Concessão da Brisa vai ser a primeira dos EUA a funcionar a energia solar
A concessão que a Brisa possui no Estado norte-americano do Colorado vai ser auto-suficiente em termos energéticos. No início deste ano iniciou-se o projecto para a instalação de painéis fotovoltaicos ao longo dos 18 quilómetros da Northwest Parkway (NWP), em Denver (...) O objectivo é que dentro de quatro anos esta auto-estrada seja a primeira dos Estados Unidos a produzir 100% da electricidade que utiliza através da energia solar. O sistema, que vai custar cerca de 16 milhões de dólares (12 milhões de euros), permitirá gerar electricidade suficiente para a iluminação de toda a via e para o funcionamento das máquinas automáticas de cobrança de portagens e da própria praça de portagem.

EDP vende 50% da Ibersol Electridad a empresa da Alemanha
A NEO Energia, subsidiária da Energias de Portugal (EDP), alienou uma posição de 50% no capital da Ibersol Electridad Solar Ibérica à Solar Millennium, uma companhia alemã de geração de energia renovável a partir da luz solar. De acordo com o comunicado emitido pela Solar Millennium, citado pela Bloomberg, a empresa sedeada na Alemanha passou a deter 50% da empresa espanhola, posição essa que era, até agora, detida pela NEO Energia.

Solar power pioneer wins Zayed prize
A Bangladeshi who helps poor villagers harvest the energy of the sun has won the first Zayed Future Energy Prize, which includes a cash award of US$1.5 million. Dipal Barua, a founder of a non-profit enterprise called Grameen Shakti, which has enabled hundreds of thousands of rural poor to purchase solar energy systems, was presented with the award last night by Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi. Mr Barua said he would use the money to fund a scholarship programme for women entrepreneurs.(...)
The initiative, which is based on microcredit schemes pioneered by Prof Muhammad Yunus, a Bangladeshi economist and winner of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize, has not only provided some of the country’s poorest residents with access to affordable, clean power but has also created thousands of jobs.

World Record: 41.1% efficiency reached for multi-junction solar cells at Fraunhofer ISE
Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE have achieved a record efficiency of 41.1% for the conversion of sunlight into electricity. Sunlight is concentrated by a factor of 454 and focused onto a small 5 mm² multi-junction solar cell made out of GaInP/GaInAs/ Ge (gallium indium phosphide, gallium indium arsenide on a germanium substrate).

Suntech lays off 10% of staff, halts solar expansion
The world's largest solar module maker, Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd., said it laid off 10 percent of its 8,000-strong workforce last quarter and had suspended a plan to expand capacity by 40 percent in 2009 due to weak demand. "The company was planning to expand capacity. But we made the decision to suspend it, judging from the impact of financial crisis and the real market conditions," a spokeswoman said, confirming media reports.
(...) The once red-hot solar sector is feeling the chill of the global financial crisis as funding for solar projects remains scarce and a dramatic drop in oil prices curtails demand for renewable energy. Global revenues for photovoltaic solar panels are expected to drop 19 percent in 2009, believed to be the sector's first-ever contraction, as prices fall due to oversupply, research firm iSuppli said last December.

Optisolar slashes half its staff
Solar power company OptiSolar Inc has cut nearly 300 jobs, or half its work force, and halted construction of a manufacturing plant because it could not secure the funding it needed to expand, a spokesman said on Tuesday. (...) OptiSolar made a big splash last year when it announced it would build a 550-megawatt solar farm in San Luis Obispo County whose power would be purchased by San Francisco-based Pacific Gas & Electric on a long-term contract. (...) Bernheimer said the solar farm was still in the permitting stages and wasn't scheduled to begin delivering power until 2011, giving OptiSolar plenty of time to right the ship and meet its commitment to PG&E.
(...) Launched in 2005, OptiSolar is a vertically integrated solar power company. It manufactures its own [amorphous silicon] thin-film photovoltaic panels to supply solar farms that it develops and manages.

Toshiba to Market Photovoltaic Systems
Toshiba Corporation today announced its full-scale entry into the solar photovoltaic systems business. On January 1, Toshiba's Transmission Distribution & Industrial Systems Company established the Photovoltaic Systems Division, a dedicated business management and promotion organization that will take the initiative in responding to a surge in demand for solar photovoltaic systems. (...) Toshiba will secure orders for large solar power generation systems (...)[founded on the expertise on] high-efficiency power conditioning systems and the SCiB—the Super Charge ion Battery—Toshiba's breakthrough rechargeable battery that offers excellent safety, long life and rapid charging. In system integration, Toshiba can point to world-class capabilities in system integration, particularly in connecting generation systems to distribution systems; in microgrids that connect and manage dispersed small-scale power generation sources, including renewable energy sources; and in large plant system engineering capabilities.

Moçambique: Empresa indiana vai montar painéis solares em Moçambique
A empresa indiana Central Electronics Ltd vai instalar em Moçambique uma linha de montagem de painéis solares [fotovoltaicos] nos termos de um memorando de entendimento a ser assinado esta semana em Nova Deli pelo Fundo Nacional de Energia de Moçambique (Funae). O jornal Notícias, de Maputo, informou ainda que a assinatura do memorando ocorrerá à margem da Conferência sobre Independência da Energia com a Cooperação Global, na qual Moçambique é representado pelo Ministro da Energia, Salvador Namburete. Dos assuntos a abordar no encontro, referência particular para questões da segurança energética através de uma abordagem global assente na cooperação entre as nações e electrificação rural como objecto de desenvolvimento rural.

Qimonda portuguesa ultrapassou ameaça de falência sem afectar projecto de células fotovoltaicas
O presidente da Aicep [Agência para o Investimento e Comércio Externo de Portugal], Basílio Horta, garantiu ontem que a crise por que passou recentemente a multinacional Qimonda, actualmente o maior exportador português e empregador de 1800 pessoas em Vila do Conde, não afectou o seu mais recente projecto de células fotovoltaicas.
O responsável pela agência do investimento e comércio externo de Portugal garantiu ainda que a operação de salvamento de que a Qimonda foi alvo, concertada entre o governo da Saxónia, Portugal e a UE, permitiu um "upgrade" tecnológico" ao investimento em Vila do Conde.