Solar Prius; GT Solar to List; Country Briefs

The Toyota Prius is going solar. Sort of. It is reported that electricity from Kyocera solar panels attached to a models of the famed hybrid car to be released next year would make up a portion of the 2 to 5 kilowatts needed to run parts such as air conditioning. It won't power the cars for 5 to 8 miles or reduce gas mileage by 17 to 29% as this white paper by Solar Electric Vehicles, a seller of solar electrical systems for cars, would lead us to believe (hat tip to Earth2Tech). Its really more a “symbolic gesture” than anything else.

But this prototype car from Taiwan (again, h/t to Earth2Tech) is totally solar-powered and capable of running at 70 kmh.

Speaking of autos and solar, General Motors will be the beneficiary of the world's largest rooftop solar installation (12 MW) on its assembly plant in Zaragoza, Spain, courtesy of thin film flexible solar laminates from United Solar Olvonic, a subsidiary of Energy Conversion Devices.

GT Solar to List

Solar manufacturing equipment company GT Solar has set its IPO terms. It will sell 30.3 million shares at a price range of $15.50 to $17.50 and trade on Nasdaq under the ticker “SOLR.” Interestingly, none of the IPO proceeds are going to be used as working capital; they are all being paid out as distributions to existing shareholders. Infer from this fact what you will about GT Solar’s future ambitions, or better yet, check out their IPO prospectus.

Around the World

Japan is contemplating reviving subsidies for solar installation which were discontinued in 2005. Solar is one of eight pillar strategies in India's climate change action plan. It is short on details but does set some numerical targets, such as the establishment of 1,000 MW of concentrating solar power (CSP) by 2017 and the production of 1,000 MW per year of photovoltaics by 2017. Spain, on the other hand, is contemplating reducing their feed-in tariffs for solar after Germany reduced theirs last month, but by not as much as the solar industry feared.

I am getting more and more reports of solar activities in Korea. With its industrial experience in semiconductors and electronics, I’m betting big things for the Korean solar industry. the solar coaster first mentioned Korea last month. Today, The Korea Times reports that familiar names Samsung, LG, and Hyundai Heavy Industries are all getting active in the solar game, building solar production lines. KCC, South Korea's largest manufacturer of construction materials, will reportedly invest KRW 3.9 trillion (USD 3.8bn) to expand polysilicon production capacity through 2020.