NOV 2011: Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. announced it has installed its Solaron® PV inverters at a 35-megawatt solar project located near Coalinga, California. Cupertino Electric, Inc. awarded the project to Advanced Energy (AE) earlier this year to leverage the Solaron PV inverter’s energy-efficiency ratings.
NOV 2011: NRG Energy, Inc. and First Solar, Inc. announced an agreement for First Solar to provide engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services for NRG’s 66 megawatt (AC) Alpine solar project in Lancaster, Calif. First Solar will also provide operations and maintenance (O&M) services. Electricity from the Alpine project will be sold under a 20-year power purchase agreement with Pacific Gas and Electric Company, helping California meet its ambitious renewable energy goals.
Construction is expected to start before the end of 2011 and be completed in Q3 2012, creating an estimated 250 jobs over the course of construction. The project will use First Solar’s advanced thin film photovoltaic (PV) modules.Nov 2011: Maui Electric Company has selected Silver Spring Networks, a smart grid networking platform and solutions provider, to deploy a strategic and innovative smart grid project on the island of Maui. The project will test the effectiveness of smart grid technologies in helping MECO and its customers reach and exceed the State of Hawaii’s goal of meeting 70% of its energy needs with clean energy by 2030.
Nov 2011: JNS Power & Control Systems, Inc. has added additional electrical vehicle car charger installations to their master contract with 350Green, LLC. After completing the first several locations, the quality of work and installation practices have given JNS Power the opportunity to continually add locations to their contract. Thirty-Four level II electric vehicle car chargers have already been completed by JNS Power, all on time and within budget.
NOV 2011: GE today announced that it is working with Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) to investigate ways to improve wind farm productivity and efficiency. The results of the study will directly contribute to future product and service designs. The project is part of a larger Department of Energy (DOE) investment of $9 million to an IIT-led consortium to enhance the leadership role of the U.S. in testing and producing the most advanced and efficient wind turbines in the world.
NOV 2011: The New York Power Authority has awarded Eaton Corporation a nine-year, $10.9 million contract for the Life Extension and Modernization program of the Niagara Power Project’s Lewiston Pump Generating Plant (LPGP).
NOV 2011: A new report from Pike Research forecasts that the global Concentrated Solar Power market will continue to experience ups and downs between now and 2020, rising dramatically from $2.1 billion in 2012 to $5.1 billion in 2013, and then experiencing a gradual decline to $2.0 billion by 2016 before resuming gradual growth again to $4.9 billion by 2020. Despite this volatility in market value, the cleantech market intelligence firm forecasts that total installed capacity of CSP will increase significantly by the end of the decade, rising from 1.7 gigawatts (GW) in 2012 to 35.0 GW by 2020.
*NOV 2011: A commercial refrigeration service provider in Southern Ontario has granted Carmanah Technologies Corporation a $1.4M CAD contract to design, supply and install a nominal 250 kW solar rooftop photovoltaic (PV) system. The solar array occupies roughly 30,000 square feet of the facility’s rooftop, and generates approximately 300,000 kWh of clean, carbon-free electricity annually—an amount equivalent to that consumed by 25 average Canadian households.
*NOV 2011: Southern Sky Renewable Energy Canton LLC has granted a contract to Gemma Power Systems for approximately $16.6 million to design and build a 5.7MW (DC) solar energy facility consisting of approximately 19,800 photovoltaic panels located on a closed capped landfill in Canton, Massachusetts. When completed in the summer of 2012, the solar energy project will cover approximately 12.5 acres of the 40 acre landfill. GRP has received a full release to start all construction and engineering activities.
