due to relatively strong demand in the second half, we have allocated additional shipments from our downstream projects to meet customer demand. As a result, we now expect shipments to our own downstream projects to be under 100 MW in 2015,” added Jin.

Financials

JA Solar reported third quarter revenue of ($601.0 million), an increase of 41% from the previous quarter and 26.4% from the prior year period. Gross margin was 17.7%, an increase of 270 basis points y/y and 130 basis points sequentially.

Operating profit was US$47.1 million, compared to US$29.8 million in the third quarter of 2014 and US$24.6 million) in the second quarter of 2015.

Net income was US40.7 million, compared to US$24.5 million in the third quarter of 2014, and US$21.4 million in the second quarter of 2015.

JA Solar posts record Q3 shipments and revenue
Total module shipments including tolling reached more than 2.37GW in the first nine months of 2015.

Market position

JA Solar guided fourth quarter total cell and module shipments to be in the range of 1.1GW to 1.2GW. Based on actual first nine month total shipments, JA Solar should achieve full-year shipments of 3.69GW to 3.8GW in 2015, compared to guidance given at the beginning if year of total shipments reaching between 3.6GW to 4.0GW.

Total module shipments including tolling reached more than 2.37GW in the first nine months of 2015. Given the continued decline in solar cell shipments to third parties, PV Tech estimates JA Solar could hit full-year module shipments of between 3.42GW to 3.52GW in 2015.

This would rank the company as the fourth largest PV module manufacture in 2015, behind Trina Solar, Canadian Solar and JinkoSolar, respectively.

Manufacturing expansion update

As a key SMSL ranked member, JA Solar also announced it would be expanding both solar cell and module capacity from 3.6GW in 2015 to 5GW each by mid-2016 to meet strong demand.
Only JA Solar and Hanwha Q CELLS of the six members of the SMSL have balanced cell and module nameplate capacity in 2015 and plans to remain in a balanced state through expansions in 2016.

All six members, except Yingli Green are expected to be targeting PV module nameplate capacities of 5GW or above in 2016, further differentiating themselves from the other 20 plus companies that have nameplate capacities above 1GW but below 3GW, despite some already planning capacity expansions in 2016.

A new report from the Climate Policy Initiative gives an in-depth look at how economic adjustments and financial resources could play a huge role in combatting climate change.

According to the report, Global Landscape of Climate Finance 2015, more money than ever was invested in low-carbon and climate-resistant growth in 2014, with US$391 invested last year — a boost from US$331 billion generated in 2013.

East Asia and the Pacific stood as the largest area for climate finance — accounting for 31% of the total or US$119 billion, up from 21% in 2013. China alone stood for 22% of climate finance. With US$93 billion, Western Europe stood as the second largest destination.

Of the US$391 billion, 62% is derived from private investors, while the remaining 38% is from public sources.

While US$391 billion might sound like a significant investment, there is still much to be done. In total, US$1,095 billion has been invested in climate finance from 2011 – 2014, but its been projected that US$13.5 trillion of investment is needed over the next 15 years in order to carry out the national climate pledges made by countries before international climate talks begin in Paris in December 2015.

When it comes to limiting global temperature increases to 2 degrees Celsius, an investment of US$16.5 trillion is required over the next 15 years.

When looking at ways to generate solutions for a low-carbon world, the report recommends the development of an advanced measurement, tracking and reporting system, as well as honing new domestic investment policies for countries.

Other recommendations include innovating and refining financial instruments that answer the needs of investors, while an updated integration of environmental, social and governance factors in investment decision making processes could help investors learn more about climate intervention.
more info:Renesola

PV encapsulant producer STR Holdings reported another quarter of disappointing financial results, while the corner may have been turned after secure major supply deals Trina Solar & Talesun.

STR reported third quarter sales of US$6.6 million, down 23% from the previous quarter and 31% down from the prior year period. Encapsulant volumes declined 20% quarter-on-quarter and ASPs fell 4%.

The majority of revenue was received from majority owner, China-based PV project developer Zhenfa via US$3.2 million of cash from Zhenfa as an installment payment the highly unusual solar modules-for-encapsulant swap deal with former customer ReneSola.

STR noted that it had received US$5.4 million of cash from Zhenfa related to this transaction and was waiting for a further US$2.1 million due from Zhenfa.

The company noted that after successful material qualification by Trina Solar and Talesun it had started shipments in China and was currently in the process of adding approximately 2GW of material capacity to meet demand.

Robert S. Yorgensen, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, stated; "We have been successful recently in configuring our products for the Chinese module manufacturing market and as a result, have seen a significant increase in demand early in the fourth quarter. Our primary challenge has therefore shifted from a lack of sales volume to a shortage of capacity within China and we are actively addressing that challenge together with Zhenfa's assistance."

NextGen Climate America has released a new report, in collaboration with ICF International, that showcases the positive impact that making the switch to clean energy could make on economic growth in the United States.

The report, titled Economic Analysis of U.S. Decarbonization Pathways, uses studies released in Energy and Environmental Economics’ (E3) Pathways to Deep Decarbonization in the United States report to study the effects that clean energy could have on US financial growth.

According to NextGen’s report — under E3’s projections of investing in clean energy and cutting down on greenhouse gas emissions — the US would add over 1 million jobs by 2030 and nearly 2 million by 2050 — with over 1.2 million jobs in the construction market as a result of developing renewable energy projects.

By lowering emissions levels 80% from 1990 levels by 2050, the US would also boost its GDP by up to US$290 million and raise household incomes across the country.

