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COP21: Conergy to send 10 ‘future solar leaders’ to Paris climate talks

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Global solar company Conergy is to send 10 American students to the COP21 climate change negotiations in Paris this December as part of its newly launched Future Solar Leaders programme.


Conergy said the programme was designed to boost media coverage of solar policy and industry growth across the world as well as support the next wave of leaders in the solar market.

Conergy sorted through nearly 300 applicants before choosing the ten students for the programme. The students were selected based on previous climate change leadership, proficiency in communication and the ability to operate in business networking environments.

In Paris, the Future Leaders will interview United Nations delegates about solar and publish content on Conergy’s blog, with the aim of holding COP21 delegates accountable to strong renewable energy commitments.

Yann Brandt, regional head of the Americas at Conergy, said: “We are thrilled to launch this programme and support the next generation of solar leaders in elevating the topic of solar at these ever-important climate negotiations.”

The students chosen are Eric Beeler (George Washington University, Washington D.C.), Zach Bielak (Rice University, Houston, Texas), Rohith Desikan (Stanford University, Palo Alto, California), Emma Hutchinson (Stanford University, Palo Alto, California), Christina Cilento (Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois), Shana Gallagher (Tufts University, Boston, Massachusetts), Jake Kornack (Willamette University, Salem, Oregon), Caroline Saunders (Vanderbilt, Nashville, Tennesse), Salwa Shameem (University of Chicago, Illinois), Kyle Sundman (University of Denver, Colorado).

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BLP forms JV with Norway’s Statkraft for distributed solar in India

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India-based renewable energy company, Bharat Light and Power (BLP), and Norwegian state-owned electricity company Statkraft have formed a 50:50 joint venture to provide distributed solar in India.


The JV named Statkraft BLP Solar Solutions (SBSS) will offer both rooftop and ground-mount solar solutions to industrial and commercial consumers. SBSS will also provide various financing structures.

The Indian government has earmarked 40GW of rooftop solar to be installed by 2022 as part of its 100GW solar target.

BLP chief executive Tejpreet Chopra, said: “This partnership brings together two entities committed to support the government’s renewable energy objectives. By providing distributed solar energy solutions on a per kWh basis, storage and micro grid solutions, we intend to transform the way power is generated and consumed in India. This will go a long way in supporting the government’s mission of 24/7 power for all by 2019."

Statkraft chief executive, Christian Rynning-Tønnesen said: “Exploring new business opportunities within distributed solar energy are of great importance to Statkraft. The combination of our core competence in energy management and BLP’s local knowledge and expertise, constitutes a solid platform for value creating services to industrial and commercial customers in India”.

In September, Italian-based renewable energy developer Enel Green Power (EGP) entered the Indian market by acquiring a majority stake in utility-scale wind and solar operator BLP Energy, a subsidiary of BLP, for around EUR30 million (US$32.7 million).

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Laser light treatment may make the flu shot more effective

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ofweek news -  Researchers have come up with a new addition to the typical flu shot procedure: a brief blast of laser light to the skin.

Scientists at the Vaccine and Immunotherapy Center at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) have found that pre-treating the site of intradermal vaccinations (vaccines delivered into the skin rather than the muscles beneath) with a specific wavelength of light can dramatically improve the effectiveness of flu shots.

Laser light treatment may make the flu shot more effective
After more than a year of testing a series of laser light pretreatments and vaccines on mice, as well as different strengths of laser light on humans, researchers found that a low-power near-infrared laser was very good at increasing the vaccine's potency.

The flu caused nearly 400,000 hospitalizations in the U.S. last year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Though influenza is very contagious, there are steps you can take to prevent a mid-season bout of the flu. The easiest is getting a flu shot. The CDC reported that last year flu shots prevented nearly 80,000 hospitalizations and more than 6.5 million cases of the flu in the U.S.
Shining a Light on the Flu Virus

Some vaccines can be made more effective by adding adjuvants. Adjuvants are additions to a vaccine that amplify the body's natural immune response, causing it to release more antibodies to fight the flu virus.

Some chemical adjuvants can produce negative side effects, including soreness or tenderness at the site of the vaccine injection.

Laser light, however, is different.

“The key thing is that it’s transient. Chemical adjuvants hang around in your skin and cause pain,” says study author Mark Poznansky, Ph.D., director of the Vaccine and Immunotherapy Center. “If you can mitigate those side effects of a chemical adjuvant, that’s a big deal.”

Poznansky and his team have found that a laser produces ample immune responses within 24-hours, which is a much shorter time than the residual effects of chemical or biological adjuvants last. Ideally, Poznansky says, a hand-held laser device could be used by anyone administering a flu shot.

