“There is a growing desire to utilize renewable energy,” said Bill Fehrman, president of MidAmerican Renewables. “Solar plays a crucial role in meeting renewable energy targets and portfolios. The closing of the Topaz project acquisition makes it the second solar project in our renewables business, and we look forward to evaluating and acquiring additional opportunities.”

The Topaz project will be built, operated and maintained by First Solar. Construction began in December 2011 and is expected to be complete by early 2015. The project will create approximately 400 construction jobs and 15 ongoing operations and maintenance jobs.

“We are pleased to be moving forward with MidAmerican Renewables on the Topaz project — one of the two largest PV projects in the world, which are both being built by First Solar,” said Frank De Rosa, First Solar senior vice president for business development — the Americas. “First Solar is the leading developer of utility-scale PV projects, and MidAmerican Renewables’ investment in these renewable resources is a significant endorsement.”

Pacific Gas and Electric Company will purchase the electricity from the Topaz project under a 25-year power purchase agreement, helping California meet its mandate to generate 33 percent of its power from renewable sources by 2020.

Developed by First Solar, the Topaz project will incorporate the company’s advanced thin-film PV modules, which generate electricity with no emissions, waste or water use and have the smallest carbon footprint of any PV technology. Electricity generated from the Topaz project will displace approximately 377,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year — the equivalent of taking approximately 73,000 cars off the road.”

Read more: Press Release

First Solar associates hold the company’s record breaking 14.4 percent efficient module, manufactured in Perrysburg, Ohio.

The record performance, announced today at the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi by First Solar Chief Technology Officer Dave Eaglesham, comes just six months after First Solar leapfrogged the world record for CdTe solar cell efficiency with a mark of 17.3 percent. Both the cell and module record-setters were constructed using commercial-scale manufacturing equipment and materials at the Company’s Perrysburg, Ohio factory. Cell efficiency measures the proportion of light converted to energy in a single solar cell, whereas total area module efficiency measures light conversion across a production-size, multi-cell solar module, providing a more realistic assessment of real-world performance than cell or aperture-area efficiency.

“This considerable achievement supports our module efficiency roadmap and demonstrates our ability to convert our record-cell technology into ongoing module-level improvements,” said Dave Eaglesham, First Solar’s Chief Technology Officer. “These records also underscore the tremendous ongoing potential of CdTe compared to silicon-based technologies.”

First Solar updated its module efficiency roadmap in December 2011 to the increased goal of 14.5-15 percent average efficiency for its production modules by the end of 2015, and the process improvements developed for the record-setting cell and module continue to be implemented as part of that roadmap. The average efficiency of First Solar modules increased from 11.4 percent in 2010 to 11.7 percent in 2011 and is expected to reach 12.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2012.

“Our continuous investment in R&D has enabled the steady progress of our technology, punctuated by landmark achievements such as this,” said Mike Ahearn, Chairman and interim CEO of First Solar. “Our consistent progress gives us confidence in our ability to achieve our roadmap goals, drive down costs and develop sustainable markets.”

First Solar, which has manufactured more than 5 GW of its advanced thin-film modules, utilizes a continuous manufacturing process which transforms a sheet of glass into a complete solar module in less than 2.5 hours, which contributes to the company’s industry-leading energy payback time and the low carbon footprint of systems using First Solar PV modules. First Solar also implemented the industry’s first comprehensive, prefunded solar module collection and recycling program. Anyone wishing to dispose of First Solar modules can request collection at any time, at no additional cost, and First Solar will pick up the modules and recycle up to 90% (by mass) of the material for use in new products, including new solar modules and new glass products.”

Source: First Solar Press Release

The Department of Defense is required to comply with the Buy American Act and purchase American-made goods, including solar panels. In practice, however, the Buy American requirements often do not apply to solar projects at military facilities because third-party producers procure, install and maintain solar panels, financed by innovative long-term energy contracts with the department. Since the Department of Defense buys the power, and not necessarily the solar panels, a loophole in Buy American requirements has emerged where the military can purchase power from producers who do not use Buy American compliant panels.

The Buy American Solar Amendment will close this loophole and create a level playing field for U.S. solar manufacturers.

“The Department of Defense is a leader on utilizing solar power-not only for environmental reasons, but for national security reasons by making its facilities less dependent on outside power sources,” said Udall. “We are closing this loophole so that the Department of Defense always buys American when it funds solar projects for its energy security. China does not use U.S. solar panels at its military bases, so why should we use theirs at ours?”

