JinkoSolar receives TOP BRAND PV seal for the UK from EuPD Research

For the second year in a row, JinkoSolar Holding Co., Ltd. (Shanghai, China), is ranked among the top solar photovoltaic (PV) module manufacturers based on recommendation levels by British installers.

Therefore, JinkoSolar receives the “Top Brand PV | Modules” seal in the United Kingdom from the German market research specialist EuPD Research (Bonn).

Participants of the “Global PV Installer Monitor 2016/2017 UK” positively rated Jinko Solar as above average in regard to brand awareness and brand management.

Furthermore, JinkoSolar is ranked among the top module manufacturers based on the recommendation of British PV installers. The survey participants claim they are highly likely to recommend JinkoSolar to their customers.

“We are very proud to receive this independent seal from a well-reputed independent institute like EuPD Research for the second consecutive year and would like to thank all the participating clients very much for their trust and positive feedback,” Frank Niendorf, General Manager Europe at JinkoSolar, commented. 

“The positive and continuously improving brand perception of Jinko as one of the leading brands is another step to further strengthening Jinko as the No. 1 module supplier in this industry. It is the result of a steady product and service quality improvement process and technology leadership through significant investments in R&D and production processes.” 

source: http://www.solarserver.com

GCL-SI to enter Mexico's solar PV market with agreement with distributor DMSolar

GCL System Integration Technology (GCL-SI, Suzhou, China), a subsidiary of the energy group GCL, on February 16^th, 2017 announced the signing of a Master Distribution Agreement with DMSolar, one of Mexico’s leading solar distribution companies.

Through the partnership, DMSolar will offer GCL-SI solar PV modules and other complimentary system components to the Mexican market.

This is the first time that GCL-SI cooperates with a Mexican distributor and this also marks a significant step for GCL-SI to enter the Mexican market.

DMSolar works with a number of local installers on PV projects ranging from residential to commercial installations. The agreement with GCL-SI contains the distribution of its solar module products GCL-P6/60 and GCL-P6/72.

Jose Jove, Vice President of Sales for GCL-SI Latin America, contends that the agreement with DMSolar will help GCL-SI to become one of the leading brands in Mexico market.

GCL tailored its plan to fit the local scenarios to step into the Mexico market. Mr Jove says, “For utility scale we are targeting to place a large volume of modules in the auction projects as well as projects with potential private power purchase agreements (PPAs). There were two auctions in Mexico last year, 1.1 GW awarded in the first auction and 1.8 GW in the second
source: http://www.solarserver.com

Solar lighting company SolarOne Solutions acquires competitor Inovus Solar

SolarOne Solutions (Needham, MA, U.S.), a provider of professional solar area lighting solutions to customers worldwide, on February 17^th, 2017 announced its acquisition of Inovus Solar, Inc. (Boise, ID, U.S.) a solar lighting company with complementary products, markets and technologies.

With this transaction, SolarOne Solutions brings the Boise-based firm's technology, project pipeline, brand and other assets into its fold. All Inovus Solar personnel immediately become part of SolarOne Solutions and will continue to support its customer base worldwide.

“One would be hard pressed to find two more complementary companies,” said Moneer Azzam, SolarOne CEO.

“The Inovus architecturally appealing wrapped PV pole with embedded Lithium-ion energy storage fits perfectly with SolarOne's conventional line of professional lighting systems. But what comes next from the melding of these two dedicated and talented teams is what I am most excited about. No other solar lighting company has this depth. It will allow us to accelerate our worldwide growth initiatives.”

Inovus Solar CEO, Doug Stewart, who will remain as a Board member and strategic advisor to the company said: “The combination of products, technical and marketing expertise and geographic footprint that results from this transaction is transformative for both companies and sets the stage to become the largest solar lighting business in the world
source: http://www.solarserver.com

Fraunhofer ISE again holds PV world record; Silicon solar cell with 21.9 percent efficiency

 

As in the years from 2004 to 2015, Fraunhofer ISE again holds the world’s record for multi-crystalline silicon.

The record solar cell consists of n-type high performance multi-crystalline silicon, or HP mc-Si. Compared to p-type silicon, this material shows a higher tolerance to impurities, especially iron.

The industrial production today uses multi-crystalline p-type silicon material with average solar cell efficiencies of about 19 percent. The new material and technology approaches applied by Fraunhofer ISE for the record cell have the potential to improve the efficiency of multi-crystalline silicon even further in the near future.

From material to cell technology

“We are very happy about this excellent result, which is due largely to the fact that Fraunhofer ISE’s expertise runs along the entire value chain of silicon photovoltaics,“ says the institute Director, Dr. Andreas Bett.

“At the Institute our expertise spans the entire range from the crystallization of silicon through to the quality assurance of PV power plants. The research areas of material development, characterization and cell technology all played a part in the development of the world record cell.”

