Solar farm fountain

A Associação cultural - Cultivamos Cultura celebrou ontem o início das suas actividades com a inauguração da Solar Farm Fountain criada pelos seus primeiros artistas residentes. Mais detalhes aqui.

Tuvalu plans to be first 100% solar-powered nation
Only three feet above sea level, the island of Tuvalu has suffered in the wake of rising waters -- and even went so far as to sue the Bush administration for their refusal to do anything about carbon emissions. (...) Tuvalu's 12,000 residents have decided to fight back. The world's fourth-smallest nation recently announced that it would power the entire island with 100% solar energy by 2020. The ambitious project is expected to only cost around $20 million (not bad for an entire nation -- but still a hefty $1,666 per resident!) and serve as a model of sustainbility for the rest of the world.

German PV sees positive growth again
The sales turnover of the manufacturers of equipment, machinery and plants for the photovoltaic industry in Germany for the first quarter of 2009 has exceeded the respective quarter of last year by 60 per cent.(...) For the second quarter the participating companies expect yet another turnover growth of 9%. The orders on hand remain at a high level, the range of orders only slightly went down to 10.2 production months. "The current oversupply of solar modules and financing problems of the manufacturers slow down the expansion of production capacities. Therefore, it comes as no suprise that the sales growth has declined significantly compared to the doubling it has seen for the last three years.

Sócrates anuncia incentivo de 5000 euros para quem comprar carro eléctrico
O primeiro-ministro, José Sócrates, anunciou esta manhã que o Governo vai conceder um incentivo de 5000 euros para cada cidadão que adquirir um carro elétrico. O prémio sobe para 6500 euros no caso de a aquisição ser feita com abate de veículo velho. A medida faz parte de um pacote de incentivos para a disseminação da utilização de carros eléctricos em Portugal e foi anunciada depois de Sócrates ter recebido o vice-presidente da Nissan Europa, Eric Nicolas [que anunciou a construção de uma fábrica de baterias para carros eléctricos em Portugal]. O Governo vai também tornar obrigatório que os novos edifícios licenciados tenham prevista no projecto a pré-instalação de sistemas de abastecimento dos carros eléctricos nas garagens e vai conceder incentivos fiscais de 50 por cento às empresas que adquirirem veículos movidos a electricidade para a sua frota. Sócrates não esclareceu, todavia, como será feito o abatimento. O avanço para a substituição da frota da administração público por veículos eléctricos é outra das medidas anunciadas esta manhã por José Sócrates.

Fábrica de painéis cria 1.800 empregos em Abrantes
Vai ser construída em Abrantes uma nova fábrica de painéis fotovoltaicos e torres eólicas. Um projecto que, de acordo com o presidente da autarquia, implica um investimento de 818 milhões de euros e criará 1.800 postos de trabalho, dos quais 300 são de engenheiros e quadros técnicos superiores. O Projecto Integrado de Energia Solar (PIES) «visa agregar toda a cadeia de produção de energia solar, com a instalação de sete unidades industriais, cinco a sete torres eólicas, painéis solares e turbinas de co-geração», explicou Nelson de Carvalho à agência Lusa. A unidade será instalada na freguesia de Pego, numa área de 82 hectares, com uma área real de implantação de 16 hectares. O projecto de investimento, da responsabilidade do empresário Alexandre Alves e do Grupo RPP Spolar, é considerado de Interesse Nacional (PIN) pela autarquia, que o apoia junto da Agência Portuguesa de Investimento. Os terrenos foram cedidos a preço simbólico, com isenção de pagamento de taxas urbanísticas e outros apoios ao investimento

Martifer Solar's 50MW Automated Module Production Line Completed
Martifer Solar and Spire Corporation jointly announced that Martifer Solar accepted last month Spire's 50 MW per year automated module production. Both Spire and Martifer are fully satisfied with the performance of the Portuguese company's photovoltaic factory. The fully automated turnkey module manufacturing line uses robotic systems for material handling and processing. (...) Spire has successfully automated the steps that are typically done manually. These included automation of string bussing, encapsulate trimming, module framing, junction box attachment, hi-pot testing and module simulation characterization.

China hikes 2011 solar power target
China is aiming for an installed solar power capacity of 2 GW by 2011, nearly a 15-fold jump from the 140 mW capacity it had at the end of last year (...) The National Energy Administration has decided to expand the country's solar power capacity to 2 GW in the next two years, with a subsidized price for solar power of 1.09 yuan per kWh [three times the rate paid by coal-fired power plants]. (...) The solar industry has been hit hard since the end of last year due to freezing credit resulting from the financial crisis and an oversupply of solar panels that have cut prices sharply. (...) The government in March approved a subsidy of 20 yuan per watt for solar PV systems larger than 50 kW fixed on building roofs. The subsidy, which could cover half the cost of installing the system, was popular among developers, attracting applications equivalent to the building of 1 GW of solar power, Reuters reported earlier.

Solar Stocks Eclipsed - Plunging prices will hurt makers of solar power cells this year
[R]apidly falling prices for photovoltaic systems amid fierce competition for customers during the recession as well as scarce financing for new projects [is leading to] solar buyers putting off their purchases, guessing that they can get the same amount of power for less money if they wait a few months, writes Deutsche Bank solar analyst Steve O'Rourke in a recent report. There are several types of solar cells on the market, and some manufacturers can claim higher efficiency, but solar power is a basically a commoditized business. Customers buy based on the price per watt of installed power. As the recession cuts into corporate spending on technology, prices look set to fall from $2.50 a watt to $2.00 in the next few months, to just $1.85 by next year, predicts O'Rourke.

Central da Amareleja leva Acciona e Mitsubishi a fazerem aliança global
A espanhola Acciona e a japonesa Mitsubishi anunciaram hoje o estabelecimento de uma aliança estratégica internacional para o desenvolvimento de projectos de energia renovável, depois de em Março a Acciona ter vendido à Mitsubishi uma posição de 34% na central solar da Amareleja, no Alentejo, que a Acciona controlava totalmente.