Saturday, October 4, 2008

Trina Solar Ranked Top 3 in TUV Energy Rating Tests

CHANGZHOU, China, Oct. 3 /Xinhua-PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Trina Solar Limited (NYSE: TSL; ''Trina Solar'' or the ''Company''), a leading integrated manufacturer of solar photovoltaic products from the production of ingots, wafers and cells to the assembly of PV modules, founded in 1997, today announced that its monocrystalline PV modules were ranked among the top three PV modules tested based on yield from TUV Energy Rating Comparison Measurementtests in 2008.

Test results from the Cologne-based TUV Rheinland Group's "Energy Yield 2008" project, released in September 2008, were conducted on a total of 14 international brands of PV modules from European, American and Asian manufacturers. The tests measured the specific energy yield as a percentage of maximum power output over a test period from April 1 to April 30, 2008.

"We are very pleased with our recent TUV test results, which validate our focus to improve manufacturing standards and process efficiencies to yield superior operating performance and stability," said Anthony Chia, Trina Solar's Vice President of Quality. "We look forward to working closely with TUV and other international testing organizations as we continue to enhance our technology research and development efforts for both new and existing products."

About Trina Solar Limited

Trina Solar Limited (NYSE: TSL) is a well recognized manufacturer of high quality modules and has a long history as a solar PV pioneer since it was founded in 1997 as a system installation company. Trina Solar is one of the few PV manufacturers that has developed a vertically integrated business model from the production of monocrystalline and multicrystalline ingots, wafers and cells to the assembly of high quality modules. Trina Solar's products provide reliable and environmentally-friendly electric power for a growing variety of end-user applications worldwide. For further information, please visit Trina Solar's website at http://www.trinasolar.com

Yingli Green Energy Signs PV Module Sales Contracts with GeckoLogic and Sinosol

BAODING, China, Oct 02, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited ("Yingli Green Energy" or "the Company"), one of the world's leading vertically integrated photovoltaic ("PV") product manufacturers, today announced it has entered into new PV module sales contracts with leading German PV players GeckoLogic GmbH ("GeckoLogic") and Sinosol AG ("Sinosol").

28 MW PV Module Sales Contract with GeckoLogic

Yingli Green Energy signed a 28 MW PV module sales contract with GeckoLogic, a global solar system design and engineering firm dedicated to the design and installation of high performance PV systems for homes, businesses, government facilities and large commercial buildings. Under the terms of the contract, Yingli Green Energy will supply 28 MW of PV modules to GeckoLogic from January 2009 to December 2009. In addition, GeckoLogic has an option to order an additional 7MW of PV modules from Yingli Green Energy in 2009. The PV modules to be delivered under this contract are expected to be installed in projects in Germany and other countries in Europe.

"During the past three years, we have gradually enhanced our market presence by delivering high performance, high quality PV systems," said Mr. Steve Gyoerffy, Chief Executive Officer of GeckoLogic. "We selected Yingli to be among our top-tier strategic suppliers because of their superior product quality and sustainable module performance, experienced operating team and first-rate customer service. As the largest contract we have signed to date, this contract represents another milestone for our company and for our relationship with Yingli Green Energy."

30 MW PV Module Sales Contract with Sinosol

Yingli Green Energy signed a 30 MW PV module sales contract with Sinosol, a global supplier of photovoltaic systems, and planner and developer of turnkey solar parks. Under the terms of the contract, Yingli Green Energy will supply 30 MW of PV modules to Sinosol. The specific delivery schedule is expected to be finalized in November 2008.

"We have been working with Yingli since 2005," commented Mr. Kay Lee, Chief Executive Officer of Sinosol. "In order to ensure the delivery of high quality performance PV systems, we visit Yingli Green Energy's manufacturing lines a few times each year to learn more about their efforts to enhance quality control procedures and implement new research and development achievements across their entire value chain. Their product quality has impressed us in our past contracts, and we are confident that this contract will play a critical role in the execution of our projects in 2009."

"We are delighted to announce these two new sales contracts with GeckoLogic and Sinosol," commented Mr. Liansheng Miao, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Yingli Green Energy. "Our initial collaboration with these two companies dates back to 2005. Over the years, we have solidified our relationship with both companies by successfully executing all of our prior contracts. To date, we have signed nearly 100 MW of fixed-price sales contracts for delivery to the German market in 2009. We believe this demonstrates the continued strength of the German market and our ability to sustain our relationships with long-term strategic customers."

