[amor de cosmos]

India Aims For 30 GW Of New Renewable Energy By 2017
March 16, 2013 in Solar Policy, Solar Projects

India has been on the eye of solar enthusiasts and insiders for a long time. It has excellent solar resources, a large population in need of reliable electricity, and the country’s leaders have been talking about solar for awhile. Actually, India and some of its individual states have incorporated some strong solar policies. Unfortunately, the political system and economy there are not at the level of many other countries, including neighbor China, limiting what has been achieved. Nonetheless, the future looks bright.

Most recently, the Indian Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has formulated an energy roadmap aimed at adding 30 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2017, with solar as a significant portion of that. MNRE intends to get India’s solar capacity up from 2 GW to about 10 GW by 2017.

To put all this into a bit of perspective, about 30 GW of solar power were installed worldwide in 2011, and then again in 2012.

http://solarlove.org/india-aims-for-...nergy-by-2017/

34.5 GW Of Solar In 2013, Mercom Capital Projects
March 16, 2013 in Market Research, Solar Policy, Solar Projects, Solar Research

I’ve seen two or three projections for new solar power capacity in 2013. They seem to be hovering between 30 GW and 35 GW. Mercom Capital Group is reportedly projecting 34.5 GW.

Mercom is attributing the solar power growth to low solar module prices as well as strong policies and potential in China, India, and Japan. As I just reported, India is aiming to add 8 GW of solar power by 2017. China is allocating $2 billion for solar power projects included in its Golden Sun Program, and is also giving out direct subsidies of 40 cents per watt. Meanwhile, Japan has a strong feed-in tariff for solar that has gotten its biggest banks into the solar game and bullish on the emerging market (not to mention citizens and investors from outside Japan).

http://solarlove.org/34-5-gw-of-sola...ital-projects/

Solarcentury set to develop 70MW of solar across the UK
By Nilima Choudhury - 14 March 2013, 15:26
In News, Power Generation, Project Focus

Engineering, procurement and construction contractor Solarcentury has announced 70MWp of solar PV projects across the UK, reports PV-Tech's sister site Solar Power Portal.

The majority of the installations are ground mounted PV parks, all of which are due to be completed by the end of March 2013. The latest site to obtain planning consent was the 11.6MWp Stratton Hall Solar Park near Felixstowe in Suffolk.

“After the 70MWp is completed, we aim to keep up the pace with an additional 100MWp this year,” said Frans van den Heuvel, CEO, Solarcentury. “We are always interested in offers of developed sites and to hear from potential investors.”

http://www.pv-tech.org/news/solarcen...p_to_portfolio

REC Solar installs 3.5MW of PV for Arizona schools
By Julia Chan - 15 March 2013, 12:57
In News, Power Generation, Project Focus

REC Solar, a solar power developer and a subsidiary of Mainstream Energy Corporation, has developed and installed 3.5MW of PV capacity for 12 public schools in Arizona, US.

The company installed PV systems at the following schools: Greenway Elementary School (117kW); Lowell Primary School (158kW); Bisbee High School (412kW); Tombstone High School (301kW); Meyer Elementary School (133kW); Copper Rim Elementary School (275kW); High Desert Middle School (350kW); Evergreen Elementary School (309kW); Mesquite Elementary School (349kW); Glassford Hills Middle School (349kW); Coyote Springs Elementary School (349kW); and Granville Elementary School (349kW).

The PV arrays are owned and operated by Arizona Public Service (APS) as part of the utility’s Solar for Schools Program. They have an operational lifetime of more than 20 years and are expected to generate enough electricity to offset the schools’ electricity bills by up to 20%.

http://www.pv-tech.org/news/rec_sola...rizona_schools

Solar R&D Heavyweights Join In Effort To Drive Down Thin-Film CIGS Costs
March 15, 2013

The US Photovoltaic Manufacturing Consortium (PVMC) and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) are partnering to drive down the cost of manufacturing thin-film copper-indium-gallium-selenide (CIGS) solar photovoltaic (PV) cells and modules. PVMC is aiming to reduce the total installed cost of solar energy systems by 75%, a goal set in its U.S. Thin-Films PV Roadmap.

The public–private partnership is the latest in a nationwide effort involving some of the highest-powered solar energy industry players and research and development (R&D) organizations, an effort led by the State University of New York-Albany’s (SUNY) College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE) and Sematech, a consortium of leading semiconductor industry participants that represent 50% of the worldwide chip market. The partnership is a part of the Obama Administration’s SunShot Initiative.

http://cleantechnica.com/2013/03/15/...lm-cigs-costs/