The Solar Impulse Website has great images and videos supporting the press release info below:

From Swiss watchmaker Omega:

The development of a performance simulation and testing system (system test bench) for
the Solar Impulse project led by Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg, whose
objective is to develop and build an exclusively solar-powered airplane and to fly it
day and night by 2009, and around the world by the end of 2011. Known for its
precision-technology watches, the development of innovative timekeeping equipment
and its historic role as Official Timekeeper of the Olympic Games, Omega has been
deeply involved together with the Group Team in the development of the airplane’s
engine and of the system test bench used to test various components of the Solar
Impulse airplane. A member of Swatch Group, the world’s largest watchmaking Group
and a leading provider of advanced technologies to a variety of industries, Omega
contributes its high-profile brand presence, communication support and essential
technologies developed by Swatch Group specialists in the areas of automation and
the development of test equipment to the Solar Impulse project.

Solar Impulse Test Bench

The system test bench is an electromechanical system designed to enable the Solar
Impulse development team to simulate and test the performance of the airplane’s
electrical systems at the conceptual stage, i.e. before production of the respective
components begins. In developing this bench, the OMEGA team made use of previous
experience in Swatch automation and testing of hybrid cars. The team will test the
airplane’s electrical propulsion systems, including the batteries, the electric motors
and the connections to the propellers. In particular, as full-sized solar panels for the
airplane are not yet available for testing, the system test bench will allow the Solar
Impulse team to simulate the performance of the solar panels destined to provide the
sole source of energy to the plane’s four electric motors. The tests will determine the
effective energy delivered by the solar cells to the motors. The team will also analyze
the performance of the motor under normal conditions and at temperatures ranging
from –40ºC to +55ºC; battery capacity; and the performance of the airplane’s
controls.

Hybrid Drive Propulsion Technology

Omega’s support is of critical importance to the Solar Impulse project, in particular
with respect to the airplane’s electrical propulsion system. Omega is providing the
technological expertise that enabled the development, initiated in the 1980s, of the
Swatchmobile hybrid propulsion system, along with the services of one of the experts
who oversaw development of the innovative automobile’s hybrid-drive engine. The
Swatchmobile was conceived - far ahead of its time - as a hybrid vehicle that
combined a thermal motor with four electric motors powered by a rechargeable
battery. The numerous technological challenges facing the Swatchmobile development
engineers to conceive and implement totally innovative solutions in terms of
propulsion electronics, electric motors, battery management and security. It is this
invaluable expertise and exceptional experience that Omega has made available to
the Solar Impulse development team.

One of the main supporters of this project is Bertrand Piccard.

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TORONTO–(Marketwire - June 29, 2009) - Canadian Solar Inc. (”the Company”, “Canadian Solar” or “we”) (NASDAQ: CSIQ) today announced it has received a purchase order from Systaic AG (SYSCF) for 30 MW of solar modules to be delivered to Spain. This is a specific purchase order under the 60 MW annual supply agreement that the two companies announced in October of 2008. Delivery under the agreement has already started.

Including this new 30MW purchase order, the Company has recently signed or reconfirmed sales contracts, contract extensions or received purchase orders for delivery of about 120MW of solar module products to 24 customers in Europe, North America and Asia. Most of these deliveries are expected to take place from June to October.

Dr. Shawn Qu, Chairman and CEO remarked, “We have insisted on quality products and services, long-term partnerships and prudent financial management. We are pleased that our efforts have paid off. The recent ‘flight to product quality and financial strength’ by customers, coupled with very competitive pricing have resulted in strong demand for our solar modules. The relationship between Canadian Solar and Systaic is a good example. The two companies have developed a solid partnership since early 2008, and Systaic has been one of our Top 10 customers in 2008. We have supported each other in recent quarters, leveraging Canadian Solar’s compelling product portfolio and financial strengths with Systaic’s strong system integration capability and large footprint in Europe, especially in the key markets of Germany, Spain and Italy. We are looking forward to our ongoing collaboration given both companies commitment to quality workmanship, innovation and service.”

Michael Pack, CEO of Systaic said: “We decided to start executing the annual agreement as the financing environment is improving, reconfirming our intention to reach the 60 MW annual target. The combination of Systaic’s system technology and Canadian Solar’s high performance modules has delivered high energy yields in the Spanish projects our companies have executed. As a result, Systaic recently completed a transaction to sell one of our solar farms, built with Canadian Solar’s modules, to a well-known off-take fund. The transaction has successfully received a refinancing from a leading German bank, underscoring the high financial attractiveness and bankability of our projects.”

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SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY–(Marketwire - June 30, 2009) - Atlantic Energy Solutions, Inc. (PINKSHEETS: AESO) is pleased to announce that they have been awarded with their second multi-million dollar energy efficiency project from a Long Island, NY School District.

This exciting project entails a new 400kw solar photovoltaic system, a 500kw cogeneration system, IT Network Management, weatherization, major HVAC renovations, and boiler and lighting replacement.