Canadian Solar Announces Completion of Ingot & Wafer Plant and Reiterates 2008 Guidance

TORONTO, Oct. 2 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Canadian Solar Inc. ("the Company","CSI" or "we") (Nasdaq: CSIQ) today announced it has completed and commissioned the Phase I of its ingot and wafer plant on schedule, giving the Company an annualized ingot and wafer capacity of 60 MW. Phase II of the ingot plant is expected to be completed by year-end, ahead of the original schedule. This will bring the Company's ingot and wafer capacity to 150 - 200 MW.

In further developments, Canadian Solar's 250 MW Phase II cell plant will also be completed in October, with the next stage to begin immediately thereafter. As of October, CSI's current annualized capacity is 220 MW and is expected to reach the target of 400 MW by the end of December, also ahead of schedule.

Both new plants are fully financed and fully supplied with both wafer and feedstock for Q4. This will enable the Company to produce 45-50 MW of polysilicon cells and UMG e-Cells internally in Q4. This will be supplemented by solar cells supplied from our long-term solar cell suppliers at competitive prices. In light of these recent developments, the Company is reiterating its top-line revenue and gross margin guidance for 2008 of $850-$970 million and13%-15%, respectively.

For 2009 the Company believes that it has secured approximately 4,000 Metric tons of UMG, enabling it to produce between 250 and 300 MW of UMG e-cells and e-Module in 2009. We are reiterating our shipment and gross margin guidance for 2009 of 500 - 550 MW and 13 - 15%, respectively.

Chairman and CEO Shawn Qu commented: "Demand remains high for both of our regular high-efficiency modules and our proprietary e-Module products. ASP's are expected to remain stable for the balance of the year and the raw material prices have begun to ease. The increased internal production capacity in Q4 will contribute meaningfully to our gross margins and will help us to reach our revenue and margin targets in spite of volatility in the Euro. Our highly flexible vertical integration model is robust; and has allowed us to quickly adopt to the market dynamics. We expect to be able to continue to meet our objectives for 2009 and are cautiously optimistic that there is upside potential in our '09 estimates."

About Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: CSIQ)

Founded in 2001, Canadian Solar Inc. (CSI) is a vertically integrated manufacturer of solar cell, solar module and custom-designed solar application products serving customers worldwide. CSI is incorporated in Canada and conducts all of its manufacturing operations in China. Backed by years of experience and knowledge in the solar power market and the silicon industry, CSI has become a major global provider of solar power products for a wide range of applications. For more information, please visit http://www.csisolar.com .

MMA Renewable Ventures, Suntech Power Holdings Form JV to Develop Photovoltaic Projects

10/2/2008

(RTTNews) - Thursday, MMA Renewable Ventures, a subsidiary of Municipal Mortgage & Equity, LLC said the company and Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd. formed Gemini Solar Development Co., a joint venture to develop and finance photovoltaic projects 10 megawatts and larger. Separately, solar energy company Suntech Power Holdings announced two other initiatives, other than forming Gemini Solar, to significantly expand its share of the U.S. solar market.

With regard to creation of joint venture company, the projects undertaken by Gemini Solar will be co-owned and built by MMA Renewable Ventures, Suntech and their third-party finance partners. Suntech's director of structured finance, Kristina Peterson, will assume the role of Gemini's president.

Gemini Solar will supply an end-to-end solution to address the increasing demand for large-scale solar power projects as the U.S. increases its efforts towards energy independence, MMA Renewable Ventures noted.

Chief executive officer of MMA Renewable Ventures, Matt Cheney, commented, "Utility and other large-scale, distributed solar power systems are emerging as one of the fastest growing segments of the solar industry. MMA Renewable Ventures brings structured finance expertise and an unparalleled track record in developing and delivering quality renewable energy projects in the U.S. Suntech is an international innovator in solar, which brings manufacturing, large-scale module supply, advanced solar solutions and global presence to the joint venture. Together, we will enable investors to finance low risk, reliable solar power projects, while helping utilities, industry and government secure reliable, renewable energy right away."

In a separate release, Suntech Power Holdings announced two other initiatives, other than forming Gemini Solar, for the purpose of significantly expanding its share of the U.S. solar market.

One of the initiatives is acquisition of California-based commercial solar system integration company EI Solutions. Suntech expects the acquisition to enable it to provide complete solar solutions to commercial, utility and government customers in US. The new subsidiary will be named Suntech Energy Solutions and EI Solutions' present president, Andrew Beebe, will head the subsidiary.