Due to the development of new well-paying jobs in the renewable-energy sector, households could see their disposable income increase by US$350 – US$400 by 2030 and by as much as US$650 in 2050.

In total, shifting to clean energy could boost the US’ GDP by US$145 billion by 2030, or a 0.6% increase when compared to current projections. By 2050, making the switch to clean energy could grow the GDP by US$290 million, or a 0.9% increase over current estimates.

NextGen Climate America founder Tom Steyer noted: “This report clearly demonstrates that shifting to clean energy would significantly improve our country’s economy for decades to come and create more well-paying jobs for American families. Transitioning to a clean energy future won’t just address the threat of climate change—it will put millions of Americans to work, raise household income and build an economy that works for everyone.”

When weighing its projections, the report noted that the net job impact as a result of clean energy integration could vary from 200,000 to two million in 2030, as well as 200,000 to three million in 2050.

When examining total job growth, manufacturing positions are expected to grow as more renewable energy projects are tabbed for development, while mining is expected to suffer some of the largest losses amongst sectors. By 2050, utility companies are expected to generate over 100,000 new jobs.

While workers in the fossil sectors might be on the outside looking in as the energy market switches to renewable sources, the report also notes that these individuals are also likely to find positions in these new sectors with additional training and upskilling.

SunPower makes major module technology shift on 2GW production target
Cogenra Solar developed its Dense Cell Interconnect (DCI) technology, originally designed for low-cost CPV technology

Updated: Major PV energy provider SunPower is to ramp Cogenra Solar’s module technology to 2GW by 2020 and only a further 800MW of its ‘Maxeon’ solar cell technology at its new facility, Fab 5 that it expects to ramp in early 2019.

SunPower said that it would be offering a new ‘Performance’ (P) Series module developed by US-based Cogenra Solar, which it said it acquired earlier in 2015.

Cogenra Solar developed its Dense Cell Interconnect (DCI) technology, originally designed for low-cost CPV technology but further developed the technology for connecting conventional cell/modules, which is claimed to eliminate electrical losses from cell to cell.

SunPower makes major module technology shift on 2GW production target
The company had previously touted that the the DCI technology enabled a 60-cell N-type mono front contact module to generate 334W

Updated: The company had previously touted that the the DCI technology enabled a 60-cell n-type mono front contact module to generate 334W, while a 60-cell p-type mono module was said to generate 301W and a 60-cell p-type multicrystalline cell was said to generate 288W.

"Our new line of Performance Series products continue the SunPower tradition of higher efficiency, superior reliability and enhanced aesthetics compared with conventional panels, all in a lower priced product configuration," said Tom Werner, president and CEO of SunPower. "Together with our best-in-class E-Series and X-Series back-contact panels, we are expanding our product line to offer customers a wider range of product choice and increase our reach to additional markets, further enhancing company growth."

SunPower said that it would ramp the Cogenra Solar module technology to 2GW by 2020, which would enable the company to purchase solar cells from the merchant market.

The company expects to only have first silicon out of Fab 5, already earmarked for its IBC cell technology under the ‘Maxeon’ brand, in 2019, with a nameplate capacity of only 800MW, exactly the same capacity as previously planned.

Details regarding its C7 low concentrated CPV system capacity, which uses its IBC cells, was not covered in a presentation for its annual analyst day event today.

At its 2014 analyst day, the C7 technology was earmarked to account for half of project completions and manufacturing capacity.

Overall, SunPower expects to ramp PV module capacity to 4GW by 2019.

Capital expenditures in 2016 were guided in the range of US$210 million to US$240 million and deployed module production in the range of 1.7GW to 2.0GW.

Updates from SunPower’s annual analyst day

Thomas Werner, CEO noted that the P Series modules would play a role in increasing its project business in China as well as further expected growth of its C7 technology already reaching 400MW of product in projects under construction in the worlds largest downstream market.

SunPower makes major module technology shift on 2GW production target
World record cell and module efficiencies are to be verified soon at 25.2% (total area efficiency) and 22.8% (aperture-area), respectively.

Werner noted that the IBC cell was produced at its lab in San Jose, while the module was produced at off a module assembly line and was available today.

The SunPower CEO noted that the company expects to ship 1.6GW of modules with an average conversion efficiency of 21.5% in 2016.

Werner clarrified Fab 5 IBC cell facility would ramp in early 2019. Slides had just showed 2019 as the ramp timeframe.

The capex cost of the P Series module production capacity expansion was claimed to be US$0.10/W, while its next-gen IBC solar cell capex per watt would be 30% lower than its previous generation high-performance cell.

Oasis utility-scale BOS cost reductions are expected to be reduced incrementally by 20% to 30% through 2018. The company guided the same range of cost reductions in the commercial rooftop space with its recently introduced ‘Helix’ complete system.

Digital (online) direction for residential will lower customer acquisition costs over time of as much as 35% through 2018.

SunPower said it was targeting 1 million residential customers by 2020.

Q&A session

The MW deployment and manufacturing profile is shifting.

P Series modules to be used for complete solutions in international market growth strategy in post ITC climate in 2017 onwards and would provide ‘more profit per watt’ with those modules and complete solutions.

To double market share, company said it needed broader module product portfolio. 2017 will have 400MW of extra capacity from P Series not allocated to projects to give greater sales flexibility.

SunPower has still not announced the location of its Fab 5 cell plant, but Werner said it would be a ‘minimum’ of 800MW.

