USA

Thin-film solar panel manufacturer First Solar today announced the start of production at its new PV module manufacturing facility in Lake Township, Ohio — a few miles from its flagship 600-MW factory in Perrysburg, Ohio. With the completed addition, First Solar has a total annualized production capacity of 1.9 GW in the United States. The company also manufactures panels in Malaysia and Vietnam.

TicketNetwork, a leading software development company in the ticket resale marketplace, has deployed a 1.4-MW solar system on the roof of its Connecticut headquarters. The system, which was completed in the spring of this year, will offset nearly 70% of the company’s annual energy use and dramatically reduce its carbon footprint.

At the recent Solar Power International trade show in Salt Lake City, Utah, part of the larger North America Smart Energy Week, pv magazine met with Hank Wang, President of the Americas Region at the Chinese inverter manufacturer Sungrow. The company expects to ship 2 GW of products to North American markets this year with utility-scale products making up the bulk of these shipments.

‘Solar Module Super League’ (SMSL) member, First Solar said it was sold out of thin-film cadmium telluride (CdTe) solar modules through the second half of 2021 as the company continues to ramp its Series 6 larger-area modules.

A standalone Investment Tax Credit (ITC) for energy storage in the US holds the potential to be more immediate and impactful than any other policy, the head of the US national Energy Storage Association has said.

DE Shaw Renewable Investments has purchased two neighbouring PV projects in Utah contracted to provide power to Facebook from developer First Solar.

Tesla reported a bounce back in solar installations in the third quarter of 2019, while energy storage installs reached a new record high. The company is also launching a third-generation residential roof system ahead of a volume production ramp.

Distributed Solar Development (DSD), a business backed by BlackRock Real Assets’ Global Renewable Power platform and GE Renewable Energy, has closed on a US$250 million fund financed by Morgan Stanley, Silicon Valley Bank and Fifth Third Bank that will be utilised to fund a portfolio of distributed generation projects through 2020.

Residents who get their electricity from Fayetteville Public Works will be able to benefit from solar energy without having to put panels on their homes.

D. E. Shaw Renewable Investments (DESRI) announced it has acquired First Solar’s Cove Mountain and Cove Mountain 2 projects in Iron County, Utah. The acquisition of the two projects, the sales of which were previously disclosed by First Solar and which total 180 MWAC in capacity, nearly doubles DESRI’s portfolio of First Solar-developed projects to over 360 MWAC.

Horne Brothers Construction (HBC) has completed the civil and mechanical construction on a 1-MW community solar project in North Carolina for municipal utility Fayetteville Public Works Commission (PWC). Other local partners on the project include the NC State Clean Energy Technology Center, Dewberry and Directional Services.

Deals for utility-scale solar installations are accelerating on tribal lands in the Southwest U.S., according to a report published by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA).

The Italian fossil fuel company is not hanging around when it comes to diversifying into PV, with almost 1.5 GW of generation capacity plugged in since the start of last year.

Information management company Iron Mountain announced it has closed on its largest on-site solar PPA contract to date. The 7.2-MW solar installation at Iron Mountain’s data center in Edison, New Jersey, will provide approximately 15% of the data center’s current energy load.

A group of engineering students from Engineers for a Sustainable World at University of California, Irvine visited Irvine-based utility-scale solar developer Sunpin Solar last week for a Lunch and Learn presentation and a solar tour at Sunpin Solar’s 96.75-MW ColGreen North Shore solar project in Riverside County.