Another initiative is to rapidly expand Suntech's U.S. dealer network to increase penetration into the residential roof-top and small commercial system solar market and build brand recognition with downstream solar integrators.

According to Suntech, all the three initiatives will enable it to serve more completely the full breadth of U.S. customers, from residential and commercial building owners to utilities and government. Consequently, the company intends to triple sales to the U.S. in 2009.

JA Solar Reaffirms FY08, 09 Revenue Outlook

10/1/2008 (RTTNews) - JA Solar Holdings Co., Ltd., a China-based developer of photovoltaic solar cells, Wednesday reconfirmed its revenue guidance for fiscal 2008 and 2009, both indicated to be above the market expectation.

The company said it continues to expect revenues for fiscal 2008 to be in the range of RMB 7.22 billion or US1.05 billion to RMB 8.02 billion or US$1.17 billion. Full year gross margin is still estimated to be more than 20%.

On average, 14 analysts polled by First Call/Thomson Financial expect the company to report revenues of US$1.05 billion for 2008.

JA Solar reiterated its fiscal 2009 revenue guidance in the range of RMB 13.6 billion or US$2.0 billion to RMB 15.0 billion or US$2.2 billion. The company continues to expect its 2009 gross margin to be above 20%.

Analysts expect revenues of US$1.92 billion for fiscal 2009.

The company notified that the translation of RMB to US dollars in the guidance is based on the translation rate applied in the 2008 second quarter.

Additionally, JA Solar said it still expects its average selling prices for fiscal 2009 to drop between 8% and 10% from last year on an RMB basis.

The company plans to reserve a major portion of its remaining 2009 projected output for potential strategic partners in Europe and the U.S and continues to be cautiously optimistic about the potential for raising its 2009 projected output beyond 700 MW.

JA Solar is currently trading on the Nasdaq at $11.33, up $0.79 or 7.50%, on a volume of about 3.46 million shares.

by RTT Staff Writer

Suntech to Power Arizona's Largest Building Mounted PV Project at Arizona State University

SAN FRANCISCO and WUXI, China, Sept. 30 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd., one of the world's leading manufacturers of photovoltaic cells and modules, today announced it has been selected to supply 1.6 megawatt (MW) of solar panels to Sun Devil Solar LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Integrys Energy Services, for its project with Arizona State University (ASU). The project will be installed on top of two elevated parking structures in the middle of the ASU's main campus using an innovating tracking system. The solar installations are to be completed by the end of 2008.

The total project size of 1.6 MW makes it one of the largest university installations in the United States. It will generate more than 3 million kilowatt hours annually, enough electric generating capacity to run approximately 3,680 computers at the university or the equivalent of 260 Arizona households. The project will also reduce 2,260 tons of carbon emissions per year -- equivalent to taking 425 cars off the road.

"We are pleased our ground-breaking project will be powered by Suntech solar panels. Suntech's high quality panels will ensure ASU is able to reap the benefits of clean, green solar energy for many years to come," said Jonathan Fink, Director of the Global Institute of Sustainability and University Sustainability Officer at ASU. "We believe in the potential of solar to become a cost-effective energy solution and hope that ASU's large solar installation and solar R&D initiatives will encourage further solar adoption throughout Arizona and at other universities throughout the U.S."

ASU has long term plans to install 7 MW of solar-generating capacity at the Tempe campus as well as other campus locations. In addition, the university has a wide range of sustainability initiatives and has established the world's first School of Sustainability. ASU has received multiple awards and grants from the US Department of Energy's Solar America Initiative to support ongoing solar research.

"We commend Arizona State University for their vision of sustainability and commitment to solar energy," said Roger Efird, President of Suntech America. "With an extremely sunny climate, the state of Arizona is well situated to be at the forefront of solar adoption in the U.S., and ASU's solar programs are ensuring that Arizona is also at the forefront of solar research."

This first phase 1.6 MW solar installation will be owned and operated by Sun Devil Solar LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Integrys Energy Services. Integrys Energy Services, a subsidiary of Integrys Energy Group (NYSE:TEG) , is investing in and promoting renewable energy company-wide, which it believes is one key to the future of its industry. To support this value, Integrys Energy Services has systematically reduced its investment in non-renewable production and devoted significant capital to the development of solar, wind and landfill-to-gas operations.

