Seven Days of Solar 12-25-11 | Green Energy News

January 20, 2012 – Vol.16 No.44

SEVEN DAYS OF SOLAR 12-25-11.

Globally, market intelligence group TrendForce expects 2012 to be a challenging year for solar energy.

According to EnergyTrend, TrendForce's green energy division expects 2012 to be the year for the global solar industry to face an arduous challenge and weed out the weak. The policies will focus on the total installation volume control and decreasing subsidies. Additionally, policies for the emerging markets have been mapped out, but it will require some time for them to take effect. On the other hand, the spot prices from wafers to modules remain low, and the slim margin has caused most manufacturers to hang by a thread.

Based on EnergyTrend’s estimate, the 2011 global solar installation capacity will reach 19 GW, but the overall inventory amount, including semifinished and finished products, will reach as high as 10 GW. Therefore, the market is still severely oversupplied. EnergyTrend forecasts that the demand in the solar market will amount to approximately 19 GW for 2012; the stagnant demand is due to the decreasing demand in Italy, Germany and the United Kingdom, which are caused by the subsidy policies changes in Europe. As for the Asian markets, benefiting from the subsidy policies, China, Japan, Malaysia and Thailand will see slight demand surges in 2012. EnergyTrend expects no rapid growth for the solar market until 2013.

On the other hand, despite the hype that the North American and Indian markets have been generating, their outlooks remain uncertain. In regard to the North American market, the Cash Grant program is set to expire at the end of 2011 and the new Federal Tax Credits will fill the vacancy in 2012. However, EnergyTrend believes that the growth momentum for Federal Tax Credits are able to bring to the market is minimal, which will add uncertainty to the American market in 2012. As for the Indian market, although the National Solar Mission drives up solar demand, the government’s efficiency and financial health together with the enforcement of the Local Content Requirement policy may dampen the bright prospects in the Indian solar market.

Headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan, TrendForce also has branches in Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen.

EnergyTrend http://www.energytrend.com

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While the public relations folks covering the PV sector of the US solar energy industry took the week between Christmas and the new year off, the solar thermal PR people were hard at work.

--- SunMaxx Solar, a leading, vertically integrated manufacturer of solar thermal systems and components, is pleased to announce a solar thermal installation at Northern Arizona University earlier this year.

The project encompasses over 5,300 square feet of SunMaxx ThermoPower VHP-30 evacuated tube collectors. 102 individual collectors provide a domestic hot water system for the University’s new Health and Learning Center. This center, formally the NAU Recreation Center, was remodeled in 2011, creating the NAU Health and Learning Center. The newly remodeled facility includes an indoor jogging track, 38 foot climbing wall, larger weight room, multipurpose gym and cardio theater. It also includes all on-campus medical services that were previously housed at another location on campus. The new solar thermal system was installed and commissioned during the Summer of 2011.

SunMaxx also launched a new line of products this week: Made in the US too!

The company announced that they will begin offering non-pressure storage tanks out of their Binghamton, New York facility.

SunMaxx manufactures a variety of solar hot water storage tanks designed for both commercial and government installations. Combining both European and US technology, the new storage tanks will reduce costs and improve quality and overall performance of SunMaxx solar systems. The non pressure storage tanks are available to order for shipping worldwide. SunMaxx offers tank sizes that range from 160 gallons to over 2,000 gallons.

Now in Binghamton, the storage tank manufacturing facility will help improve system cost structures, quality and efficiency. New storage tanks will reduce overall storage tank system costs for commercial projects by 20%. SunMaxx Solar installers will have the added benefit of reduced system prices as well as improved installation times.

SunMaxx http://www.sunmaxxsolar.com

--- SunWater Solar and Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation (TNDC) have announced new solar thermal systems at two affordable housing buildings in the heart of San Francisco's Tenderloin District. The two systems, consisting of 40 solar collectors and 24 collectors, respectively, garnered a total of $85,867 in California Solar Initiative-Thermal (CSI-Thermal) rebates. One hundred percent of this rebate money was used to fund system components and installation.

The solar water-heating systems are one element of TNDC's Green Retrofit Initiative, an effort aimed at making TNDC buildings more energy efficient. Cosponsored by the San Francisco Mayor's Office of Housing (MOH) and Enterprise Community Partners, the initiative also included boiler replacements, and the installation of energy-efficient lighting and low-flow shower heads and toilets. Fine Line Construction of San Francisco was the general contractor for the project.

Founded in 2007 and based in Richmond, California, SunWater Solar serves a variety of industries and focuses exclusively on solar thermal technology.

SunWater Solar http://www.sunwatersolar.com