“When it comes to charging up the American manufacturing sector and slashing our dependence on sources of foreign power, U.S. defense facilities should be using American-made solar panels in their clean energy initiatives without exception,” said Schumer. “The ‘Buy American’ requirement could not have been clearer, and I’m thrilled that the Senate has closed the loophole that allows foreign solar panel manufacturers to unfairly compete their way into our defense facilities.”

The amendment is supported by the U.S. Army and solar manufacturers with significant U.S. operations, including Sharp Electronics, Schott North America, Sanyo North America, Solar World Industries America, Suniva, Konarka Technologies, Kyocera Solar, and United Solar Ovonic. Schott Solar North America operates a significant manufacturing facility in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Despite the tough economic climate, more than 20 new U.S. solar manufacturing facilities have begun operations across America in 2010 and 2011. The U.S. solar industry employs more than 100,000 Americans, and is one of the fastest growing sectors in the economy.

“New Mexico companies, like Schott Solar, will greatly benefit from this amendment. It is also an important investment in our country’s homegrown solar businesses,” Bingaman said.

It is also supported by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and the Blue-Green Alliance. It maintains all existing provisions of the Buy American Act, which is consistent with international obligations of the U.S. Other nations that provide equal access to their government procurement markets qualify under Buy American, but large solar producers such as China and Malaysia do not qualify.

The Fiscal Year 2011 National Defense Authorization Act attempted to close this loophole, but Department of Defense procurement actions over the last year showed that the provision (Sec. 846 of P.L. 111-383) failed to meets its objective, since it still required the department to become the ultimate owner of the solar device and use it “exclusively” for the “full economic life” of the device. The Buy American Solar Amendment eliminates those loopholes to ensure that the Department of Defense solar project meets “buy American” requirements.

The House-passed National Defense Authorization Act, H.R. 1540, also includes a provision to finally close the loophole.”

Read more: Press Release

In addition to 30 megawatts (MW) of distributed solar projects in operation or under construction, NRG also will secure development rights to Solar Power Partners’ extensive pipeline of development projects in California, Hawaii, Arizona, Connecticut, New Mexico, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Ontario and Puerto Rico. SPP sites include grocery stores, hospitals, universities, office buildings, municipal buildings, schools and airports.

“With California’s goal to install 12,000 megawatts of distributed generation by 2020, and the increase in smart energy choices American businesses are demanding, this acquisition will place NRG at the head of the pack as the solar industry moves toward smaller solar projects that connect directly to the grid,” said Tom Doyle, President, NRG Solar. “Solar Power Partners has been highly successful forging partnerships to develop distributed solar projects, and I believe the company will make NRG the leading provider for the increasing number of businesses seeking solar solutions to manage their energy costs.”

Solar Power Partners will become an integral part of NRG Solar, an NRG subsidiary. The company has completed almost 50 commercial solar facilities and brings a team with deep experience developing, financing and operating projects. Solar Power Partners also specializes in creating long-term partnerships with customers to tailor each solar system to meet specific needs.

“We are excited to be joining forces with NRG Solar and believe that our combined platform will allow us to accelerate our growth and to bring more clean solar power to the market,” said Bob Powell, Solar Power Partners President and CEO, who will continue with the company as a senior executive in NRG Solar.”

Read more: Press Release

First Solar CEO Rob Gillette and Mesa, Ariz., Vice Mayor Scott Somers unveil a ceremonial marker commemorating construction progress for the company’s new factory, while Barry Broome, President and CEO of the Greater Phoenix Economic Council, looks on. (Photo: Business Wire)

Representatives from the city of Mesa and First Solar officials hosted a reception at Chandler-Gilbert Community College in Mesa to celebrate construction progress. Vice Mayor Scott Somers, Greater Phoenix Economic Council (GPEC) President and CEO Barry Broome, and Tom Alston, Solar Outreach and Policy Coordinator for U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords, also took part in the celebration.

“First Solar coming to Mesa is an important step to establish Arizona as a major player in the solar and clean energy industry. This cutting-edge facility brings hundreds of new high-tech jobs to the East Valley and adds to the ongoing development of the Gateway area,” Mayor Scott Smith said. “Projects like this don’t happen without the cooperation between the private and public sectors, region and state. I’d like to thank those partners, especially First Solar and DMB, for working together to bring this facility to the Mesa Proving Grounds.”

“Our Mesa factory has progressed from an idea to advanced construction in just a few short months, which would not have been possible without the support and hard work of countless state and local officials. Today we dedicate this site to the many people and agencies that helped make it happen, both public and private,” said Rob Gillette, CEO of First Solar. “The U.S. is our fastest-growing market, and the additional production capacity from this factory will help us meet growing demand for clean, locally produced solar electricity.”