SunPower makes major module technology shift on 2GW production target
Image: SunPower: Capacity expansions through 2020.

Japanese firms Kyocera and Century Tokyo Leasing have completed an 8.5MW solar project on reclaimed land in Japan’s largest lake, Biwa.

The project, in Shiga Prefecture, was connected to the grid at the end of October and is now fully operational.

It incorporates 33,000 Kyocera modules and is expected to generate 9,300MWh of power annually, according to the companies.

As well as supplying modules for the project, Kyocera designed and built the array, and will operate it over its lifetime.

The Biwa project is one of a number of installations the two companies are working on across Japan on repurposed on underutilised land such as abandoned golf courses, including a 92MW plant in Kagoshima, a 23MW plant in Kyoto, 29.2MW plant in Tottori and 27MW plant in Fukushima.

These sites are becoming increasingly popular among solar developers in Japan, where sites suitable for large-scale PV development are becoming harder to find.

NextGen Climate America has released a new report, in collaboration with ICF International, that showcases the positive impact that making the switch to clean energy could make on economic growth in the United States.

The report, titled Economic Analysis of U.S. Decarbonization Pathways, uses studies released in Energy and Environmental Economics’ (E3) Pathways to Deep Decarbonization in the United States report to study the effects that clean energy could have on US financial growth.

According to NextGen’s report — under E3’s projections of investing in clean energy and cutting down on greenhouse gas emissions — the US would add over 1 million jobs by 2030 and nearly 2 million by 2050 — with over 1.2 million jobs in the construction market as a result of developing renewable energy projects.

By lowering emissions levels 80% from 1990 levels by 2050, the US would also boost its GDP by up to US$290 million and raise household incomes across the country.

Due to the development of new well-paying jobs in the renewable-energy sector, households could see their disposable income increase by US$350 – US$400 by 2030 and by as much as US$650 in 2050.

In total, shifting to clean energy could boost the US’ GDP by US$145 billion by 2030, or a 0.6% increase when compared to current projections. By 2050, making the switch to clean energy could grow the GDP by US$290 million, or a 0.9% increase over current estimates.

NextGen Climate America founder Tom Steyer noted: “This report clearly demonstrates that shifting to clean energy would significantly improve our country’s economy for decades to come and create more well-paying jobs for American families. Transitioning to a clean energy future won’t just address the threat of climate change—it will put millions of Americans to work, raise household income and build an economy that works for everyone.”

When weighing its projections, the report noted that the net job impact as a result of clean energy integration could vary from 200,000 to two million in 2030, as well as 200,000 to three million in 2050.

When examining total job growth, manufacturing positions are expected to grow as more renewable energy projects are tabbed for development, while mining is expected to suffer some of the largest losses amongst sectors. By 2050, utility companies are expected to generate over 100,000 new jobs.

While workers in the fossil sectors might be on the outside looking in as the energy market switches to renewable sources, the report also notes that these individuals are also likely to find positions in these new sectors with additional training and upskilling.

'Silicon Module Super League' member Canadian Solar is to allocate around US$401 million in capital expenditures through the end of 2016 to significantly increase in-house wafer, cell and module production capacity and locate new plants in multiple countries.

Canadian Solar said in an earnings call today that to meet "expected strong growth in global demand for solar modules in the quarters ahead", it would increase in-house wafer production from 400MW to 1GW by mid-2016, while solar cell capacity would be expanded from 2.5GW currently to 3.4GW by the end of 2016, a 900MW increase.

However, the biggest capacity increase is PV module production which will be expanded from 4.33GW, which the company expects to achieved by the end of 2015, to 5.63GW by the end of 2016, a 1GW increase.

Canadian Solar specifically noted that its wafer manufacturing capacity at its plant in Luoyang, Henan Province, is expected to reach 1.0GW by June of 2016, while its cell manufacturing capacity at its plant in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, is expected to reach 2.0GW by the end of 2015. Cell manufacturing capacity at its Funning plant in Jiangsu Province is expected to reach 1.0GW by July of 2016.

New manufacturing plants in multiple countries

Planned module manufacturing capacity by the end of 2016 includes 3.0GW in Changshu, Jiangsu Province, and 1.1GW in Luoyang, Henan Province, while approximately 1.53GW will be at existing and new locations outside China, including 500MW in Canada, 300MW in Vietnam, 30MW in Indonesia, 300MW in Brazil and 400MW in Southeast Asia.

Canadian Solar also said that a new 400MW cell manufacturing plant, to be located in Southeast Asia, was expected to be commissioned in the second half of 2016.

The capital expenditure budget for all of the capacity expansions planned included an estimated US$104.0 million to be spent in the second half of 2015 and a further US$297.0 million allocated to the expansions in 2016, according to the company.

Canadian Solar said that it would fund the expansions by capital leases and borrowing from local financial institutions in China.

Significantly, the capacity increases across wafer and cell production were said to be driven by the need to reduce cost structures and more consistently deliver target gross margin for its solar module business in the 15-20% range.

The company had been purchasing an increasingly higher percentage of wafers and cells from merchant suppliers in the last few years to keep capex costs low while still expanding its third-party module sales and downstream project business.

Finlay Colville, head of Solar Intelligence, part of PV Tech’s parent company, Solar Media said: “The requirement for Canadian Solar to expand cell capacity became clear at the end of 2014, and over the past 12 months, nameplate annualised capacity has grown by approximately 1GW. However, 2015 is likely still to see outsourcing and start-up costs having a negative effect on overall module gross margins. And this is also going to be an issue in 2016, owing to the speed at which Canadian Solar seems to be operating today.”