The researchers got the idea for a laser light adjuvant from Russian scientists after another investigator at the Vaccine and Immunotherapy Center saw Russian physicians using lasers to treat advanced kidney cancer.

“Technologies were coming out of Russia, and they needed to be validated. That’s really how we got into lasers in the first place,” Poznansky says.
Choosing a Laser Light

Researchers identified the strongest near-infrared laser that did not cause tissue damage and worked well on people of all skin tones.

They tested the laser on human volunteers who reported no discomfort after two minutes of exposure. They employed the same type of laser used for tattoo and hair removal, but at much lower power.

Seven-week old mice were given a short pre-treatment with the laser light, followed by a flu shot. Researchers found that a one-minute exposure to near-infrared light greatly improved the vaccine's performance.

Ideally, researchers want to get the 60-second exposure time down to 30, or even 15 seconds, Poznansky says.

Moving forward, researchers hope to explore laser-light treatments for other illnesses, such as hepatitis and cancer, Poznansky says. “The key thing we’re going to look at is how to accelerate vaccines and immunotherapy,” he says.
Related Products: laser printer laser machine laser stage light animation laser lights

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GTM: Cost-cutting module-level power electronics market to exceed 1GW by 2020

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By 2020, shipments of module-level power electronics will more than double from today’s levels in an increasingly competitive space, according to a new report from GTM Research.


Smart and AC PV modules that have integrated power electronics are gradually gaining traction in the global solar market. Overall they will represent a gigawatt-plus market by 2020, GTM said. From 73MW shipped in 2014, the research firm expects the market to leap to 1.01GW by 2020. Meanwhile in economic terms, market value will leap almost tenfold. Worth US$70 million last year, GTM expects a value of US$603 million worldwide by 2020.

The technology, which gives PV system operators the ability to control and monitor their systems at module level, rather than from a central inverter, offers tangible opportunities for cost reduction, according to Scott Moskowitz, lead author of the report, 'Smart and AC PV modules 2015-2020: Technologies, value propositions and forecasts for module-integrated power electronics'.

“The PV industry is hungry for solutions that simplify labour, eliminate redundancy and lower overall costs. Each of these objectives can be accomplished with smart and AC modules,” Moskowitz said.

As GTM pointed out, the market is not only growing but features an expanding field of players. Enphase and SolarEdge have traditionally carved up the vast majority of the microinverter and DC optimiser markets respectively, which presaged the module-level power electronics era, with the module-level space dominated by a small handful of companies including Tigo Energy and Maxim Integrated.

While the market will therefore grow significantly by 2020, it will still represent a relatively small share of the overall PV module market. Falling costs, increased competition and reduced mark-ups for manufacturers will contribute to the overall share rising from around 3% to 7%.

Further impetus to activity in the module-level market could come from a revision to fire safety codes in the US: proposed changes to the US National Electric Code around PV systems are widely expected to include requirements that PV systems must be capable of being shut down at module level, rather than central inverter level.

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Shunfeng launches O&M firm in Germany

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Shunfeng International Clean Energy (SFCE), the owner of module maker Suntech, has launched a new O&M company in Germany named Raising Power.


The new firm, which is headquartered in Augsburg, also has locations in Los Angeles and Shanghai and has an existing portfolio of more than 500MW of solar PV capacity under contract globally.

In September, Shunfeng purchased insolvent German project developer SAG Solarstrom for €65 million (US$85.4million). Solarstrom had been looking for new investment after a number of delayed project payments forced it to begin insolvency proceedings at the end of 2013.

Shunfeng has now founded Raising Power in Germany, claiming that its team has “extensive expertise” in remote monitoring and experience in the technical operation and administration of PV systems. Supported by SFCE, the firm will work with investors, system manufacturers and operators as well as suppliers and customers.

Dirk Stahf, chief executive of Raising Power, said the company’s goal is to optimise existing solar plants, of which 70% are not operating to their maximum energy yields. The company also aims to maximise returns on investment in solar power.
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TSMC management shake-up shocks industry

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Major management shake-up at TSMC
Steve Tso (left) will succeed Rick Tsai (right) as the chairman and CEO for TSMC Solar and TSMC Solid State.
TSMC revealed two astonishing personnel changes on the same day. After its senior VP of Worldwide Sales and Marketing Jason Chen resigned to be appointed as ACER's corporate president and CEO from, Rick Tsai, the chairman and CEO for TSMC Solar and TSMC Solid State Lighting was reported to leave his job to take up the post of chairman of Chunghwa Telecom, the news shocked the industry. TSMC confirmed that Steve Tso, TSMC's chief information officer was expected to be Tsai's successor, and the change of personnel would be completed before the end of January next year.

