Solar Power World

Solar Exchange East slated for September

More than 130 solar industry representatives recently gathered for Solar Exchange West, hosted by Siemens, University of California, Los Angeles, Clean Tech LA and the LA Business Council. The event was held at the California Nanosystems Institute at UCLA in Los Angeles–bringing together industry and academia to collaborate and innovate in the field of solar technology. Participants included photovoltaic researchers, utility representatives, manufacturers, developers, OEMs,... Read More

Smart grid innovation contest

OEM Siemens is holding a worldwide contest to identify five top sustainable business or technology proposals to help the world become a better place. The company will award $21,000 and a trip to Berlin, Germany to meet with Siemens Smart Grid experts to the five contestants with the best ideas. Siemens has also committed to providing more than over $1.5 million to translate the participants’ best ideas into reality. The contest is accepting proposals through June 15, 2011. The... Read More

One-stop shopping for CSP plants

German company Siemens brought its portfolio of products for the solar energy industry to the Solar Power International show in California in October. The company offers solutions for photovoltaics (PV) and solar thermal (CSP), and also provides engineering, procurement, and construction contracting services for commercial and utility-scale PV plants. Sun-to-heat Through the vertically integrated turnkey concept of the SunField LP, all critical heat-generating components are designed... Read More

1-MW solar farm for mining facility

Siemens will provide the inverter for the aggregate mining facility project in California. A 1-MW solar PV farm will be installed at Granite Construction Co.’s (GCC) aggregate mining facility in Coalinga,Calif. GCC will be the prime contractor for the project and intends to perform portions of the work. Siemens was awarded a contract from GCC that includes a Sinvert PVS1051 UL inverter with an integrated e-house solution and a transformer. When completed, the 1-MW solar... Read More

Software for PV plants

A manufacturer of automation systems, low-voltage switchgear, and industrial software has developed planning software for calculating the best possible configuration of PV plants. Siemens’ program, Sinvert Select V2.2, is free and enables the planner to evaluate in advance the cost-effectiveness of PV plants from 350 kW up to the megawatt range. The program is used for dimensioning, analyzing, and optimizing inverters for PV plants. Based on inputs, it automatically calculates... Read More

UVAC Solar Receiver Has Heat Loss Levels Below 9%

Siemens announced the release of a new solar receiver, the UVAC 2010 (Universal Vacuum Air Collector), which further increases thermal heat production. The new UVAC 2010 is the next generation of the UVAC receiver, which is the key component for the solar fields of parabolic-trough power plants.Using high-tech coatings, UVAC 2010 absorbs maximum solar energy and converts it into heat used to produce electricity. The power block and the solar field equipped with... Read More

Designing a “Green” Power Alternative for the Tropics

By Laura Carrabine, Senior Editor 3D technology helps designers create floating solar energy plant Sea Solar Power envisions a off-shore facility that will conduct ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC), a process that will take advantage of the temperature difference between the solar-heated surface water and the cold bottom water, using the warm surface water as the heat source and the cold bottom water as the heat sink. Sea Solar Power Inc. designed an economically efficient... Read More

Siemens To Invest More Than €250M In India

As it profits from ongoing growth in the emerging nations, Siemens is seeking to significantly expand its investment in India. Experts forecast that the Indian economy, for example, will grow seven percent in 2010 and eight percent the following year. Over the next three fiscal years through 2012, Siemens intends to invest more than €250 million in the country, thereby doubling its current annual investments. A major part of this will be invested in renewable energy and value-priced... Read More