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South Korea Will Fight Solar Tariffs; Others Will Wait

January 24, 2018

The global solar industry on January 23 reacted to President Trump’s announcement on Monday that the U.S. will enact a 30% tariff this year on imports of solar cells and modules, a levy that could begin as soon as next month. Some groups said they will take a “wait and see” approach to the charge, while others—including South Korea—promised swift action against the assessment.

Trump on January 22 said imported photovoltaic (PV) products would be subject to a 30% tariff in 2018, with the levy falling by 5% each year, to 15% by 2022. The decision came after the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) in 2017 said imports of PV products are causing “serious injury, or threat of serious injury, to the domestic [solar] industry.” The ITC acted after Suniva, a bankrupt solar panel manufacturer with a Chinese majority owner, and SolarWorld Americas, the U.S. arm of a German solar company, asked for tariffs and a floor price to be imposed on imported solar cells and panels.…

FPL Closes Coal Plant, Brings More Solar Online

January 10, 2018

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Florida Power & Light (FPL) began the new year by opening four new solar power plants, along with officially retiring one of its two remaining coal-fired plants in the state.

The utility on January 8 said the four solar plants began operating on January 1, 2018. They are the Horizon Solar Energy Center, in Alachua and Putnam counties; the Coral Farms Solar Energy Center in Putnam County; the Indian River Solar Energy Center in Indian River County; and the Wildflower Solar Energy Center in DeSoto County. Each has a generation capacity of 74.5 MW.

The utility plans to add four more 74.5-MW solar plants to its generation fleet by March 1, 2018, sited in Brevard, Indian River, Hendry, and St. Lucie counties. FPL has installed more than 3.5 million new solar panels in the state over the past two years. It expects to have more than 10 million solar panels in service by 2023.

“The truth is progress like this doesn’t happen by accident,” Eric Silagy, FPL’s president and CEO, said in a statement.…

FPL Halfway Through 600-MW Solar Power Expansion

October 23, 2017

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Florida Power & Light (FPL), which recently sustained a blow to its nuclear expansion plans, on October 19 said it’s about halfway through an ambitious plan to add eight new solar plants in the state by early 2018, as it continues to increase its photovoltaic (PV) generation capacity as part of a larger strategy to install more than 10 million solar panels in its service territory by 2023.

FPL already has installed about 1.25 million solar panels at the eight new plants, with another 1.25 million to go. It’s the utility’s largest one-year solar expansion, surpassing the company’s installation of 1 million panels at three solar plants in 2016. FPL said construction at the sites at its peak employed more than 1,000 workers.

FPL President and CEO Eric Silagy on October 19 said the company is “investing nearly $ 1 billion to grow solar in Florida this year alone.” Silagy, visiting the Barefoot Bay Solar Energy Center in Brevard County on Thursday as part of a tour with local officials, said: “Together, these eight new plants are projected to generate an estimated net lifetime savings of more than $ 100 million for our customers, over and above the cost of construction.”…

ITC: Imported PV Cells Hurting U.S. Solar Industry

September 24, 2017

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In a unanimous decision, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) on September 22 found that photovoltaic (PV) solar cells being imported into the U.S. are causing “serious injury, or threat of serious injury, to the domestic industry.”

The decision comes in a highly contested case filed by bankrupt solar panel manufacturer, Suniva, and SolarWorld. The two petitioners argue that imports of foreign-made solar panels and modules have made it impossible for them to compete in the domestic market. To alleviate this burden, the companies have proposed that tariffs be placed on all imported modules.

“On behalf of the entire solar cell and panel manufacturing industry, we welcome this important step toward securing relief from a surge of imports that has idled and shuttered dozens of factories, leaving thousands of workers without jobs,” Juergen Stein, CEO and president of SolarWorld Americas, said in a release following the announcement of the decision.

Two Against All

The rest of the solar cell and panel manufacturing industry, however, does not seem to want SolarWorld speaking on their behalf.…

Trade Case Causes Stir at International Solar Conference

September 20, 2017

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Hanging like a thick fog over the proceedings of the annual Solar Power International (SPI) conference in Las Vegas, an ongoing trade case cast uncertainty on the industry. The case, which pits two solar manufacturers against just about everybody else in the industry, was the focus of several panels and nearly all side conversation at the conference, which ran September 11–13.

The petitioners, Suniva and SolarWorld, argue that imports of foreign made solar modules have made it impossible for them to compete in the industry. They ask that the International Trade Commission (ITC) recommend significant tariffs on all foreign made modules.

However, the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and representatives from several major solar companies argue that the tariffs would cripple the U.S. solar industry. Opponents of the tariffs go so far as to allege that the problems Suniva and SolarWorld have had in the industry are wholly due to their own business practices.

“This is a case about companies that are saying they can’t compete.…

Dubai Awards Contract for Phase 4 of Massive Solar Park

September 18, 2017

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Dubai’s government on September 16 said its state energy utility has awarded a $ 3.9 billion contract for construction of a 700-MW solar power plant at the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park. The government said the project includes an 850-foot-tall tower that will receive focused sunlight, the world’s tallest such structure in a solar park.

The contract was awarded to a consortium of Shanghai Electric and Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power. A spokesperson for ACWA Power in an email to POWER said the new plant is the fourth phase of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, which ACWA says is the largest single-site concentrated solar power (CSP) facility in the world, with plans to produce 5 GW of solar power by 2030. The first phase of the solar park, a 13-MW solar farm built by First Solar, opened in October 2013. The second phase, a 200-MW solar plant built by ACWA Power and Spain’s TSK, began operations in March 2017.…