Projects

The Silver State North Solar Project, the first large-scale solar energy project on U.S. public lands in Nevada, has received Department of the Interior (DOI) approval from Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar. Joining the project is Ecology and Environment (E & E), which prepared the environmental impact statement (EIS) for the 50MW (AC), 60MW (DC) facility, set for construction in the Ivanpah Valley, just south of Las Vegas.

The first wave of solar park announcements in the UK is in full swing. Many planned projects are designed to take advantage of the highest irradiance levels in the country, which are found in Cornwall. However, one of the pioneering sites, which is backed by a core team of experienced PV project developers and Q-Cells cofounder and former CEO Anton Milner, is planning a 5MW crystalline-based plant in Bourn, Cambridge.

Although the official ceremony to celebrate the installation of the 1.1MW solar energy system installed by Perpetual Energy Systems at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) won’t take place until the end of October, both organizations are celebrating not only the systems completion, but Caltech’s solar milestone. With this installation, Caltech has reached its goal to install 1.3MW of solar power by 2010 and will benefit from 1,646,668kWh of renewable energy in one year from the new system alone.

Constellation Energy will be developing a 5.2MW DC solar PV system with Johnson Matthey and Preferred Unlimited on the Johnson Matthey facility in West Deptford, New Jersey. Constellation Energy will not only own the system, but also be responsible for its financing, operation and maintenance. In turn, Johnson Matthew will be able to purchase the electricity produced on the site under a 20-year PPA.

Despite the Japanese Government’s concerns over the legality of Ontario’s ‘local content’ feed-in tariff requirements, Sharp’s tandem-junction thin-film modules will be used by SunEdison for two solar parks, totalling 18.5MW, in Norfolk County, Ontario, Canada. The projects (SunE Sky Norfolk I and II) are a joint venture between SkyPower and the MEMC subsidiary, which actually started construction in March this year and is expected to be completed before year-end.