Solar energy is on the verge of a 'global boom'

SINGAPORE / TOKYO - One by one Japan is turning off the lights at the giant oil-fired power plants that propelled it to the ranks of the world's top industrialized nations.

With nuclear power in the doldrums after the Fukushima disaster, it's solar energy that is becoming the alternative.

Solar power is set to become profitable in Japan as early as this quarter, according to the Japan Renewable Energy Foundation (JREF), freeing it from the need for government subsidies and making it the last of the G7 economies where the technology has become economically viable.

Japan is now one of the world's four largest markets for solar panels and a large number of power plants are coming onstream, including two giant arrays over water in Kato City and a $1.1 billion solar farm being built on a salt field in Okayama, both west of Osaka.

"Solar has come of age in Japan and from now on will be replacing imported uranium and fossil fuels," said Tomas Kåberger, executive board chairman of JREF.REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino A Greenpeace activist holds a solar panel wrapped as a gift to Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff during a protest in front of the Planalto Palace in Brasilia April 23, 2015.

"In trying to protect their fossil fuel and nuclear (plants), Japan's electric power companies can only delay developments here," he said, referring to the 10 regional monopolies that have dominated electricity production since the 1950s.

Japan is retiring nearly 2.4 giga watts of expensive and polluting oil-fired energy plants by March next year and switching to alternative fuels. Japan's 43 nuclear reactors have been closed in the wake of the 2011 meltdown at the Fukushima power plant after an earthquake and a tsunami - since then, renewable energy capacity has tripled to 25 gigawatts, with solar accounting for more than 80 percent of that.

Once Japan reaches cost-revenue parity in solar energy, it will mean the technology is commercially viable in all G7 countries and 14 of the G20 economies, according to data from governments, industry and consumer groups.

A crash in the prices of photovoltaic panels and improved technology that harnesses more power from the sun has placed solar on the cusp of a global boom, analysts say, who compare its rise to shale oil.

"Just as shale extraction reconfigured oil and gas, no other technology is closer to transforming power markets than distributed and utility scale solar," said consultancy Wood Mackenzie, which has a focus on the oil and gas industry. -  Reuter

GKN Aerospace got Gulfstream contract to supply G500/600 wing skins

London, UK  22nd April 2015- GKN Aerospace has been selected by Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation to supply the wing skins for its latest G500 and G600 ultra-long range business jets. In a long term contract GKN Aerospace is to produce the upper and lower wing skins for the development and production aircraft. 

The G500 and G600 upper wing skins are constructed in a single piece eliminating fasteners and joints, lowering weight and reducing maintenance.

The lower wing skins are comprised of several panels and incorporate a number of complex design features. All skins are being manufactured at GKN Aerospace’s advanced machined structures facility in Wellington, Kansas, USA, using the country’s longest multi-spindle gantry machining centre. 

Speaking on the occasion Mr. Daniele Cagnatel, Chief Executive Officer, GKN Aerospace - Aero structures North America said, “Our success here is founded on the depth of expertise we have in long bed machining and wing skin manufacture. At the latest count we have produced over 5000 wing skins at our Wellington facility including skins for Gulfstream’s award-winning G550 aircraft. 

This important new contract reinforces our relationship with Gulfstream and this is a relationship we aim to foster and grow for the long term. This contract also represents a major development in our strategic drive to increase our presence in the business jet market.” He further added

Audi India retains No.1 position Best-ever Financial Year Sales: 11292 units in FY 15

Mumbai, India 3 April, 2015 - Audi  the German luxury car manufacturer added yet another chapter to its success story in India by retaining the No.1 position for the second consecutive financial year in a row. 

The brand with the four rings crossed this historic milestone by registering a sale of 11292 units in the period April 2014 – March 2015 with a growth of +11.51 percent (April 2013 – March 2014: 10126 units). 

Speaking at the inaugural session Mr. Joe King, Head, Audi India said, “We are very happy to retain the leadership position in the luxury car market for two consecutive years despite having only one major launch (Audi A3) in the last fiscal year. This clearly demonstrates the strength of the brand. We are now looking forward to an exciting 2015 with 10 new models including the Audi TT and  new Audi Q3 coming up”.

