With an eye on Ontario, Conergy and Sustainable Energy Technologies have partnered up to supply Sunergy inverters to one of North America’s most active solar markets.  Over the next year, the two companies hope to produce 3MW of clean energy, spread across a number of different projects.  First on the list is a 75kW rooftop installation on Brampton’s Metex Heat Treating facility.

In high-tech industries, it is not uncommon for such partnerships to emerge, with each side enjoying greater access to knowledge and skills outside of its core expertise.  According to Conergy’s Managing Director (more…)

Twenty-five solar industry and regulatory leaders shared data and forecast a positive future, especially for small-scale projects, at the third Solar Electric Utility Conference hosted by PHOTON International Thursday in San Francisco.

Smaller Is Better

Keynote speaker Pat Wood III, former chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and now with Wood3 Resources, summarized the dominant theme of the day. “As I was preparing my presentation, I was struck by the growth of ‘bite-sized’ solar projects and how that is an emerging trend and is based on solid economic data,” he said.

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Chinese manufacturers of photovoltaic solar panels have secured an increasing hold in California, the United States’ largest solar market, doubling their market share in the last year alone, according to a new report.

In the last three years, China’s share of the market increased from 2 percent to 46 percent, says Bloomberg New Energy Finance, a research and consulting firm.

The share of U.S. manufacturers in the California market dropped from 43 percent to 16 percent during that same period.

“The ascendancy of Chinese manufacturers would be noteworthy regardless of market conditions, but is particularly telling in a time when purse-strings are still tight,” the report said. (more…)

China is the world’s largest manufacturer of solar photovoltaic panels, providing roughly 40 percent of the global market share in 2008. China’s domestic solar market is on the cusp of a boom thanks to new solar incentives announced this year cutting the cost of purchase and installation by as much as half.

With over 150 attendees, including international senior executives, top-level Chinese government officials, industry experts and leading production and technology directors, the China Solar Energy Technology and Investment Congress organized by Noppen in close co-organization with Huhhot Municipal Government took place on 10-11 December in Huhhot, Inner Mongolia, China. The focus of the event was how to drive down the cost per installed watt and the future growth of the solar energy market in China.

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