“During 2015, the imbalance between cell and module can be best understood when considering that Canadian Solar is almost certain to be a top-3 module producer and supplier by shipments, while the company is likely to be only the tenth largest cell producer this year,” added Colville.

According to Colville, there are two factors in play during 2016, not just the capex figures that would be more than an order of magnitude higher compared to a just a couple of years ago.

“Even with the extra 2GW of cell capacity being added during 2015 and 2016, there will still be a shortfall of more than 1GW of cells that will need to be bought in,” noted Colville. “In part this is due to Canadian Solar continuing to be aggressive with module shipment and production guidance next year, but also the overall global market growth that supports these ambitions.”

This means that Colville expects Canadian Solar to still be reliant on OEM cell and module suppliers that would continue to offer a lifeline for Taiwanese cell producers and smaller Chinese c-Si makers that lack the end-market presence of Canadian Solar.

“Wafer supply is likely to be less of an issue due to domestic supply and relationships in place within China, with wafer availability during 2016 not being considered a problem in terms of existing market supply and the current expansion plans known across the leading global producers,” said Colville.

PV furnace equipment specialist Tempress Systems a subsidiary of Amtech Systems has said it has won an order from a new customer in Taiwan, a repeat order from an existing Taiwanese customer and installed approximately 800MW of its next-generation diffusion systems at a leading Chinese solar cell and module manufacturer.

Tempress said that the significant orders related to its HD-POCl3 furnace system.

Tempress had developed an alternative atmospheric process called ‘High Density POCl3’ (Phosphorus Diffusion), using improved chemistry and hardware upgrades to provide improved uniformity and higher cell efficiencies via formation of the emitter.

Fokko Pentinga, chief exeutive of Amtech, commented: "After Tempress' successful implementation of approximately 400MW of HD-POCl3 systems at a top-tier Taiwanese cell producer, we are proud to announce a repeat order from this same Taiwanese customer and a new order from a new customer in Taiwan. In addition, we successfully installed approximately 800MW of our atmospheric high-throughput diffusion systems at a leading Chinese solar cell and module manufacturer. One of the key differentiators is the integrated compact automation which seamlessly matches the high output of the HD-POCl3. This system is delivered and installed by another subsidiary of Amtech, R2D Automation."

Renewable energy development company SunEdison has finished construction on New Hampshire’s largest solar power plant — a 942kW DC facility for the town of Peterborough.

SunEdison will provide solar energy generated by this plant to the town over the next 20 years — saving taxpayers an estimated US$250,000 in energy fees.

Tom Leyden, SunEdison's vice president of partner development, said: "The town of Peterborough is blazing the trail for more renewable energy projects in New Hampshire. Solar projects like this one save taxpayer's money and bring new economic activity to the area in the form of construction jobs and land lease payments.

"And because we've worked with dozens of municipal customers, we know how to meet their unique needs in even the most challenging circumstances—in this instance we're constructing the solar system on a capped waste water lagoon at the town's waste water treatment plant."

The project is expected to produce more than 100% of the town’s waste water treatment plant’s electricity needs and also cut down on CO2 emissions by more than 17 million pounds over the period of SunEdison’s agreement.

Rodney Bartlett, Peterborough's town administrator, added: "The town of Peterborough welcomes the new solar power plant, which is a part of our plan to reduce our carbon dioxide emissions while generating energy savings.

“Solar projects like this one save taxpayer's money and bring new economic activity to the area in the form of construction jobs and land lease payments. And because we've worked with dozens of municipal customers, we know how to meet their unique needs in even the most challenging circumstances—in this instance we're constructing the solar system on a capped waste water lagoon at the town's waste water treatment plant."

SunEdison partnered with Borrego Solar, a developer, designer, installer, and operations and maintenance provider of commercial solar, to finish the installation after acquiring it from Borrego Solar earlier in 2015.

The project was funded in part due to a grant from the New Hampshire Public Utility Commission. Operation and maintenance of the solar systems will be led by SunEdison Services.

China-based PV manufacturer and project developer Hareon Solar Technology has announced the resignation of its chief financial officer, Cao Min for personal reasons.

Min has resigned all roles in the company, including board of directors, vice president, secretary of the board, CFO and all finance director positions.

Qiu Xin, vice president of the company was said to have been designated to act as the company secretary to enable the minimum number of members of the board.

Several senior executives of the company had recently been fined by the China Securities Regulatory Commission after an investigation in a previous acquisition and shares issue that was not incompliance with stock market rules.

Cao Min was warned and fined CNY30,000 (US$4,720) and was the former CFO at JA Solar.

Solar has become the cheapest source of energy in Chile, according to results from the country's latest power tender in October, but issues remain with transmission lines, according to a Deutsche Bank report.

While renewables came away with all of the 1,200GWh capacity available in the auction, there were bids between US$65-68/MWh for three solar parks, while two wind farms were bid for at US$79/MWh and coal power was bid for at a higher price of US$85/MWh.

A market research report on ‘Chile Solar’ from Deutsche Bank research analyst Vishal Shah and research associate Jerimiah Booream-Phelps, said that solar is now at grid parity, adding: “Chile Solar and wind are now cheaper sources of power generation in Chile than fossil fuels.”

The report said the Chilean market has become an important “growth driver” for many solar energy companies and it forecasts 1GW of solar deployment in the country in 2015, however this demand could half to 500MW in 2016 and down to 400MW in 2017.

