PV
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Legal & RegulatoryOIG: Solyndra Misled DOE to Get Solar Loan Guarantees
An official four-year-long investigation into the Solyndra debacle confirms that the bankrupt maker of cylindrical solar photovoltaic panels misled the Department of Energy (DOE) to get a $535 million federal loan guarantee, but it also reveals that the DOE didn’t properly vet those facts, missing opportunities to catch inaccuracies, possibly due to political pressure. The […]
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SolarSolar Cells From China Injured U.S. Manufacturers, International Trade Court Rules
The U.S. Court of International Trade has upheld a determination by the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) that imports of crystalline silicon photovoltaic (PV) cells and modules from China materially injured domestic solar companies. The decision dated Aug. 7 (but made public on Aug. 21) rejects claims by Chinese firms Trina Solar, Wuxi Suntech Power, […]
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RenewablesMIT Report: Uniform Nationwide RPS Program Needed
An interdisciplinary study led by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Energy Initiative concludes, among other things, that “state renewable portfolio standard (RPS) requirements should be replaced by a uniform nationwide program.” The report—released on May 5—focuses on the future of solar energy, suggesting that a massive expansion in solar capacity to “multi-terawatt scale” is […]
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Renewables
First Solar Reports Thin-Film PV Cell Breakthrough
Arizona-based solar photovoltaic (PV) system provider First Solar in August said it had achieved a cadmium-telluride (CdTe) PV research cell conversion efficiency of 21%—a world record. The thin-film PV
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RenewablesIndia Plans Large-Scale Floating Solar PV Plant
National Hydro Power Corp. (NHPC) and the Renewable Energy College (REC) of Kolkata have partnered to develop a 50-MW floating solar photovoltaic (PV) plant in the Indian state of Kerala, according to a report in the Economic Times. The project would represent the largest floating solar PV plant in the world, dwarfing a 1.2-MW plant […]
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RenewablesRenewables to Dominate Energy Investment through 2030, Says Report
Continually falling costs and tightening emissions regulations are set to drive huge growth in global renewable energy capacity despite flagging support for subsidies in Europe and the U.S., says a new report from Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF). The BNEF report projects global spending on new power generation will be around $7.7 trillion through 2030, […]