‘Explosive growth’ in DG market to take China to 14GW, says GCL chairman

A late burst of distributed solar projects will help ensure China achieves a record PV installation rate of 14GW this year, according to Tang Cheng, chairman of GCL New Energy.

Xcel Colorado solar plan rejected

Proposals by US utility Xcel Energy for a premium solar programme for homeowners in Colorado have been rejected by the state’s regulator.

Pakistan PM grants repeal of solar import tax

Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif, has announced the lifting of a controversial import tax on solar equipment.

Softbank and Toshiba to add 80MW of PV in Japan across two projects

Almost 100MW worth of plans to install new PV generation capacity have been unveiled this week, with two new projects totalling 80MW added to the large-scale project on a former golf course which was reported yesterday by PV Tech.

North Carolina to add three PV projects through partnership deal

A partnership agreement between Strata Solar, National Cooperative Bank and solar investment and financing firm Sol Systems will help usher in three new utility-scale solar farms in North Carolina.

Tool Order: Orbotech gets follow on US$15 million deal

Semiconductor and solar equipment supplier, Orbotech has received a repeat order for its ‘Aurora’ PECVD tools worth around US$15 million.

US utility Southern California Edison’s 235MW of battery energy storage awards in focus

Dean Frankel of Lux Research blogs about utility Southern California Edison’s recent 235MW award of battery-based energy storage projects in detail and looks at some of the questions that remain as-yet unanswered by the announcement.

Can Europe catch up in the PV capacity expansion game?

Europe so far looks to be the laggard in the PV capacity expansion drive now gathering a head of steam. But all the ingredients are there for Southeastern European countries to establish themselves as manufacturing hubs, says Matthias Grossman.

Advanced front-surface passivation schemes for industrial n-type silicon solar cells

The n-Pasha n-type silicon solar cell currently achieves an average conversion efficiency of 20.2% using a relatively simple process flow. This bifacial cell concept developed by ECN is based on homogeneously doped p+ front and n+ back surfaces.

Project Manager

Cohessa-Soposa

San Pedro Sula, Honduras

PhD student advanced passivation in solar cells

TOTAL New Energies

Palaiseau, France