First Solar’s Mesa factory is expected to begin producing modules by the third quarter of 2012 and will employ approximately 600 full-time associates. First Solar is investing just over $300 million in the four-line factory, which will produce approximately 250 megawatts (MW) of thin-film modules per year.

Output from the new factory is expected to be used in the construction of First Solar’s 2,600MW North American project pipeline, which includes the 290MW Agua Caliente project, located in Yuma County, Ariz. When fully operational in 2014, Agua Caliente will generate enough clean solar energy to serve the needs of about 100,000 average homes per year, displacing approximately 220,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide—the equivalent of taking about 40,000 cars off the road. Output from the Mesa factory is also expected to be used in First Solar’s California projects, including the 550MW Topaz project, 230MW Antelope Valley Solar Ranch One and the 550MW Desert Sunlight project.

Todd Spangler joined First Solar in February 2007 as the company’s Director of Manufacturing. In December 2008, he was promoted to Plant Manager of the Perrysburg, Ohio, campus. Prior to joining First Solar, he managed multiple plants and distribution centers for Lutron Electronics, the world’s leader in lighting controls.

Mike Koralewski has been with First Solar since August of 2006, leading the company’s global quality and product reliability initiatives. Prior to First Solar, he was employed by Dana Corporation for 10 years in a variety of quality functions throughout different business units.”

Read more: Press Release

Steven Chu

The press release states, “U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu today announced a $50 million investment over two years for the SUNPATH program, aimed to help the nation reclaim its competitive edge in solar manufacturing. SUNPATH, which stands for Scaling Up Nascent PV At Home, represents the second solar Photovoltaic Manufacturing Initiative (PVMI) supporting the Department of Energy’s SunShot Initiative.

“This investment provides a necessary boost to domestic solar manufacturing businesses, encouraging them to keep jobs here and establish America’s leadership in the world’s growing clean energy economy,” said Secretary Chu. “In addition to invigorating clean energy manufacturing, this program will help achieve the SunShot goal of making unsubsidized utility-scale solar cost-competitive with other forms of energy by the end of the decade.”

As recently as 1995, the United States maintained a dominant global solar market share, manufacturing 43 percent of the world’s PV panels. In steady decline, U.S. market share shrank to 27 percent by 2000 and to 7 percent by 2010. SUNPATH will help return the United States to the forefront, driving innovation and assuring continued leadership in the 21st century clean energy economy.

PVMI Part II: SUNPATH seeks to increase domestic manufacturing through investments that have sustainable, competitive cost and performance advantages. SUNPATH will help companies with pilot-scale commercial production scale up their manufacturing capabilities, enabling them to overcome a funding gap that often curtails domestic business at a critical stage. By bridging this gap, SUNPATH will help ensure that innovative, low-cost solar technologies are manufactured in the United States.

The PV Manufacturing Initiative accelerates the cost reduction and commercialization of solar technologies by coordinating solutions across industry. The initiative will help create a robust, domestic PV manufacturing base and develop a workforce with the critical skills required to deliver reliable, affordable, clean energy.

PVMI Part I: Advanced Manufacturing Partnerships has resulted in the selection of $110 million in projects to three industry and academic consortia to enable substantial cost reductions in PV module production. To ensure that these technologies are manufactured domestically, PVMI Part II: SUNPATH will support an initial ramp up to high volume manufacturing. DOE’s national laboratories are stepping up their validation facilities to ensure that the technologies developed and manufactured in Parts I and II are tested at scale in multiple locations and climates in the United States.”

Read more: Press Release

Semprius builds its modules using novel processes that combine extremely tiny solar cells with low-cost, efficient optics that concentrate the incoming sunlight more than 1,000 times. Despite the high level of concentration, Semprius modules remain cool for improved long-term reliability and performance.

In addition to its highly efficient cell technology (greater than 40 percent NREL-certified), Semprius utilizes an automated manufacturing process, leveraging standard manufacturing equipment and commodity materials, to dramatically reduce capital and labor costs.

“Semprius modules have been under on-sun testing for several years now with excellent field performance,” said Carr. “From our proprietary micro-cell technology to the enclosure and everything in between, we’ve designed our modules to be efficient, low-cost and reliable.””

