Yuma, Arizona (March 2, 2010) PPA Partners, Inc. and Arizona Western College announced an historic collaboration on March 2nd, for a 5 MW multi technology solar project on Arizona Western College’s Yuma Campus. The 5 MW deployment deemed “Solar with a Purpose”, will be comprised of the five commercially viable PV technologies, all optimized by tracking and state of the art Inverters, installed by the same EPC so that the installation and the Balance Of System (BOS) will as well, be identical.The 5 representative technologies are High Concentration Solar, Low Concentration Solar, Thin Film, Mono Crystalline, and Poly Crystalline.

Technology Partners are still being finalized but Sol Focus, Skyline Solar, Signet Solar, Del Solar, Canadian Solar, Ray Tracker and Satcon are all in discussions with PPA Partners for inclusion in the Project.

“We know of no other solar project where all 5 technologies are showcased at utility scale, installed by the same group, at the same time with the same equipment, tracked and optimized, under the best solar resource in the Country… the data generated by the project should be very interesting.” Stated Bruce Mercy, CEO of PPA Partners of Morgan Hill, California.

“From the multiple technologies that will keep pace with changes in the industry, to the constant data that will be available both in the classroom and to manufacturers, this array has the potential to not only change the face of the economy in Yuma, but to impact solar education and research on a national and global level,” said Arizona Western College President Dr. Marc Nigliazzo.

“Draker Laboratories will provide the monitoring system for the project and in conjunction with Satcon’s Solstice Inverters; we should be able to get to a level of detail unheard of in commercial systems. The data generated from the project will be comprised of meteorological, solar resource, energy harvest, and a host of other information from cell temperature, to string level views, and be extremely valuable to researchers, manufacturers, utilities and other entities”, added Mercy.

The array at the College will be the largest at a College or University, and will provide the College with 100% of its power from clean on site generation.

Additionally they are developing a solar demonstration/incubation area where emergent technologies, manufacturers, researchers, and industry can place a 20 kW system in a private secured enclosure, complete with video feeds, and identical BOS components from the larger project, and even staff to help work with the technology for optimization. Monitoring would as well be from Draker Labs.

“Access to the data from the main 5 MW field will only be available to those participating in the Project, the College, Select Research Groups and those that have a space at the demonstration/incubation area. Yuma has the greatest solar resource in the US, what better place to demonstrate solar and test technology than the area with 352 sun days per year, even the Guinness Book of World Records lists Yuma as having the most sun days and hours”, stated Mercy.

In addition, they are working on a cutting edge solar curriculum, with certificate, AA, BA/BS and continuing educational and advancement courses and components, and a 10,000 sq ft Commercial Scale Solar Technology Lab and Facility.

“Not only will this collaboration present a great opportunity to the Yuma community, it will also open opportunities for universities around the world to partner and collaborate with Arizona Western College through joint curriculum as well as research and development. It is not possible to duplicate the solar resource available in Yuma at say UC Berkeley, MIT or U of I.” said Mark Weiss, president of PPA Partners.

“PPA Partners and Arizona Western College, hope to present a new model on how we transition to a renewable energy economy with significant export positions and to help America train a new workforce and assist and incubate American Technologies to successfully compete in the new Global economy.” Added Mercy.

PPA Partners is in the process of negotiating with its financial partners and anticipates final funding for the project in the next 60 days.

PPA Partners is a technologically agnostic PPA and creative funding solution company offering comprehensive programs across the entire renewable energy development and financing value chain, specializing in innovative technologies, uniquely structured projects and specialty financial products.

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March 4,2010 –

PV solar installations are expected to soar in 2010, but erosion in average selling prices (ASP) seen in 2009 will continue to squeeze profits and intensify industry competition, according to an industry analyst’s report.

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BERLIN and TOKYO, March 5, 2010 /PRNewswire/ — Japanese solar company Showa Shell Solar has announced a new investment in Germany. Along with the company’s renaming to Solar Frontier, the CIS (copper-indium-selenium) photovoltaic module manufacturer will open its first European office in Munich in 2010. Germany Trade & Invest supported the company with its investment plans.

Aiming to ramp up production to reach a sales goal of 1 million kilowatts worldwide in 2012, the Munich office, alongside a new American counterpart in California, will play an integral role in achieving this mark. The company’s production figures will increase by more than ten times its current level, strengthened by an additional plant that will begin production in mid-2011.

Solar Frontier CEO Shigeaki Kameda: “The German priority on both economic and ecological criteria precisely matches Solar Frontier’s top design and production mandates. Germany is also the world’s largest market, so we have three very critical reasons to invest here: the German priority on economy, the German priority on ecology, and the German market size. We therefore expect to fulfill very strong demand.”

Solar Frontier’s decision to invest in Germany also serves it well for access to growing photovoltaic markets across Europe. Germany is home to approximately half the solar modules in operation worldwide, based on recent industry estimates. This market continues to grow as 2009 installations exceeded expectations, likely surpassing 3.0 GW.

Germany is home to the largest solar cluster in the world that encompasses a wide range of manufacturers, suppliers, and research institutes. Together, these innovators create a synergy that has added photovoltaics to the long tradition of the “Made in Germany” label, a symbol for high quality and innovation.

Solar Frontier manufactures proprietary thin-film modules that substitute silicon with the key ingredients copper, indium, and selenium. The company benefits from competitive material prices compared to conventional silicon wafer-based modules. The thin-film modules are expected to reach a 14.2 percent efficiency level by 2011. Solar Frontier was assisted by Germany Trade & Invest and Invest in Bavaria, the economic development agency for the federal state of Bavaria. Germany Trade & Invest is currently showcasing the latest opportunities available in the world’s largest solar market at this year’s PV Expo (East Hall 4, Stand no. 26-22), taking place March 3 - 5 in Tokyo, Japan.