Atlantic indicates that in similar fashion to the previously announced Long Island school district award, this site was also looking to be energy efficient and envrionmentally cautious in its journey leading them to Atlantic Energy Solutions. These new changes, along with over $500,000 in LIPA solar incentives, the school district and their taxpayers will realize energy savings of over $700,000 annually.

Timothy Brock, CEO, of Atlantic Energy states, “We are pleased to be working with this school district and in being able to support their objectives for green technology innovation and energy savings. I’m especially proud of the effort of the Atlantic Energy team and their relationship with school district administrators, as we were awarded this contract over several well known industry stalwarts such as Johnson Controls (”JCI”), Honeywell (”HON”) and ConEdision Solutions.”

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CHANGZHOU, China, June 30 /PRNewswire-Asia-FirstCall/ — Trina Solar Limited (NYSE: TSL) (”Trina Solar” or the “Company”), a leading integrated manufacturer of solar photovoltaic products from the production of ingots, wafers and cells to the assembly of PV modules, today announced that one of the Company’s key solar module glass suppliers, Beijing Hua Mei Dazheng Technology Co. Ltd (”Beijing Hua Mei”), has signed an investment agreement to establish a production facility in the Changzhou Trina Photovoltaic Industrial Park. The agreement was signed with the Changzhou National High Tech District to build a production facility adjacent to Trina Solar’s manufacturing campus. Construction of the facility is planned to start in the second half of 2009, with production expected to begin in the first half of 2010.

Beijing Hua Mei is one of the first PV glass companies to be established in China and has supplied Trina Solar since 2007. Trina Solar has entered into a long term agreement to purchase solar module glass produced by the new Changzhou production facility.

“We are excited by the ongoing developments of the Changzhou Trina PV Industrial Park and the opportunity to continue forming a strong partnership with Beijing Hua Mei,” said Jifan Gao, Trina Solar’s Chairman and CEO.

“Adding this key component supplier to the PV Park will support our goals to realize procurement and logistical advantages to accelerate our near term cost reduction initiatives. We are pleased that this important supplier has chosen to locate adjacent to the Trina Solar campus, and we believe this shows that Changzhou is fast becoming a hub for China’s solar PV industry.”

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CYPRESS, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Mitsubishi Electric & Electronics USA, Inc. and Perpetual Power (P2) have announced the completion of four solar-powered deep water wells at Limoneira Company’s Ducor Ranch. The four solar 250kW AC arrays include single-axis tracking systems which are expected increase power output of each array by 15% by maximizing the amount of sunlight collected by the panels.

When operating at full capacity, the 6,400 ground-mounted, high-efficiency photovoltaic panels can generate 1MW of AC energy for the Limoneira Company, which grows and processes lemons, avocados, oranges, specialty citrus, pistachios and cherries on its orchards in Santa Paula, Calif. Limoneira’s solar electric system is expected to produce 2,300,000 kWh of electricity annually.

Perpetual Power, a San Francisco-based company, designed and installed the four 250kW AC solar electric systems for Limoneira Company. “Using solar energy to irrigate Limoneira’s orchards was a perfect compliment to their existing 1MW solar array. The four new solar systems not only save the company money, they keep the air clean, which is very important to the whole community of Santa Paula,” says Mark Palamountain, founder of Perpetual Power.

The four 250kW AC solar systems replace fossil fueled-powered water pumps and provide enough electricity to offset the annual electricity use equal to 230 average US households. This new 1MW system complements Limoneira’s existing 1MW solar orchard installed in October 2008, supplying the company with a total of 2MW AC of solar power.

“We believe that sustainable business practices are the key to a healthy future and we’re proud to add another megawatt of solar power to our property in Santa Paula, Calif.,” said Harold Edwards, Limoneira\’s president and CEO. “We’ve found that doing the right thing often yields positive financial results in the long run as well.”

The solar system is owned by a third-party company, which allows Limoneira Company to purchase the electricity for an average of $0.08/kWh, more than a third less than California’s average retail electric rate of $0.12/kWh. The solar arrays are not only good for the environment, they are expected to save the company $200,000 annually by lowering its overall electric rate and demand charges.

“Limoneira Company has really proven to be a leader in its industry by installing more than 12,000 modules in less than a year to power its facilities and irrigate its orchards,” said Gina Heng, director of sales and marketing for Mitsubishi Electric& Electronics USA’s Photovoltaic Division.

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ATHENS, Greece–(BUSINESS WIRE)–VioSolar Inc. (OTCBB-VIOSF; Frankfurt-SDE-F) is pleased to announce that it has signed an irrevocable memorandum of understanding (MOU) with a privately held Greek corporation (‘target company’) to purchase eighty-five percent of its shares.

The target company has 100 kilowatts of production and licenses to build an additional 1 megawatt, with 200 kilowatts in the construction phase.

“We are very pleased with the result of this acquisition, as it establishes VioSolar as a valid player in the photovoltaic sector in Greece.” stated Rick Walchuk, President and CEO. “Greece is an excellent market, with its high feed-in-tariffs and government grant policy. We are also pleased that the founder and majority shareholder of the target company will remain as an integral part of the company. His knowledge and experience will be a valuable asset for VioSolar Inc. going forward”.

