The Rise & Shine is your daily source for all solar-industry news. Brought to you by Sweet Solar Home and the Experts at SunRun.

NATIONAL NEWS
Sanyo to Build New Solar Ingot & Wafer Production Plant
Sanyo will construct a new plant that will manufacture silicon ingots and solar wafers at the Salem Renewable Energy and Technology Park in Salem, Oregon.

Abengoa’s Solana Plant in Arizona Gets Green Light
The proposed 280MW Solana solar power plant in Arizona has been approved by the state utility regulators, giving the go-ahead for the facility’s construction.

GT Solar Doubles Size of NH Manufacturing Site
GT Solar today opens a 50,000 square foot expansion at its 14-acre manufacturing site and head office in Merrimack N.H., doubling its size to 106,000 square feet.

Surprise Custs Fees for Solar Systems
The city of Surprise, AZ will waive all permitting fees for residents and businesses that adopt solar technology.

UTILITY INDUSTRY & REGULATORY NEWS
Renewable Energy Up 5% in US
Wind, biofuels and other renewable sources made up 10.6 percent of the energy the U.S. produced in the first half of this year, accounting for more than 7 percent of the energy the country used.

Indiana Michigan Power Installs Smart Meters
GE Energy and Indiana Michigan Power will deploy 10,000 GE Energy smart meters in a pilot project in South Bend, Indiana, that will begin January 1, 2009.

Costs Weighed on Having Utilities Cut Back on CO2
Curbing carbon dioxide emissions as Western governors proposed last week will have a cost, at least in the short term. The price of electricity will go up. Beyond that there are disagreements over how high the cost will be and whether benefits will ultimately outweigh it.

What You Should Know About Southern California Edison’s Smart Meter Patent
To avoid having a 3rd party patent the general business case for smart meters and charge the industry to use the patent, SCE has decided to step in, in a defensive measure, patent the practice, and give away licenses for free.

Investors Demand Climate Risk Disclosure
Members of the Investor Network on Climate Risk (INCR) and F&C Investment are concerned that the escalating risks posed by climate change have broad implications for oil and gas companies that could impact their future earnings.

Nuclear Energy: Assessing the Emissions
For decades nuclear power has been slated as being environmentally harmful. But with climate change emerging as the world’s top environmental problem, the nuclear industry is now starting to enjoy a reputation as a green power provider.

FINANCIAL NEWS & MARKETS
EDF Energies Nouvelles Raises $500 Million
EDF Energies Nouvelles has successfully raised $500M to support is solar photovoltaic initiatives. The capital increase was oversubscribed, with total demand amounting to $512.7M.

SCHOTT Solar AG Sets IPO Price Range
Further details for the planned IPO have been determined by SCHOTT Solar AG, the current shareholder SCHOTT AG as well as the Joint Global Coordinators and Joint Bookrunners Commerzbank, Deutsche Bank and J.P. Morgan.

SunPower Class B Shares Ready to Rise?
SunPower’s Class B shares have started to hit the market, and they’re trading at a lower price than the regular Class A shares – even though they come with more voting power.

Centrica Buys Solar Technologies for 2.8M
British Gas owner Centrica plc said Monday that it has bought Solar Technologies Group Limited for 2.8 million pounds ($5.15 million) in cash.

MARKETS & MARKET RESEARCH
Solar PV Market Trends Expected to Change
Panel shortages seem to belong to the past, which will probably mean grid parity in numerous markets. Experts also pointed out that while European countries compete for the most attractive subsidy scheme, China, India and the US are trying to keep costs as low as possible.

GOVERNMENT & POLITICS
House Votes to Extend, Improve Solar Tax Credits
House-passed bill would extend federal solar tax credits for 8 years, eliminate $2,000 cap on residential projects, and remove exemptions for utilities and AMT filers. But, the House and Senate still need to reach a final agreement.

Dept. of Futile gestures: House Passes Energy Tax Credits. To No Avail
The House passed its version of the energy and tax package, which is different from the Senate version and which isn’t to the White House’s liking.

SEIA Names Senator Gordon Smith as 2008 National Solar Energy Champion of the Year
SEIA announced U.S. Senator Gordon Smith (R-OR) as the Republican winner of its 2008 National Solar Energy Champion Award, citing his support and leadership on solar energy issues in Congress.

Editorial: One More Chance on Energy
The two chambers have been back and forth all year on these credits and they have always found a way to disagree. The time has come to end the sniping and posturing.

Gore in San Jose: Climate Change Deserves Same Attention Bailout is Getting
“Instead of a focus only on a bailout, we need to bail in renewable energy,” Gore said during a 50-minute speech at the Civic Auditorium.

TECHNOLOGY
BioSolar Reveals Cotton & Castor Beans Behind its Solar Technology
BioSolar revealed that materials derived from cotton and castor beans compose the company’s BioBacksheet, a protective covering, traditionally made from expensive petroleum-based film, used in the back of virtually all PV solar cells.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Yingli Green Energy Signs Module Supply Contract with S.A.G. Solarstrom
Yingli Green Energy will supply 36.8 MW of PV modules to S.A.G. Solarstrom from December 2008 to December 2009.

Sungen International Ltd. Introduces Low-Cost Module
The company hopes to gain synergy effects from the integration of machinery manufacturing and module production, and therefore a price advantage over manufacturers that have to purchase a production line first.

Spain Approves 500MW for Solar
The country’s cabinet has approved a higher cap for solar installations – and also voted for a smaller reduction in feed-in tariffs – than the government had initially proposed.

United Nations Report Projects 8.4M Jobs in Solar & Wind By 2030
A just-released report from the United Nations Environment Program projects US$2.74 Trillion worth of “environmentally friendly” goods will be produced in the world each year – by the year 2020.

LG Focuses on Display, Solar Wafer Projects
LG Group will invest a total of 11.3 trillion won this year for sustainable growth, especially in the display and chemicals segments despite an economic slowdown in developed countries.

This entry was posted on Monday, September 29th, 2008 at 9:49 am and is filed under Solar Industry News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.