The report explained: “Although the longer term outlook looks promising, access to good transmission lines and grid saturation remain a major challenge which could potentially impact the growth outlook over the next two years.”

Shah added that while the majority of big solar projects are located in Northern Chile and the Atacama desert, “all the best spaces for solar projects have generally been already taken away.”

Shah said: “Chile has approved ~2.1GW of projects, but it does not have any place to put them in. Many of these projects are unlikely to get built until the transmission lines get fixed.”

Chile’s two major southern transmission lines are in good health but the central and northern grids carry most of the solar energy produced and have to deal with the intermittency of power production, said Shah. This means winning new contracts in the region is harder especially with interconnection as a major challenge.

Shah said that the other major challenge is to get power purchase agreements signed. Solar companies either need to go through the mining companies or through the spot market where prices have dropped from average of US$180/MWh to as low as US$60/MWh over the past 12 months.

However, he also outlined two areas of favourable policy support that should drive the progress of the renewables industry in Chile:

In May 2014, the Chilean president released the Energy Agenda, which included a goal of 45% of installed capacity to come from renewable sources by 2025.
A net metering law was introduced in 2014 for systems below 2MW. For electricity fed into the grid, customers get ~9c/kWh.
Deutsche forecast that the majority of growth in Chile will be in utility-scale solar projects while system costs continue to decline and PPA prices stabilise around US$70MWh. It also expects the solar market outlook to remain “relatively robust” in the country.

Under plans submitted to combat climate change, renewable energy generation will more than double in eight of the world’s top 10 greenhouse gas (GHG) emitting economies by 2030, while three of those will see their nuclear generation increase tenfold.

A new study from the World Resources Institute, “Assessing the post-2020 clean energy landscape” focusses on the clean energy plans of Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, the EU, Japan, Mexico and the US.

It quantifies how much renewable energy capacity would be added in those regions if so-called INDCs (Intended Nationally Determined Contributions) are implemented, as well as the effect on GHGs. INDCs outline each region or country’s commitment to fighting climate change ahead of the key multilateral COP21 talks in December. So far more than 150 have been submitted from around the world.

Using International Energy Agency (IEA) data, WRI found that the eight regions named, which are responsible for more than 60% of the world’s GHGs and 65% of global energy demand, will see their renewable energy supply leap from 8,900TWh per year in 2012 to 19,900TWh per year in 2030. Five of the eight, India, Brazil, Japan, Mexico and the US will see renewable capacity almost quadruple from 246GW in 2012 to 856GW by 2030. Overall, renewable energy levels in those eight major economies will rise by around 18% between 2012 and 2030, if dictated by the INDCs.

Two remaining members of the top 10 emitters, Canada and Russia, are yet to present their post-2020 plans. Meanwhile, China, India and Mexico will also see nuclear capacity increase by more than tenfold in that time, WRI said, with nuclear considered a “clean energy” in GHG terms and therefore included in pre-COP21 INDC commitments.

Insufficient

However, while the results of the study show a demonstrable and significant increase in renewable and clean energy deployment, overall it seems WRI and other institutions still believe the INDC-based pledges do not go far enough.

Commenting on a report published by the UN at the end of October which looks at plans submitted by most of the 150-plus countries to have already submitted INDCs, WRI director Jennifer Morgan said the INDCs indicated an “unprecedented level of effort” to limit the effects of climate change. However, despite this optimistic note, Morgan said the commitments remain insufficient to prevent a disastrous two-degree Celsius rise in global temperatures.

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change issued the report assessing the plans of 146 countries, captured in 119 separate INDCs (some regions such as the EU include several countries but have one INDC).

If INDCs are implemented and followed, 2030 emission levels will be 7% lower than if they had not been. However, even with INDCs and this reduction, those GHG levels will still be 35% higher in 2030 than “levels that would be consistent with the least-cost pathway to a 2 degree C world”, WRI said of the report.

The reports follow similar stark warnings from the International Energy Agency, MIT and other organisations.

Silicon Module Super League member Hanwha Q CELLS has confirmed that its strategic partnership to collaborate on the development of 1366 Technologies proprietary ‘Direct Wafer’ technology has resulted in its R& pilot line achieving 19.1% cell efficiencies.

Hanwha Q CELLS noted that the cell efficiency gains had been 1.4% in just seven months.

Finlay Colville, head of Solar Intelligence said: “The announcement is particularly interesting as it shows Hanwha Q CELLS continued interest in moving the curve forward for p-type multi c-Si cell operations, by looking both at efficiency increases but also cost reductions. Until now, none of the disruptive wafering approaches has offered any great challenge to directional solidification furnaces and multi-wire sawing, with the quasi-mono approach being the last big push a few years back, said Colville.

Daniel Jeong, global R& head at Hanwha Q CELLS said: “These latest results demonstrate the potential in combining 1366´s Direct Wafer Technology with our unique Q.ANTUM technology. Together they can push the efficiency limits of multi-crystalline solar cell technology while at the same time reducing the cost significantly.”

Although Hanwha Q CELLS is not using the wafer technology in production, it said it would continue working with 1366 Technologies to bring the technology to maturity.

1366 Technologies expects to reach 20% cell efficiencies before the end of the first half of 2016. The company will build its first 250MW wafer production plant in 2016 with plans to expand to 1GW in future phases to bring the technology to market.

“If 1366 can succeed in scaling current manufacturing levels to the GW level, then we will have a more representative indicator of whether the cell performance can be obtained reliably in volume. Also, this will help to see what cost reductions can be achieved and how this compares to existing best-of-class ingot and wafering of multi production that has seen large costs being shaved off, in the past few years,” added Coville.