TSMC chairman Morris Chang once pointed out that TSMC's solar and solid state lighting business were an "ace in the hole" of the company.
Panasonic to donate 100,000 solar lanterns worldwide

Panasonic to donate 100,000 solar lanterns worldwide

The company seeks to involve people around the world in the project and to make those participants aware of issues in the regions without electricity.

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LDK Solar collapses into bankruptcy in China

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China-based polysilicon and PV module manufacturer LDK Solar has been forced into bankruptcy proceedings in China soon after it had exited bankruptcy proceedings of its parent holding company that was once listed in the US.


A web of LDK Solar subsidiary companies in China that had indirect investment from the likes of major China-based renewables enterprises such as Shunfeng, which had previously acquired bankrupt Suntech, once the largest PV module manufacturer in the world are impacted by the developments.

On November 17, 2015, the Xinyu Intermediate Court was said to have declared the commencement of the bankruptcy restructuring, which will start on March 1, 2016.

"It is regrettable that we have come to this inevitable juncture on our onshore financial crossroads, despite the tremendous efforts we have made in order to make progress in our onshore financial restructuring subsequent to our successful offshore financial restructuring," commented Mr. Zhibin Liu, Chairman, President and CEO of LDK Solar. "Nevertheless, we respect our creditors' rights and interests; we respect our other stakeholders' rights and interests; and we respect the judicial intervention by the Xinyu Intermediate Court in its attempt to protect the rights and interests of our various stakeholders. We will cooperate with the court and will endeavor to achieve a reasonable and balanced result for LDK Solar and its stakeholders. As far as the LDK Solar management is concerned, we continue to be determined to work hard in the current and forthcoming economic environment, to meet our challenges ahead in our onshore restructuring, and to build our company up into a reputable player in the photovoltaic industry. In this regard, we appreciate the continued support of our wide-ranging stakeholders during our tortuous restructuring and rebuilding process."

Subsidiaries of LDK Solar in China that have been forced into bankruptcy by creditors include the following:

Jiangxi LDK Solar Hi-Tech Co., Ltd., LDK Solar Hi-Tech (Xinyu) Co., Ltd., Jiangxi LDK PV Silicon Technology Co., Ltd. and Jiangxi LDK Solar Polysilicon Co., Ltd.

The actions against LDK Solar were brought about by Xinyu City Chengdong Construction and Investment Corporation ("Xinyu Chengdong") and China National Grid (Jiangxi Province) Corporation Ganxi Power Branch ("Ganxi Power" and, together with Xinyu Chengdong.

Debts owed amounted to over US$44 million Rmb 281,581,675 and US$8.3 million to electricity charges due Ganxi Power.

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Under review

Can I use ni-mh batteries in my garden solar lights?

weijing3333 fa 9 anys updated by alice915 fa 9 anys 3
The solar light batteries in my garden are dead. Upon replacing them, I realized they were the old Ni-Cd rechargeable batteries.

I have heard that these batteries are not so good for the environment because they contain toxic chemicals (see Wikipedia). I would like to use Ni-MH batteries instead.

Would this be recommended or will slowly charging these batteries using solar panels shorten its life span?

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Akcome to use Huawei’s ‘Smart PV’ O&M technology

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PV utility-scale project developer and back-end PV components producer Akcome is to deploy Huawei’s ‘Smart PV’ O&M technology on gigawatts of PV power plant projects.


Earlier this year, Huawei signed a comprehensive Smart PV cooperation agreement with Akcome Electric Power Development Co for a total capacity of 1.8GW that incorporated its smart PV controller and intelligent operation & maintenance (O&M) management system.

Implementation of the Smart PV system was said to be ongoing with a 90MW project on former saline wasteland in Jinghe County, Bozhou State, Xinjiang Province that is expected to be grid connected by the end of November 2015.

The plant is also using Huawei inverters that are equipped with precisions sensors which can monitor the running status of each PV string. Big data analysis and data mining that covers all data instead of data samples are expected to be implemented that also enable operators to analyze the running and revenue statistics of the power plants in detail. Power plant efficiencies are also expected to be compared in various dimensions to identify power plant optimisation opportunities.

Currently, Akcome is building a new O&M centre to monitor and manage all of its PV power assets, which are expected to reach around 1GW in 2015.

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Softbank and Mitsui prepare to activate 111MW Japan PV array

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SB Energy, the offshoot of telecoms group Softbank, and conglomerate Mitsui are close to flipping the switch on a 111MW PV array in northern Japan.


The companies said in a statement yesterday that the plant on Hokkaido island would be activated next week, on 1 December.

The joint project was first announced in March 2013 and had initially been scheduled for launch earlier this year.

Built on 166ha of land near the town of Abira, the project is expected to provide power to around 30,000 households, according to the two companies.

Mitsui and SB Energy are collaborating on a number of other utility PV projects in Japan.