"Renewable energy from fuel sources such as solar offers huge potential for air quality and global climate change concerns, and for the growth of sustainable alternatives on the path toward the energy supply of the future. Integrys Energy Services is committed to environmental stewardship and is pleased to be involved in this innovative project that is smart for business, for the University and for the environment," said Mark Radtke, President of Integrys Energy Services.

The ASU solar installation is partly subsidized through a Renewable Incentive Program implemented by APS, Arizona's largest electric utility. The program, which is approved by the Arizona Corporation Commission and funded by customers, provides financial incentives to residential and commercial customers who add renewable systems such as solar water heaters, solar electric systems and small windmills.

The Incentive Program is just one of several Green Choice Programs offered by APS including offering special Green Rates to increase the amount of utility-scale renewable energy a customer receives, supporting a program that offers Compact Florescent Light bulbs at a substantial discount, and providing rebates to customers who install high-efficiency air conditioners.

"We're excited to partner with ASU on this important solar installation. Not only is it a great example for other Arizona businesses, but the more renewable energy produced by ASU, the better able APS can manage the rising cost of infrastructure that is needed to meet the growing energy needs of Arizona," said Barbara Lockwood, APS' Renewable Energy Manager.

The project team includes SolEquity, Inc. of Scottsdale, AZ and CarbonFree Technology Inc. of Toronto, ON, as project developers, ViaSol Energy Solutions of Tempe, AZ, as the prime contractor and ETA Engineering and IronCo Enterprises as subcontractors.

Kunming, 'Spring City', to Build the Biggest Solar Energy Production Base in China

KUNMING, China, Sept. 29 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Dou Jinming, Developmentand Reform Commission deputy director of Kunming, Yunnan said today that Kunming will take the lead in developing the solar energy industry in China, thereby popularizing it acrossthe whole country. Kunming is aiming to become a solar energy demonstrationcity with the characteristics of a solar energy industry base in China.

Dou Jinming said that Kunming is rich in solar energy resources: the average annual amountof sunshine is more than 2250 hours, and the average annual solar radiation is over 5400 MJ/m. Photo-thermal application of solar energy is also at the top of the whole country in Kunming, with more than a hundred techniques and enterprises to support its production.

To solve energy shortages and improve the urban environment, Kunming's Government has released "Advice on renewable energy development andutilization". According to the "Advice", around the Kunming Dianchi Lake basin, up to 2920 square kilometers of area will be used to utilize solar light andheat. This will achieve a penetration rate of 50% by 2010. The first demonstration zone will achieve 70% utilization. Urban construction with integration of solar energy application should be present in 90% of new architecture. The percentage of urban area that will utilize solar energy will reach 60%, with the percentage in rural areas reaching 20%. The government says that by 2015 the solar light and heat utilization area will amount to 6,000,000 square meters, with solar photovoltaic applications of up to a hundred mega watts or more.

At present, Kunming High-tech Zone has been planning to provide 3 square kilometers of land to build solar thermal production bases, solar battery production bases and equipment to stimulate the development of solar energy companies.

It is estimated that after the implementation of these initiatives, electricity production will be highly increased and 200,000 tons of diesel oil and 150,000 tons of gasoline will be saved. The production value is up to17,900,000,000 yuan. By 2015, it will save 300,000 tons of diesel and petrol, and the production value will reach 27,000,000,000 yuan.

SOURCE Tootoo.com

Haier releases new solar-powered heaters to the Jordanian market

Monday, September 29 - 2008

Haier, the world's fourth largest producer of white goods (home appliances) announced recently the arrival of new solar-powered heaters and water heaters from its headquarters in China.

These new solar-powered heaters come with a unique wired control feature, allowing users to control water temperature and water levels, in order to ensure that water temperatures do not rise to levels that are unsuitable for human use.

This feature also helps avoid leakages and allows for constant monitoring of heating functions.

The heaters also come with a variety of high-end features that maximize usability and efficiency.

'Haier has utilized the latest in new-generation solar-power technology in the design and manufacturing of these heaters, and this is to ensure that customers' needs are met with ease,' said Reham Ghaboun, Haier's Marketing Manager.

'Our primary objective is to provide citizens with an efficient, cost-saving and energy-saving heating system, particularly with the recent hike in the prices of fuel and electricity, and a heating system that follows safety guidelines and preserves the environment.'

It is worth noting that Haier had provided the Olympics Committee in Beijing with its latest solar-powered heaters and garnered two quality-assurance and public safety certificates.