The Thai government has opened its doors to prospective solar project developers, who have registered their interest in building the first and largest portion of 800MW of PV projects in the country through an auction process.

The government's Energy Regulatory Commission posted photographs on its official Facebook page of the event on Sunday. The initial winners of the tender process will deploy 600MW of PV in Thailand in the first ‘wave’, with another 200MW expected to be awarded later.

Following the registration of interest, the winners of the 600MW of projects will be announced on 24 December of this year, a government spokesman was reported by Reuters news agency as having said on Monday. The government expects around THB36 billion (US$1.01 billion) to be invested in the projects next year, according to Reuters.

The Thai national Energy Regulatory Commission’s spokesman, Viraphol Jirapraditkul, announced to assembled reporters that around 1,200 applicants are expected to apply for this first tranche of projects. Jirapraditkul confirmed that a mixture of private applicants and public agencies are likely to be involved.

The official also named a number of the companies that had applied, Reuters said. One company, Thai Solar Energy, intends to partner with cooperatives and state agencies for 49MW of projects, while another, Inter Far East Energy Corp, plans a partnership on 11MW of projects with the Thai navy.

Meanwhile, PV Tech China reported of a growing interest in Thailand from Chinese companies, including inverter maker Sungrow, which has just held a summit on the future of the Thai solar industry. PV Tech’s Chinese counterpart said that according to speakers at the summit, the first 600MW of tendered projects will be spread across the country as follows: 5MW in the north, 138MW in the central area, 159MW in the west, 200MW in the south, 87MW in the east and 11MW in all other areas. Project developers awarded their contracts in December will have until September next year to have their power plants constructed and connected.

According to PVTC reporter Carrie Xiao, the feed-in tariff (FiT) is also expected to change in response to the tenders. A 5.66 Thai Baht FiT rate is expected for the first 600MW, although the exact policies are still to be confirmed.

Currently, the FiT policies in Thailand are drawn according to the size of the PV projects: for 0-10kW residential rooftop and business-installed projects, the FiT rate is 6.96 Thai Baht (0.22USD) per kW; for 10-450kW projects, the rate is 6.555 Thai Baht (0.21USD) per kW; for 450kW-1MW projects, the rate is 6.16 Thai Baht (0.20USD) per kW; for ground mounting projects over 1MW, the rate is 5.66 Thai Baht (0.168USD) per kW.

In addition to Chinese big hitters like Sungrow, JA Solar, Canadian Solar and Jinko, companies from elsewhere have also shown an interest in the Thai market, including European inverter maker SMA, which said it has now shipped over 1GW to Thailand and Conergy, which is developing three PV plants in the country. Another inverter maker, KACO, said in June that it would use Thailand as its base of operations in the APAC region.

The mass rollout of solar in Thailand has been a stuttering one to date, but dramatic nonetheless and has included summit talks held in 2014 in the wake of civil unrest and rioting, during which energy policy and the role of solar was held up as an important possible investment and development path to help the government keep order.

Now, PV Tech China’s Xiao said, government support for solar is “clear” and subsidy levels moderate, creating a favourable climate for international companies to enter.

Leading CdTe thin-film producer and project developer First Solar expects to be operating all its production lines at full capacity in 2016.

First Solar said in last week's earnings call that the looming end to the US investment tax credit arrangement and efforts to rebuild its PV project pipeline after several mega-scale projects in the US were completed over the last few years has resulted in almost 2GW of fully contracted projects and 650MW of projects with completions during 2016.

With a nameplate capacity of around 2.7GW, First Solar is effectively “fully allocated for 2016”, according to Jim Hughes, CEO of First Solar in the earnings call to discuss third quarter financial results.

The company noted in its earnings presentation that its average production utilisation rate across its production lines in the US and Malaysia were 94% in the third quarter, up from 85% in previous quarters, while production was 653.8MW (DC), up from 562.8MW(DC) in the prior quarter, a 16% increase due to “higher module efficiency, increased manufacturing capacity and less downtime for technology upgrades”, added Hughes.

This meant production was 46% higher on a year-over-year basis, which included the restart of manufacturing lines in Malaysia, previously idled and the addition of new capacity and improved module efficiencies.

Module efficiency gains

Hughes also highlighted the module efficiency gains achieved by its latest efforts to upgrade all its production lines.

The production line average efficiency improved to 15.8%, up from 14.7% in the first quarter of 2015, while its best line average efficiency was 16.4% during the third quarter.

However, Hughes noted in the call that since the end of the third quarter the current fleet average efficiency has reached 16.1%.

Yet, Hughes also noted that the need to run lines at full capacity to meet demand in 2016 would lead to a halt of line upgrades in the first half of next year, so efficiency gains would not track those made in 2015.

“In the first half of 2016, we will prioritise full production utilisation in order to meet strong demand and then resume the implementation of new module efficiency programmes thereafter,” added Hughes.

However, due to executing on upgrades this year, its capital expenditure targets had not been affected and expected to meet previous guidance of US$175 million to US$200 million.

Financial results

First Solar reported third quarter sales of US$1.3 billion, an increase of US$375 million from the second quarter of 2015. Gross margin was over 38%.

The increase in net sales from the prior quarter was due to initial revenue recognition on the sale of a majority interest in its partially constructed Desert Stateline project as well as higher third party module sales and an increase in systems revenue across multiple projects, according to the company.

