SunPower Corp. and Tendril, Inc. have announced that SunPower has invested $20 million of growth capital into Tendril and will license its Energy Services Management (ESM) Platform software. Enhanced by SunPower’s vast amount of solar related data, the ESM Platform will power the development of new Smart Energy applications for a broader set of consumers and utilities.- According to a report from TrendForce, the worldwide solar market demand in 2014 was approximately at 44GW, even though the China market did not perform as well as expectations, due to the continuous growth in Japan and the U.S. market, the supply and demand remained stable. At the end of 2014, the overall supply chain maintained a solid utilization rate, while China’s tier-one module manufacturers also continued to break shipment records. The 2015 worldwide solar demand is projected at 51.4GW, with the key markets remaining in China, United States, and Japan, taking up 57% of the overall share.
- SunEdison Inc. has announced the closing of an approximately $146 million USD non-recourse debt financing arrangement with the International Finance Corporation, the Central American Bank for Economic Integration and the OPEC Fund for International Development. The debt proceeds will be used to fund construction of three solar photovoltaic power plants totaling 81.7 megawatts in the Republic of Honduras.
- Consumers Energy’s $255 million Cross Winds Energy Park in Michigan’s Upper Thumb has begun serving electric customers. With completion of Cross Winds, Consumers Energy now meets Michigan’s renewable energy standard of 10 percent, one year ahead of the scheduled requirement. Cross Winds is Consumers Energy’s second wind park and has a generating capacity of 111 megawatts. It consists of 62 wind turbine generators, all located in Akron and Columbia townships in Tuscola County.
