Panasonic unveils 100 Thousand Solar Lantern Project

Panasonic Corporation is set to distribute 100,000 solar L.E.D. lanterns to people in electricity scarce regions across the world by 2018 to mark the company’s centennial anniversary. The 100 Thousand Solar Lantern Project aims to help address many of the problems in non-electrified areas by using solar lanterns that can generate electricity from sunlight during the day and store it in a battery to serve as small lighting fixtures at night...

Read more...

juwi starts building its first solar park in South Africa

German renewables project developer juwi Renewable Energies has begun putting up its first South African solar park. Located southeast of Rustenburg, the development of the 7-megawatt solar park will be entirely managed by juwi, including engineering, procurement and construction. An array of photovoltaic modules, spread across 94,650 square meters, , will have the capacity to produce over 12.5 million...

Read more...

Solar demand in Asia Pacific to skyrocket by 13.5 GW in 2013 - report

A new report suggests that solar demand across the Asia Pacific region will increase by 13.5 gigawatts in 2013, a 50 percent growth year-over-year. According to the Q1’13 report of industry analyst NPD Solarbuzz, 90 percent of solar demand this year is expected to come from China, Australia, Japan and India – the Asia Pacific region market leaders. However, as factors such...

Read more...

World solar capacity over 101 GW strong – E.P.I.A.

The cumulative solar photovoltaic capacity of the world crossed the 100-gigawatt milestone in 2012, to reach over 101 gigawatts, according to figures from the European Photovoltaic Industry Association. The new global P.V. capacity generates as...

Read more...

Sierra Leone to be lit up by 13 off-grid solar projects

Electricity shortage is a common problem in the nation of Sierra Leone’s experience. Now a public-private partnership funded by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization is planning to bring solar power to some of the areas that need it most. In the western African country, just less than 10 percent of its population has access to electricity and those that do subsequently suffer from high prices due to inefficient...

Read more...

Investments of $6.8 billion foreseen for solar in the Middle East

The Middle East is boosting its solar power sector with $6.8 billion worth of projects in the pipeline, said Jigar Shah, the chairman of the inaugural Solar Middle East Conference. Mr. Shah told a Trade Arabia report that around 10 major projects are set to be plugged in the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Oman, Egypt, Jordan and Morocco. “Everyone is desperate to invest in the Middle East solar industry, they are all just waiting...

Read more...

SunEdison to construct Latin America’s largest solar plant in Chile

SunEdison is constructing a 100MW solar photovoltaic power plant in Chile for the mining and steel group CAP. The plant, which will be located in the Atacama Desert of Chile, will be the largest of its sort in the Latin American region and one of the largest in the world. It will produce as much as 15 percent of the mining group’s energy needs. To be build using SunEdison technology, the plant will use more than 300,000 Silvantis...

Read more...

Flexible C.I.G.S. solar cell reaches 20.4 percent efficiency - Empa

A record breaking thin film solar cell has been developed by scientists at Empa, the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology. A team of researchers led by Ayodhya N. Tiwari at the institute’s Laboratory for Thin Film and Photovoltaics have achieved 20.4 percent energy conversion efficiency for their C.I.G.S. solar cells on flexible polymer foils. C.I.G.S. solar cells are thin film solar cells that use...

Read more...

Guest post: Solar energy development and business opportunities in the Middle East

The solar industry is set to rapidly expand as the world is forced to cut down on oil consumption especially as oil producing countries worldwide have reached peak production. In the Middle East, solar power is particularly attractive as these regions receive strong sunshine year round. The Solar Show Asia 2013 will be bringing together leaders of major solar stakeholders across Asia to address opportunities...

Read more...

Guest post: Top Solar Stories of 2012

2012 was a busy year for the solar industry, seeing solar trade wars blossom, Obama’s win solidifying 4 more years of solar investment, and the largest single-unit solar power plant in the world being completed in Abu Dhabi. CleanTechnica gives us an in-depth overview of the top stories of the year. My favourites include: 1. Japan implements generous feed-in tariff, sparks huge solar power growth- The...

Read more...