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India Set to Auction More Solar Capacity Than Planned This Year
14 March 2013
March 14 (Bloomberg) — India, which plans to raise solar capacity eightfold by 2017, will probably auction more megawatts than planned this fiscal year in a bid to cut chronic power shortages in the world’s second most-populous nation.
The government will tender 750 megawatts of capacity in the first week of May, kicking off the second phase of its National Solar Mission, said Tarun Kapoor, joint secretary at the New and Renewable Energy Ministry. India expects to auction more than the 1,650 megawatts targeted for the year through March 2014.
The South Asian nation, where power cuts shave an estimated 1.2 percentage points off annual economic growth, has published draft legislation that would enable the solar industry to get direct grants covering as much as 40 percent of upfront construction costs, a model previously used to build roads, ports, railways and fossil-fuel power plants in India.
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http://about.bnef.com/bnef-news/indi...ned-this-year/
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US approves nearly 1 GW of PV projects for California
14. March 2013 | Applications & Installations, Industry & Suppliers | By: Becky Beetz
The U.S. Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar has given the go ahead for two photovoltaic projects worth 900 MW in California.
Salazar approved the two photovoltaic projects yesterday, in San Francisco. They include the 750 MW McCoy Solar Energy Project, set to be located around 13 miles northwest of Blythe.
If completed, the project, which has been proposed by NextEra Energy Resources subsidiary, McCoy Solar, LLC, will cover approximately 7,700 acres of BLM-managed lands and 477 acres of private land. A total of 503 construction and 34 permanent jobs are expected to be created, and enough energy should be generated to power around 225,000 homes. No construction timelines were released.
The second project approved was the 150 MW Desert Harvest Solar Farm, to be located six miles north of Desert Center. When complete, it is expected to encompass around 1,208 acres of BLM-managed lands. Overall, 250 construction and eight permanent jobs are expected to be created, and enough energy generated to power around 45,000 homes. Again, no construction timelines have been released.
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http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/deta...nia_100010564/
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US hits 7.7 GW of cumulative PV capacity
14. March 2013 | Top News, Applications & Installations, Global PV markets, Industry & Suppliers, Investor news, Markets & Trends | By: Cheryl Kaften
On the back of another record year for the U.S. PV market, which saw 3.31 GW installed, 2013 forecasts are for 4.3 GW of new capacity. However, while utility-scale projects dominated the PV landscape in 2012, the sector is not expected to lead this year. Three future trends have further been identified.
The "powers that be" in the U.S. energy industry have accepted, adopted – and now are advocating for – solar power, according to a new report conducted on behalf of the Washington, DC-based Solar Energy Industry Association (SEIA) by Boston-based GTM Research.
Overall, U.S. utility-scale PV sector (1 MW and larger) grew more than any other in 2012, more than doubling its 2011 results to reach 1.782 GW or 132% growth in installed capacity.
Instead, the report, "U.S. Solar Market Insight Report: 2012 Year in Review," finds that America saw a historic spike in installations. Specifically, U.S. PV deployments grew by 76% over 2011, to a record-breaking total 90,000 installations or 3.31 GW in 2012, with an estimated market value of US$11.5 billion (€8.8 billion). As such, cumulative PV capacity is now sitting at 7.7 GW.
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http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/deta...ity_100010555/
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Hannover Messe 2013
Open software platform to bring down energy costs
Research News Mar 01, 2013
Energy is getting more and more expensive, and experts are predicting record electricity and heating prices. A software platform promises to lighten the load for households and businesses by making it easier for consumers to put renewables to good effect.
For years now, electricity and heating bills have constantly been on the rise, and 2013 is no different – prices are shooting up. Germans are keen to do something about it. A survey conducted by inspection company Dekra revealed that one in two people is turning down the central heating, while the great majority are cutting back on cooking and laundry and actively looking to reduce consumption. This is where a new software platform comes in: it makes it easier to find a smart approach to energy issues, not only for homeowners and tenants but also for business and industry, and helps to bring down costs. Connecting energy users and producers with the control centers of grid companies and energy suppliers, this free Java-based framework for energy management is called OGEMA (Open Gateway Energy Management Alliance). The name is shared by the OGEMA 2.0 project, in which – with funding to the tune of five million euros from Germany’s Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) – the Fraunhofer Institutes for Wind Energy and Energy System Technology IWES in Kassel, for Solar Energy Systems ISE in Freiburg, and for Integrated Circuits IIS in Erlangen are taking the solution to the next level.
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http://www.fraunhofer.de/en/press/re...rgy-costs.html
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