“Concurrent with this MOU we are in discussions on a number of other projects in Greece and hope to announce further acquisitions in the near future. Our management team and consultants have identified several promising targets and have negotiations ongoing.” also stated Mr. Walchuk.

Closing of the transaction is expected to take two weeks at which time VioSolar expects to release further details.

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KINGSTON-UPON-THAMES, England–(BUSINESS WIRE)–QuantaSol Ltd, a new independent designer and manufacturer of strain-balanced quantum-well solar cells, has developed what it believes to be the most efficient single junction solar cell ever manufactured. Developed in just two years, QuantaSol’s single-junction device has been independently tested by Fraunhofer ISE as achieving 28.3% efficiency at greater than 500 suns.

QuantaSol was established in June 2007 as a spin-out of Imperial College London to commercialize the University’s solar cell IP and offer devices to concentrator Photovoltaic (PV) systems developers. Imperial will be featuring a QuantaSol device as part of its presence at the Royal Society Summer Exhibition in London this week.

“Our technology is the industry’s best kept secret. This is the first time that anyone has successfully combined high efficiency with ease of manufacture, historically a bug-bear of the solar cell industry,” said Kevin Arthur, QuantaSol’s CEO. “We’re now gearing up to provide multi-junction cells of even higher efficiencies as early as Q1 2010.”

QuantaSol’s approach combines several nanostructures, of two or more different alloys, in order to obtain synthetic crystals that overcome the problems associated with current solar cell designs. It also greatly enhances the photovoltaic conversion efficiency.

The company, which has a development laboratory in Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey, completed a £2m second funding round last week. It will now concentrate on cutting the cost of ownership of solar energy by moving to multi-junction devices.

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WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–China Nuvo Solar Energy, Inc. (the “Company” or “China Nuvo”) (OTCBB:CNUV) announced today that it has acquired from Photovoltaics, Inc. a variety of solar technologies/inventions consisting of six provisional or utility patents. This newly acquired intellectual property relates to enhancements of currently available technologies ranging from increases in output and efficiency to the use of lower cost newly discovered photovoltaic materials and processes.

The Company believes that each of the technologies have the potential, when commercialized, of reducing the cost per kilowatt hour of solar energy thereby making it more competitive with other energy sources. China Nuvo is in the process of finalizing utility patents for those that are currently provisional.

The Company’s plans regarding a business model to fully exploit the value of these newly acquired technologies is presently under development and will be announced when fully developed.

China Nuvo Solar Energy, Inc. is a nominally capitalized early stage company that owns a unique patent pending solar technology and is working to develop a commercially viable higher efficiency stacked photovoltaic solar cell.

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BOSTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Satcon (NASDAQ CM: SATC), a leading provider of utility scale distributed power solutions for the renewable energy market, announced today that it has been added to the Russell 3000® Index following the Russell Investment Group’s reconstitution of its family of U.S. indices on June 26, 2009.

Annual reconstitution of Russell’s U.S. indexes captures the 4,000 largest U.S. stocks as of the end of May, ranking them by total market capitalization. Membership in the Russell 3000, which remains in place for one year, means automatic inclusion in the large-cap Russell 1000® Index or small-cap Russell 2000® Index as well as the appropriate growth and value style indexes. Russell determines membership for its equity indexes primarily by objective, market-capitalization rankings and style attributes. The Russell 3000 also serves as the U.S. component to the Russell Global Index, which Russell launched in 2007.

“We are very pleased to have been included in this year’s reconstitution of Russell Indexes as it will generate greater interest in our stock among institutional investors,” said Steve Rhoades, President and Chief Executive Officer of Satcon. “The company has been very focused on building shareholder value and driving performance of our renewable energy solutions business, and inclusion in this credible global equity index is a clear indication of our progress.”

Russell indexes are widely used by investment managers and institutional investors for index funds and as benchmarks for both passive and active investment strategies. Russell estimates that $4.4 trillion in assets currently are benchmarked to their indexes. More information on the Russell 3000 and other Russell Indexes is available at http://www.russell.com.

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Filed under: Manufacturing/Plants, Solar, Toyota

While the argument about whether a Hummer H2 is actually more environmentally friendly than a Toyota Prius has long since been debunked (even if it keeps popping up its ugly head), it does raise a valid point. A major part of the environmental impact of transportation devices like cars and trucks comes during the manufacturing and disposal phases of their existences. Evaluating environmental impact requires total lifecycle analysis of the product, something that Toyota has done for the new 2010 Prius.

The Tsutsumi plant that builds the Prius is one of five ISO14001 certified Eco-factories in the Toyota network. The factory has a 50,000m² solar array on its roof that generates 5,000 kW/h of electricity, about half of the plant’s total requirements. Another 22,000m² of the factory is covered in a photocatalytic paint that converts CO₂ to oxygen. A number of initiatives including zero land-fill waste, water recycling and reduced volatile organic compound use are all part of the overall effort to reduce the impact of building Priuses.

[Source: Toyota]

Continue reading Toyota to build new Prius in Eco-Factory in Japan

Toyota to build new Prius in Eco-Factory in Japan originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Mon, 29 Jun 2009 14:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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