The various research groups at Fraunhofer ISE consulted continuously, optimizing the material and the cell process in tandem. Dr. Stephan Riepe, Head of the Group “Silicon – Crystallization and Epitaxy,” explains the procedure as follows: “In our Silicon Material Technology Center SIMTEC, we adjusted the crystallization process with the goal of creating a material optimized for the planned solar cell processing procedure. We worked closely and in constant exchange with our colleagues until we all achieved our common target of world record efficiency.”

The work of the ambitious researchers at Fraunhofer ISE, however, continues further. The “multiTOP” project, in which the record cell was achieved, continues to run up to March 2018.

The project is headed by Dr. Jan Benick, Team Leader of Innovative Clean Room Technologies for High Efficiency Silicon Solar Cells. He looks into the future:

“Our goal is to develop an advanced cell technology for the n-type multi-crystalline wafer that really demonstrates its full potential. The question is, how far can we get to closing the efficiency gap to monocrystalline material.”

The colleagues in solar cell characterization acted as a decisive link between the researchers in materials and cell technology. Dr. Martin Schubert, Department Head of Characterization and Simulation assumed the role of navigator: 

source: http://www.solarserver.com

turkey-plans-to-transfer-around-1000-mw-of-hydropower-to-sovereign-wealth-fund-

Turkey plans to transfer
hydropower plants with a combined capacity of some 1,000
megawatts (MW) from the state power generation company to the
newly created sovereign wealth fund, two government officials
told Reuters on Monday.
    The move, expected to be officially announced in the near
future, comes after the government has already transferred
stakes worth billions of dollars in Turkish Airlines, major
banks and other companies to the fund, which was set up last
year to help finance big-ticket infrastructure projects.
[nL5N1FR0N8]
    "In order to diversify and strengthen the Turkish wealth
fund's portfolio, some new steps are being planned. In this
regard, some run-of-the-river plants are being planned to be
transferred to the fund," one of the sources told Reuters,
referring to a type of hydropower plant.
    "The decision is expected to be taken soon. These hydropower
plants will likely be each around 100 MW, but with the addition
of some bigger plants the capacity could reach 1,000 MW," the
source said, adding that capacity could be brought above 1,000
MW if seen appropriate.
    No one was immediately available to comment at EUAS, the
state power generation firm.
   Turkey's current hydropower plant capacity stands above
75,000 

 source:http://www.nasdaq.com

Vestas Returns to No. 1 Spot in Global Wind Turbine Supplier Ranking in 2016

Vestas’ return to the top spot was particularly driven by increased installations in the U.S. market, where it overtook U.S. manufacturer GE as the No. 1 supplier, according to preliminary findings from FTI Intelligence. GE and Enercon rose to second and fifth place, respectively, by taking advantage of strong domestic market growth in the United States and Germany.

Chinese supplier Goldwind fell two positions to third place, primarily due to a 24 percent drop in China’s wind power installations, according to FTI Intelligence research. Spain’s Gamesa moved up one position to No. 4, largely attributable to its strong presence in India and emerging markets.
                                                                
At this time, FTI Intelligence assigns the following OEM market rankings:

2016 Ranking	Turbine OEM	Change	Commentary
1	Vestas *	+1	Up from 2nd position in 2015
2	GE *	+1	Up from 3rd position in 2015
3	Goldwind **	-2	Down from 1st position in 2015
4	Gamesa*	+1	Up from 5th position in 2015
5	Enercon*	+1	Up from 6th position in 2015

* Based on preliminary data analysis                                                
** Based on installation data released by CWEA                                                                                                        
Note: Gamesa and Siemens are ranked separately as the merger between Siemens Wind and Gamesa is not yet finalised.

Among other highlights, FTI Intelligence notes that Siemens dropped out of the top five for the first time since 2012, mainly due to its decreased annual installation in both the United States and offshore wind sector in 2016. In addition, Nordex returned to the top 10 after its recent acquisition of Acciona’s turbine business.

The Global Wind Market Update – Demand & Supply 2016 report examines the evolution of the global wind market in 2016 and addresses key market and technology trends and policy updates. It also forecasts global demand trends through 2026. This report will be available free of charge on FTI Intelligence’s website in March 2017.

Preliminary Findings in the Global Wind Market Update – Demand & Supply 2016:

• 14 percent drop year-on-year in new wind installations in 2016 vs. 2015. Following a record 2015 with 63 GW of installations, the best year ever for the wind industry, 2016 showed a 14 percent drop in installations. A slowdown of installations in China is the primary reason for the decrease. That said, there were a few notable achievements for the wind power sector in 2016. Wind overtook coal as the second-largest form of power generation in the EU in terms of total installed power capacity, just behind natural gas. In the United States, wind passed a historic milestone to overtake hydropower as the largest renewable energy source of energy. The UK generated more electricity from wind than from coal in the full calendar year of 2016.
• Solar PV replaced wind as the No. 1 non-hydro renewable energy source in 2016. Due to explosive growth in China, global solar PV installations in 2016 passed 70 GW. In addition, solar PV is emerging as a strong competitor to wind in regard to its cost, beating wind in the first and second power auctions in Mexico in 2016. Wind, however, eclipsed solar in the renewable tenders launched in Chile and Argentina in 2016. Interestingly, four out of the world’s top 10 wind turbine vendors have already entered the solar industry.
• Paris Agreement came into force. On 5 October 2016, the Paris Agreement, the UN international agreement on climate change, entered into force. Out of 197 parties to the convention, 132 have ratified the agreement. Such international support reflects strong momentum behind the global transition to clean energy. 
• Near-term stable growth in the United States is secured, but medium-term outlook is uncertain. The U.S. wind market outlook in the near term remains stable, as the new Treasury secretary has confirmed support for the existing smooth phase-out of the Production Tax Credit (“PTC”). However, U.S. market development in the medium term remains uncertain as President Trump has repeatedly called for the repeal of the Clean Power Plan (“CPP”) and the United States exiting the Paris Agreement.
• Consolidation continues to occur across the value chain. In the past 12 months, large turbine vendors not only snapped up rivals (Siemens/Gamesa, Gamesa/Adwen, Senvion/Kenersys and WEG/Northern Power Systems) to gain new strategic positioning, but also acquired assets upstream in the value chain (GE/LM Wind Power, Senvion/EUROS and most recently, Nordex/SSP). In addition, state-owned Chinese companies were very active in the overseas market and acquired renewable assets around the world (SPIC/PacificHydro and China Three Gorges/Meerwind).  
• Offshore wind cost reduction targets have been beaten. Results of the awarded offshore wind tenders launched in Denmark (the lowest bid, €49.9/MWh at Kriegers Flak) and the Netherlands (the lowest bid, €54.5/MWh at Borssele III+IV) in 2016 (both excluding transmission costs of around €14/MWh) indicate that the LCOE (levelised cost of electricity) for offshore wind in Europe has reduced significantly in the past five years, and they also suggest that returns on investment are compressing here.   
• Corporate PPAs continue to grow. The wind industry saw the increased use of power purchase agreements (“PPAs”), self-consumption and direct contracts with customers in the past three years. Cumulative corporate renewable PPA capacity contracted in the United States passed the 7 GW milestone at the end of 2016. With 1 GW contracted today, Europe lags behind the United States, but this is expected to change as the commercial and industrial (“C&I”) segment wants secure green energy on a long-term basis due to rising electricity prices and the competitive prices offered by renewables.
• Digitalization. Increased data quality, data access and grid integration are enabling increasing data analytics across the value chain in siting and design, asset performance management, asset health management and trading and balancing in the wind sector. Major turbine OEMs continued to launch advanced analytics packages in 2016 that can be applied throughout value chain. Following GE’s launch of an industrial data and analytics product, Predix Cloud, to the market in August 2015, Vestas and Envision launched Clearsightᵀᴹ and Ensightᵀᴹ, respectively, in 2016, and the data analytics market is expected to grow significantly.

“The drop in wind power installations in 2016 has brought the wind industry back to reality, as 2015 was an unusual year due to strong demand in China ahead of a change in Feed in Tariffs (‘FiTs’),” said Feng Zhao, a Senior Director at FTI Consulting. “The relatively poor performance of Chinese turbine OEMs in 2016 has shown that relying heavily on the home market for growth is not a guarantee for sustainable success.”

Aris Karcanias, a Senior Managing Director at FTI Consulting and Co-Lead of the Clean Energy practice, added: “Solar PV not only replaced wind as the most popular renewable energy source in 2016, but also beat wind power in the power auctions launched in Mexico. However, we view this as positive news because the competition is certain to create another wave of technology innovation in the wind industry in order to further bring down the LCOE and make renewable energy even more competitive and affordable.”

source: http://finance.yahoo.com

US Congress launches a probe into climate data that duped world leaders over global warming

Revelations by the Mail on Sunday about how world leaders were misled over global warming by the main source of climate data have triggered a probe by the US Congress.

Republican Lamar Smith, who chairs the influential House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space and Technology, announced the inquiry last week in a letter to Benjamin Friedman, acting chief of the organisation at the heart of the MoS disclosures, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

He renewed demands, first made in 2015, for all internal NOAA documents and communications between staff behind a controversial scientific paper, which made a huge impact on the Paris Agreement on climate change of that year, signed by figures including David Cameron and Barack Obama.

The paper – dubbed the ‘Pausebuster’ – claimed that contrary to what scientists had been saying for several years, there was no ‘pause’ or ‘slowdown’ in the rate of global warming in the early 21st Century, and that in fact it had been taking place even faster than before.

The ‘pause’ had been seized on by climate sceptics, because throughout the period, carbon dioxide emissions continued to rise.

This month, this newspaper revealed evidence from a whistleblower, Dr John Bates, who until the end of 2016 was one of two NOAA ‘principal scientists’ working on climate change, showing that the paper based its claims on an ‘unverified’ and experimental dataset measuring land temperatures, and on a then newly issued sea-temperature dataset that is now to be withdrawn and replaced because it exaggerates both the scale and speed of warming.

source:source:http://www.dailymail.co.uk