US-based energy provider Dominion has acquired two stand-alone solar energy projects in south-west Tennessee with a combined output of 32MW.

The two projects, Mulberry farm and Selmer farm, are located in McNairy county near the town of Selmer and these are currently in late stage development by Strata Solar.

Construction of the projects is expected to begin shortly and the commercial operation is estimated to start by the end of 2014.

Grid connection will take place through facilities owned and operated by Pickwick Electric Cooperative.

Dominion said that all power and environmental attributes from two projects will be bought by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA).

Dominion Generation CEO David A Christian said that this is another important addition to Dominion’s growing portfolio of solar energy.

Christian said, “We believe it is necessary to develop and maintain a diverse generation mix, ranging from traditional sources to renewable energy.

“These two projects strategically align with our regulated and unregulated generation portfolio. We are pleased to team up with TVA on the largest solar developments in Tennessee.”

Strata Solar will manage the engineering, procurement and construction as per the terms of the agreement. It will also handle ongoing operations and maintenance once the projects are operational.

With the latest acquisition, Dominion’s total solar generating portfolio has increased to 212MW.

Additionally, the company has 41MW of solar power facilities operating at sites in Georgia, Connecticut and Indiana, along with 139MW in projects under construction in California.

As part of its solar partnership programme, Dominion also has various projects under development in Virginia.

New Hampshire, USA — As we go about our daily lives using smartphones, computers and other technologies, it’s hard to believe that more than 2 billion people globally still live without electricity. According to the International Finance Corporation $37 billion is spent on fossil fuels to power the developing world each year. However, much of this population lives in areas where it is quite sunny, making solar energy an ideal solution. Several solar companies have developed affordable technology and essential financing mechanisms to bring renewable energy to those who need it most, and are now celebrating significant milestones.

SkyPower FAS Energy has entered into agreements with both the Federal Republic of Nigeria Government and the Delta State of Nigeria Government for the setting up of utility-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) projects totalling 3,000MW within Nigeria and the Delta State of Nigeria.

Set to be developed within the next five years, the multi-phase projects will result in the production of clean, sustainable and cost-effective electricity to meet the growing energy needs of Nigeria.

The company will work with both of the governments on the planning, financing and construction of the projects for the Nigerian power grid.

According to SkyPower FAS Energy, commercial operation of the projects will begin in phases starting in 2015.

“We applaud the leadership of the Delta State and Federal Nigerian Governments for embracing this initiative and demonstrating their continued commitment to reduce carbon emissions and harness the proven power of solar PV,” Adler said.

SkyPower FAS Energy general manager Sabri Asfour said the latest agreements indicates Nigeria’s commitment to clean, renewable energy.

“SkyPower FAS Energy’s combined expertise in infrastructure development and construction will generate a large number of new jobs, support skills development, and increase prosperity in the regions of the country where these solar projects will be built,” Asfour said.

SkyPower FAS Energy, which is a joint venture between SkyPower Global and FAS Energy, focuses on the development and construction of utility-scale solar PV projects across the Middle East and North Africa region.

SkyPower Global president and CEO Kerry Adler said the signing of key agreements for solar PV projects would have a good impact on the state and country’s GDPs, resulting in increased employment and skills training.

SunEdison, a solar power technology manufacturer and provider of solar energy services completed construction of a 117 MW DC portfolio of utility-scale photovoltaic (PV) solar power plants across the U.K. The portfolio is comprised of eight separate solar power plants.

“We just entered the U.K. solar market this year and have already interconnected eight plants,” said Jose Perez, president of SunEdison Europe, Africa and Latin America. “This is a testament to our ability to enter a new market and efficiently execute projects that add to the company’s bottom line. We attribute much of our success to our ability to find highly-qualified local vendors to partner with. They provide localized expertise while helping us support the local job market.”

SunEdison recently signed a 15-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Statkraft, a purchaser of independently generated electricity in the U.K. Under the terms of the PPA, Statkraft will purchase the renewable energy generated from SunEdison’s 88 MW DC portfolio of six utility-scale photovoltaic solar power plants currently under construction throughout the U.K.

Strata Solar, a leading utility-scale solar provider, announced it has installed nine utility-scale solar power projects across North Carolina using more than $100 million of tax-equity financing provided by a subsidiary of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC). North Carolina utility Progress Energy Carolinas will purchase the power. The projects produce enough electricity to power 5,000 households and displace 28,000 metric tons of CO2 per year. Supported by a 35 percent North Carolina Renewable Energy Tax Credit, the projects create local jobs and provide additional income for those who lease their land for the solar projects.

“We are very proud of our ability to invest and build in North Carolina’s rural communities.  These projects bring jobs, significant local spend, and an increase in the tax base without the requirement of county dollars which is typical of development projects,” said Markus Wilhelm, Strata Solar’s CEO.  “On a number of occasions we’ve witnessed these projects having an impact on attracting additional investors who are looking for business-friendly environments.”

The three largest projects – Bladenboro, Wagstaff and Nash 58 – all exceed six MWs in capacity and provide a significant boost to the local tax base without requiring additional county expenditures on sewer, roads or any other infrastructure.