Read more: Semprius Press Release

Steven Chu

According to the press release, “U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu today announced offers of conditional commitments for loan guarantees, of approximately $4.5 billion, to support three alternating current Cadmium Telluride (Cd-Te) thin film photovoltaic (PV) solar generation facilities.  The Department is offering a conditional commitment for a $680 million loan guarantee to support the Antelope Valley Solar Ranch 1 project, conditional commitments for partial loan guarantees of $1.88 billion in loans to support the Desert Sunlight project, and conditional commitments for partial loan guarantees of $1.93 billion in loans to support the Topaz Solar project.  First Solar, Inc., with headquarters in Tempe, Arizona, is sponsoring all three projects and will provide Cd-Te thin film solar PV modules for the projects from a new manufacturing plant that has begun construction in Mesa, Arizona, as well as from its recently expanded manufacturing plant in Perrysburg, Ohio, which serves as its primary hub for engineering, research and development.  The company expects that the projects will create a combined 1,400 jobs in California during peak construction.

“These projects will bring immediate jobs to California in addition to hundreds more across the supply chain,” said Secretary Chu.  “Together the projects will power hundreds of thousands of homes with clean, renewable power and increase our global competitiveness in the clean energy economy.”

DOE is offering a conditional commitment for a loan guarantee to AV Solar Ranch 1, LLC to support the Antelope Valley Solar Ranch 1 project. The 230 megawatt (MW) project will be located in the Antelope Valley area of the Western Mojave Desert, approximately 80 miles north of Los Angeles, California.  The project is expected to generate 350 construction jobs and will feature a utility-scale deployment of innovative inverters with voltage regulation and monitoring technologies that are new to the U.S. market.  The inverters enable the project to provide more stable and continuous power, increasing the efficiency and reliability of large-scale solar power plants greater than 100 MW.  The facility is expected to generate over 622,000 megawatt hours of electricity per year, equivalent to powering over 54,000 homes, and will avoid over 350,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually.  Power from the Antelope Valley Solar Ranch 1 project will be sold to Pacific Gas & Electric Company.

DOE is offering conditional commitments for partial loan guarantees to Desert Sunlight 250, LLC and Desert Sunlight 300, LLC to support the Desert Sunlight project.  The 550 MW project is expected to generate 550 jobs during construction and will be located on land managed by the Bureau of Land Management in eastern Riverside County, California.  The Desert Sunlight project is expected to use 8.8 million Cd-Te thin film solar PV modules, which are commercially proven and have been deployed since 2001.  The facility is expected to generate enough electricity to power over 110,000 homes and will avoid over 735,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide annually.  Project construction will take place in two phases; Phase I will generate 300MW of power, which will be sold to Pacific Gas & Electric Company, while Phase II will generate 250 MW of power, which will be sold to Southern California Edison.  The $1.88 billion in loans that are partially guaranteed by DOE will be funded by a syndicate of institutional investors and commercial banks led by lead lender and lender-applicant, Goldman Sachs Lending Partners LLC, which submitted the project under the Financial Institution Partnership Program (FIPP), and Citibank N.A. as co-lead arranger.

DOE is offering conditional commitments for partial loan guarantees to Topaz Solar Farms, LLC to support the Topaz Solar project.  The 550 MW project is expected to generate 500 jobs during construction and will be located in eastern San Luis Obispo County, California.  The Topaz Solar project will use over 8.5 million Cd-Te thin film solar PV modules and is anticipated to generate enough electricity to power approximately 110,000 homes and avoid nearly 725,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually.  The project’s power will be sold to Pacific Gas & Electric Company.  The $1.93 billion in loans that are partially guaranteed by DOE will be funded by a syndicate of institutional investors and commercial banks led by lead lender and lender-applicant, The Royal Bank of Scotland plc, who submitted the project under the Financial Institution Partnership Program (FIPP).

The Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office administers three separate programs:  the Title XVII Section 1703 and Section 1705 loan guarantee programs, and the Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing (ATVM) loan program.   The loan guarantee programs support the deployment of commercial technologies along with innovative technologies that avoid, reduce, or sequester greenhouse gas emissions, while the ATVM supports the development of advanced vehicle technologies.  Under all three programs, DOE has issued loans, loan guarantees or offered conditional commitments for loan guarantees totaling over $38 billion to support 40 clean energy projects across the U.S.  The program’s 23 generation projects will produce over 32 million megawatt-hours annually, or enough to power over 2.5 million homes.  To date, the program has conditionally committed over $16 billion in loan guarantees to support 15 solar generation projects.  DOE has also conditionally committed financing to support numerous other projects, such as four of the world’s largest solar projects, two geothermal projects, the world’s largest wind farm and the nation’s first new nuclear power plant in three decades.”

Read more: First Solar