Gross margin was over 38%, compared to 18.4% in the second quarter and was higher than expected due to the majority sale of the Desert Stateline project, improvements in systems project costs and a decrease in module collection and recycling obligations, which reduced cost of sales by US$70 million and operating expenses by US$10 million.

“Since the inception of the module end-of-life programme, we have continued to pursue engineering and process improvements to reduce the cost of collecting and recycling the modules,” said Mark R. Widmar, CFO of First Solar. “Our continuous improvement efforts have resulted in an automated and continuous flow process, which is significantly lowering the cost of the end-of-life programme.”

First Solar reported an operating profit of US$398 million compared to an operating profit of US$57 million in the prior quarter.

Order momentum

First Solar noted that its bookings in terms of expected revenue had increased to US$7.4 billion by the end of the third quarter, while potential bookings opportunities were said to have reached 17.4GW (DC), an increase of approximately 700MW from the prior quarter.

Mid-to-late stage bookings were said to have reached a record 3.9GW (DC) at the end of the quarter, up 900MW (DC) from the prior quarter.

International bookings were noted to have accounted for over 85% of the potential mid-to-late stage bookings, indicating strongly First Solar’s post ITC plans and totalled around 13GW (DC), with Latin America and India being the largest regions.

Guidance

The company reiterated previous sales guidance of US$3.5 billion to us US$3.6 billion for the full-year 2015, with EPC and solar modules used in system projects to be in the range of 90% to 95% of the total revenue for the year.

However, First Solar raised its gross margin guidance to 24% to 25%, up from 21% to 22%. Operating expenses were also lowered slightly (US$10 million reduction) to US$395 million to US$405 million.

PV module ship guidance for the full-year was unchanged at 2.8GW to 2.9GW.

The Chinese government is considering a reduction of its feed-in tariff of around 3-5%, according to reports by Reuters.

Tariffs are currently around the RMB1/kWh mark (US$0.158). The newswire cites a government source claiming that a cut of RMB0.03-0.05/kWh is on the cards for next year with a series of RMB0.03/kWh reductions from 2017 to 2020. The official was speaking after a meeting of the National Development and Reform Commission.

While this could be interpreted as a negative, reductions of 3% are unlikely to outpace falling equipment (BOS) costs and reductions in the cost of capital for projects.

The added certainty of scheduled reductions till 2020 also provide greater visibility for investors and developers alike.

The subsidy level was set at RMB1 in 2011 meaning that next year’s reduction will also be absorbed by five years of industry cost reductions and is unlikely to catch any developers in China by surprise.
source:ReneSola

Communications provider Ericsson, major utility E.On and automation and power electronics group ABB, will collaborate on “smart solutions” in energy efficiency, mobility and solar energy.

The group signed a cooperation agreement in Sweden this week. They seek to create a range of “innovative products and services”, aimed at reducing costs for a number of industries while also benefiting their customers, Ericsson said in a statement on Thursday.

Ultimately, the trio wants to accelerate progress in energy and operational efficiency, targeting the areas of commercial real estate, transport, solar energy as well as in data centres, which have been the focus of several major companies’ sustainability efforts in recent years, including Google and Apple, which have both pledged to use renewable energy to power their vast data networks. Amazon also said in June that it is building an 80MW solar farm in Virginia to power a data centre.

Ericsson, perhaps best known for its mobile phones, said the cooperative efforts will be based in Brunnshög, Sweden, where the three aim to build a centre for innovation, research and urban planning. Brunnshög Energi, a subsidiary of E.On that focuses on start-up technologies, will launch and products that emerge from the centre.

In commercial real estate, ABB’s automation platforms will perform energy management in buildings, providing data to Stockholm-headquartered Ericsson’s “cloud-based service enablement platforms” that will then make the data available to E.On. The utility will then be able to provide the client, the building’s owner, occupier or operator, with information, apps and services to better manage their energy and efficiency.

Similarly, in mobility and in solar, the three companies will combine their relative strengths to collect data, analyse it and create scalable commercial ideas and solutions to accelerate innovation and cost-reduction. ABB is already a well-known name in both areas. The company supplies inverters and power electronics to the solar industry and earlier this month announced a collaboration with tech giant Microsoft on vehicle charging infrastructure.

The transition to “sustainable and customer-focused energy solutions” will require more collaborative efforts between stakeholders, including links with academia, E.On’s director of business innovation, Fredrik Rosenqvist, said.

“ABB and Ericsson are two strong partners and together we have the opportunity to develop new ideas and products that are fully in line with the rapid development in the rest of the world,” he said.

“I am convinced that it will be important for the transition that is happening right now towards more sustainable and customer-focused energy solutions. This transition requires more cross-border partnerships with academia and leading innovative companies”.

In 2014, E.On began a major process of restructuring that appeared to stake the company’s future on renewables. E.On spun off its conventional generation, energy trading and upstream activities into a new company, and retained the existing company as a dedicated renewable energy business.

The company’s chief executive Johannes Teysen said the move was “necessary to respond to dramatically altered global energy markets, technical innovation, and more diverse customer expectations”.

PV laser technology equipment specialist InnoLas Solutions has received a major follow-on order for its ILS-TT high throughput laser machines for Passivated Emitter Rear Cell (PERC) technology.

The follow-on order with Sunrise Global Solar Energy Co, a subsidiary of Taiwan-based wafer producer Sino-American Silicon Products (SAS) is for five additional tools. InnoLas received its first orders from Sunrise Global in 2013 for its solar cell production facility in Taiwan.