Germany Trade & Invest is the foreign trade and inward investment promotion agency of the Federal Republic of Germany. The organization advises foreign companies looking to expand their business activities to the German market. It provides information on foreign trade to German companies that seek to enter foreign markets.

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PALM DESERT, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Solar Energy Limited (OTCBB: SLRE) (“Solar”) announced today that it has been evaluating various options for moving forward, not only in the field of renewable energy but also in other opportune sectors of today’s economy.

Solar has spent much of the last 12 years involved in a variety of development stage R&D projects. The company is now focused on opportunities that are more advanced in nature. Solar has identified two opportunities that it is now investigating and the success of each will be dependent on its ability to raise the funding necessary to finance the transactions.

Solar has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of a private company operating as Solar Electric (formerly Discover Power). The transaction includes entering into management contracts with the 2 founders of Solar Electric who have been in the business of providing Solar Solutions to a wide variety of customers for over 15 years. The ultimate aim is to have retail outlets where the customer can in one stop have someone design and install a solar system for his home or business including filling out any Government grants/rebates and buy back agreements with the utility companies.

The second opportunity identified is that Solar has been presented with an offer to finance and acquire certain mining assets from Pelaton Mining, Inc. The property is a large alluvial gold deposit in SE Tanzania. Some $2.1M for exploration costs has been spent on the property and a 43.101 geological report is available. $3M is needed to place into production a facility that will process 4000 m³/day averaging 1 gm/m^3.

Both projects are subject to Solar’s ongoing due diligence and its ability to raise the funds necessary to implement the business plans. More information will be forthcoming in due course.

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KYOTO, Japan & NEUSS, Germany–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The Japanese technology corporation Kyocera, one of the leading manufacturers in the photovoltaic field, is bringing a new solar module from the successful KD series onto the market. With its high nominal output, extreme stability under mechanical pressure and optimized junction box, the new KD215GH-2PU fulfils high requirements in every field.

The KD215GH-2PU high-performance module achieves a nominal output of 215 watts at an efficiency of 14.4 per cent under standard test conditions. Compared with the predecessor model, the KD210GH-2PU, Kyocera has again been able to improve the cells, while retaining the same module size, and increase output by 5 watts. The nominal output has a tolerance of only +5/-3 per cent. As a result, the 54 solar cells incorporated in the module guarantee the user a high annual energy yield.

In the contacts for the junction boxes, Kyocera opts for high-quality soldered joints rather than clamped joints, and thus offers dependable protection against fire hazards. If lower quality is employed, defective electrical connections may lead to a fire in the junction box. Soldered connections are the safest form of creating the contact and, in connection with complete encapsulation of the junction box, provide protection against corrosion and overheating. The junction box meets the requirements of the highest non-combustibility rating of 5V-A in compliance with UL94.

A sturdy frame for the module guarantees high mechanical stability: it can withstand a high wind pressure and a snow load of up to 5,400 N/m2.

Kyocera makes all components in its own manufacturing facilities, without buying in any intermediate products – starting with the processing of the raw material, via cell production, through to module assembly. This guarantees the high quality standards that Kyocera places on its products, ensuring that the KD215GH-2PU delivers maximum quality and reliability as well. All KD modules by Kyocera fulfil the new IEC 61215 ed.2 and IEC 61730 standards.

The KD215GH-2PU is due to be available in Germany as from spring 2010.

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As the years go by, it’s interesting to see the same innovators pushing the envelope in new ways. For instance, ZeroEnergy Design, a design firm that we mentioned with the…

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It’s been through several years of remodeling, but the Natural Home Show House is now complete. The word show house, though, is kind of a misnomer because the project includes…

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David De Rothschild and friends have been tooling around for some time on an ambitious project to build a seaworthy boat out of recycled plastic bottles. Late last week, the crew finally shared their vision, The Plastiki, to the world in San Francisco Bay. The Plastiki will sail 11,000 miles from San Fran to Sydney, Australia to raise awareness about plastics as a pollutant and its value as a recycled product.

The sailboat is made from 12,500 recycled plastic bottles and an innovative, buoyant and exceptionally strong material made from polyethylene terephthalate (PET), a polyester resin commonly used in plastics. The mast is reclaimed aluminum irrigation pipe and the sail is handmade from recycled PET as well. While engineering the boat, the crew of designers also developed an interesting new organic glue made from cashew nuts and sugar cane — a product, said De Rothschild to Treehugger, that could remove epoxies from boatbuilding.

It is that spirit of ingenuity that was the inspiration for the Plastiki project. What started out as an idea to build a boat from plastic bottles to raise awareness about plastic in our oceans and landfills (some 80 percent of plastic bottles still reach landfills rather than recycling plants, says De Rothschild) grew into a movement addressing problems and discovering solutions about what we can do with all that plastic floating through our economies, resting in our landfills and bobbing on our waterways.

As if 12,500 recycled plastic bottles didn’t make the Plastiki green enough, it is also primarily powered by renewable energy. That includes solar power panels, wind turbines, trailing propeller turbines and bicycle generators. It also uses urine-to-water recovery and rain catchment systems to produce fresh water and even comes equipped with a rotating cylinder hydroponic garden.

Last week, the Plastiki crew christened the boat with a traditional Polynesian ceremony at the Marina in San Francisco. Right now, they are working on final preparations for their trans-Pacific journey. You can track the Plastiki’s progress when the voyage does begin at ThePlastiki.com, and I highly recommend watching this video at Treehugger.

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