“As a leading provider of capital in renewable energy and cleantech across the U.S., Wells Fargo is excited to participate in the rapid expansion of solar in the Southeast,” said Barry Neal, Head of Wells Fargo’s Environmental Finance Group. “We are proud to partner with top-tier developers like Strata who share in our commitment to support communities and deploy clean energy.”

Since 2006, Wells Fargo has provided over $4 billion in tax equity and construction financing for renewable energy projects in 28 states, including over $1.3 billion for more than 300 solar projects. Renewable project finance is part of the comprehensive goal Wells Fargo announced in 2012 to deploy by 2020 an additional $30 billion in financing to build a greener economy, including loans and investments for clean technology and environmental innovation and projects such as green buildings, renewable energy projects and green businesses.

Areva has begun operations at its molten salt energy storage demonstration plant in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

The plant has been installed at Sandia National Laboratories’ National Solar Thermal Test Facility, while it is designed for use with the company’s Compact Linear Fresnel Reflector (CLFR) technology.

An innovative approach to energy storage that combines the molten salt test loop (MSTL) with Areva’s CLFR applications was developed jointly by Areva’s solar team and Sandia’s molten salt technology experts.

Areva said that the use of molten salt as a working fluid enables high temperature operations, reduces the volume of salt needed for storage, and removes the need for two sets of heat-exchangers in the system.

These efficiencies will reduce the overall cost and complexity of the system.

As a part of the project, Areva will also review the optimisation of operation and maintenance costs related to molten salt management in a real world environment.

Areva said that CLFR design uses an array of mirrors to concentrate the sun’s energy on an elevated evacuated tube receiver to heat a working fluid, in this case molten salt.

Areva Solar CEO Sam Shakir said this innovative storage solution combines the company’s proven and economical CLFR technology with the demonstrated use of molten salt as a heat transfer and storage fluid.

“Together,these technologies provide a solution to capture the sun’s energy sun during the day and economically deliver renewable power to the grid at any time,” Shakir said.

Sandia National Laboratories manager for concentrating solar Dr. Subhash L. Shinde said: “This is an enabling technology that provides a possible path to realising the Department of Energy-driven Sunshot programme’s goal to reduce the total installed cost of solar energy systems to $.06 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) by 2020.”

The U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC’s) latest report, which explores ways to cut carbon emissions, put the world on notice. Despite efforts in the United States, Europe and developing countries such as China to ramp up energy efficiency and renewable energy, global carbon emissions have been increasing at a much faster clip than they were just a few decades ago. To avoid the worst of the worst, IPCC scientists say emissions will have to be reduced 40 percent to 70 percent by 2050 and warn that we only have a 15-year window to reverse course.

NRG Solar along with its partner MidAmerican Solar has completed the 290MW Agua Caliente solar photovoltaic (PV) facility in Arizona.

Located on 2,400 acres of land between Yuma and Phoenix, the project was designed and built by First Solar using its thin-film PV modules. Electricity generated from the facility will be sold to Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E) under a 25-year power purchase agreement.

The project has secured a $967m loan guarantee from the US Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office and has created around 400 jobs during the construction.

NRG Solar said that the facility is estimated to avoid annual emission of approximately 324,000t of CO2 into the atmosphere.

First Solar will operate and maintain the facility for NRG and MidAmerican Solar.

NRG Solar president Tom Doyle said, “Large-scale utility accomplishments, like our Agua Caliente project, raise the bar in terms of our clean-energy technology and production.

“Proving that we can build both the world’s largest solar thermal and now one of the world’s largest solar photovoltaic facilities advance NRG’s mission to reshape the energy landscape that is incredibly beneficial to both the economy and in how we produce and consume energy.”

“Whether it’s partnering, developing or investing, NRG will lead the way in providing a diverse set of solutions and technologies to get the US to the ultimate goal of providing affordable, reliable clean energy for everyone,” Doyle added.

TOKYO — General Electric Co. is investing $24 million in India’s largest solar-power plant, drawn by what it called the technology’s “incredible potential” in the nation.

A new solar material that has the same crystal structure as a mineral first found in the Ural Mountains in 1839 is shooting up the efficiency charts faster than almost anything researchers have seen before—and it is generating optimism that a less expensive way of using sunlight to generate electricity may be in our planet’s future.

Researchers at the Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) are analyzing the new material, perovskite, using the lab’s unique testing capabilities and broad spectrum of expertise to uncover the secrets and potential of the semiconducting cube-like mineral.

NREL has already produced three scientific papers on perovskite, reporting on the science behind the very large length of the electron pairs (or charge diffusion length) in mesostructured perovskite solar cells. The two most-studied perovskite device structures are mesostructured (of medium complexity) and planar (two-dimensional). NREL Research Fellow David Ginley, who is a world-renowned materials scientist and winner of several R&D 100 Awards, said what makes perovskite device structures so remarkable is that when processed in a liquid solution, they have unusual abilities to diffuse photons a long distance through the cell. That makes it far less likely that the electrons will recombine with their hole pairs and be lost to useful electricity. And that indicates a potential for low-cost, high-efficiency devices.

NREL Senior Scientist Daniel Friedman notes that the light-absorbing perovskite cells have “a diffusion length 10 times longer than their absorption length,” not only an unusual phenomenon, but a very useful one, too.