Markus Nicht, CEO InnoLas Solutions said, “We are proud that SAS, a world leading manufacturer of PERC type solar cells, has chosen our laser systems after carefully evaluating the available options on the market. It shows that we remain the technology leader in advanced laser processing for the PV industry. Our fully automatic ILS-TT machine platform gives our customers a clear competitive edge.”

According to InnoLas, Sunrise Global now under SAS ownership conducted an in-depth assessment of laser machines from different vendors, SAS decided to move forward exclusively with InnoLas’ technology for the ultrafast Laser Contact Opening (LCO) process and is responsible for the complete 800MW of current PERC cell capacity at Sunrise Global.

Ted Szpitalak, COO SAS Sunrise said, “SAS always strives to provide the best commercial solar cells, both in terms of high efficiency and consistent quality and reliability. Long-term collaborators like InnoLas Solutions help us to achieve this goal.”

Germany-based PV module manufacturer aleo solar, a subsidiary of SAS said in September that is was to expand into producing 200MW of solar cells at its plant.

The tool order was secured during this years recent EU PVSEC conference and exhibition in Hamburg, Germany.

PV solar system provider First Solar has installed approximately half of its 141MW Luz del Norte solar project in Chile, as the first two blocks of the project have been connected to the country’s central grid.

Construction of the plant, located 58 kilometers north of the city of Copiapó, began in August 2014 and is expected to be completed by January 2016. Once finished, it will produce enough energy to power more than 174,000 homes and remove 185,000 metric tonnes of CO2 annually.

Cristian Sjogren, First Solar’s Chile country manager, said: “This exciting milestone is proof of how utility-scale solar is a viable energy alternative for Chile right now. Luz del Norte harnesses one of the region’s richest resources, allowing Chile to reduce dependence on fossil-based fuels and meet renewable energy targets set by the national Energy Agenda.”

First Solar is searching for a permanent off-taker of power generated by the site, which is currently being sold on the open market.

Sjogren noted that the development of the project stands as another step in First Solar’s expanded presence in Chile.

He noted: “First Solar is positioned to offer comprehensive PV energy solutions to meet the needs of our customers from high efficiency modules and mounting solutions to turnkey utility solar solutions. We believe strong, mutually beneficial partnerships are critical to the continued growth of a reliable, sustainable solar energy market. Projects like Luz del Norte represent only the beginning of what is to come of solar energy in this region. First Solar is committed to taking energy forward in Chile.”

PV solar system provider First Solar has installed approximately half of its 141MW Luz del Norte solar project in Chile, as the first two blocks of the project have been connected to the country’s central grid.

Construction of the plant, located 58 kilometers north of the city of Copiapó, began in August 2014 and is expected to be completed by January 2016. Once finished, it will produce enough energy to power more than 174,000 homes and remove 185,000 metric tonnes of CO2 annually.

Cristian Sjogren, First Solar’s Chile country manager, said: “This exciting milestone is proof of how utility-scale solar is a viable energy alternative for Chile right now. Luz del Norte harnesses one of the region’s richest resources, allowing Chile to reduce dependence on fossil-based fuels and meet renewable energy targets set by the national Energy Agenda.”

First Solar is searching for a permanent off-taker of power generated by the site, which is currently being sold on the open market.

Sjogren noted that the development of the project stands as another step in First Solar’s expanded presence in Chile.

He noted: “First Solar is positioned to offer comprehensive PV energy solutions to meet the needs of our customers from high efficiency modules and mounting solutions to turnkey utility solar solutions. We believe strong, mutually beneficial partnerships are critical to the continued growth of a reliable, sustainable solar energy market. Projects like Luz del Norte represent only the beginning of what is to come of solar energy in this region. First Solar is committed to taking energy forward in Chile.”

PV module manufacturer ReneSola said it had accepted the resignation of its chief financial officer, Daniel Lee.

Lee had only been with the company around 16 months and was previously chief financial officer of China Information Technology Inc.

The company noted that that Lee would service a notice period and there were no issues with the company and its accounts in relation to the planned departure.

Xianshou Li, ReneSola's Chief Executive Officer, said: "We are committed to identifying a highly qualified permanent Chief Financial Officer. In the interim, we are highly confident in Ms. Ma's ability to manage the Company's finances effectively."

Mr. Li added, "We greatly appreciate the contributions Daniel Lee made during his tenure at ReneSola. We respect his decision and wish him the very best in his future endeavors."

ReneSola is seeking a permanent replacement for Lee but Maggie Ma, the company's vice president of financial control, will serve as the interim Chief Financial Officer, after Lee's departure.

Leading CIS thin-film PV producer Solar Frontier has said Southern Power and Turner Renewable Energy have agreed to purchase its 15MW PV power plant currently under construction Kern County, California.

The PV power plant, named Morelos del Sol, located in Kern County, California was said to have started construction in July, 2015 and commercial operation is expected in late November this year.

The project will use approximately 111,744 CIS modules mounted on single-axis trackers. The project developer is Solar Frontier Americas Development LLC, a division of Solar Frontier Americas.

According to Southern Power, the project is its eighth solar acquisition in California, which teamed with Ted Turner, owner of Turner Renewable Energy, through a subsidiary in January 2010, focused on developing and investing in large-scale PV projects in the Southwest region of the US, which brings its overall PV capacity to more than 320MW.

DEPCOM Power was said by Southern Power to be providing engineering, procurement and construction services and would also operate and maintain the facility for Southern Power, which has a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Pacific Gas & Electric Company.