After closing 2014 with market leadership and record sales, Audi began the year with the introduction of the most powerful Audi model, the Limited Edition Audi R8 LMX. The company has already opened new showrooms in Guwahati, Ranchi and Bengaluru along with a second service facility in Kolkata this year. 

The Audi model range in India includes the Audi A3 Sedan, Audi A3 Cabriolet, Audi A4, Audi A6, Audi A7 Sportback, Audi A8 L, Audi Q3, Audi Q5, Audi Q7, Audi S4, Audi S6, Audi RS 5 Coupé, Audi RS 7 Sportback, Audi R8, Audi R8 Spyder, Audi R8 V10 plus and Audi R8 LMX available across the country: in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Bengaluru Central, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Chennai, Coimbatore, Delhi Central, Delhi South, Delhi West, Goa, Gurgaon, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Indore, Jaipur, Kanpur, Karnal, Kochi, Kolkata, Kozhikode, Lucknow, Ludhiana, Mangalore, Mumbai South, Mumbai West, Nagpur, Nashik, Navi Mumbai, Noida, Pune, Raipur, Ranchi, Surat, Udaipur, Vadodara and Visakhapatnam.

why global institutions expect India to clock 7% plus growth rate

NEW DELHI, INDIA, 18 APRIL, 2015 - Lesser external vulnerabilities plunging crude oil prices and above all Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government's reforms drive have led most global institutions such as IMF Moody's and World Bank to lift their economic growth outlook for the Indian economy.

India's economy is widely expected to clock above 7% growth rate, with both IMF and World Bank stressing that the country will surpass China's GDP rate very soon. "India's economic growth clip this year and next will be better than previously assumed, overtaking China in 2015 to become the world's fastest growing major economy and widening the gap further in 2016," IMF and the World Bank have said in separate forecasts.

Why are global institutions bullish on the India growth story? We take a look at five key reasons that are making various agencies positive on the India growth story

1) Domestic demand: Moody's expects India's economy to grow at 7.5% this year, helped by interest rate cuts that will buttress private sector spending. India's economy is on a cyclical upswing and forward-looking indicators suggest domestic demand is gathering momentum, Moody's Analytics has said.

"Low inflation has enabled the Reserve Bank of India to cut interest rates by 50 basis points (half a percentage point), easing pressure on the private sector. Lower rates as well as the government's infrastructure and disinvestment programmes should provide a boost to domestic-oriented industries," it said.

2) Reforms: Most global institutions have given thumbs up to Modi government's reforms drive. "India's growth is expected to strengthen from 7.2 per cent last year to 7.5 per cent this year and next. Growth will benefit from recent policy reforms, a consequent pickup in investment, and lower oil prices," IMF's World Economic Outlook said

The strong growth in India has already made South Asia the fastest growing region in the world, World Bank noted.

India's expected growth acceleration, World Bank noted in its twice-yearly South Asia Economic Focus report, is being "driven by business-oriented reforms and improved investor sentiment" and that growth could reach 8 per cent in fiscal year 2017-18 on the back of significant acceleration in investment growth.

"(India) is attempting to shift from consumption-to-investment-led growth at a time when China is undergoing the opposite transition," it noted.

Moody's feels that the government has taken encouraging steps to reduce regulations. "The government wants more foreign businesses to invest in India, with a focus on public and private partnerships, it said. "Foreign investment in India has been weak because of significant red tape and taxes. The government is taking encouraging steps to reduce these burdensome regulations to entice more foreign investment," said Moddy’s

3) Lower crude oil prices : IMF is of the opinion that in many economies softer oil will help reduce inflation and lower external vulnerability and open room for structural reforms. IMF sees crude prices on average nearly 40 per cent lower on a year ago in 2015, rising 12 per cent in 2016. "Lower oil prices will raise real disposable incomes, particularly among poorer households, and help drive down inflation," IMF said for India, as it called upon countries to press ahead with subsidy reforms.

"On the fiscal policy front, and following the lead of India, Indonesia, and Malaysia, countries should seize the opportunity provided by the current low fuel and food prices to further reform or phase out subsidies, which tend to be poorly targeted," IMF said.

World Bank said South Asia was the greatest global beneficiary of cheap oil as all countries were net importers.

"Together with favourable food prices, cheaper oil has contributed to a rapid deceleration of inflation. South Asia went from having the highest inflation rate among developing regions to having the lowest in barely one year," World Bank has noted, while urging countries to take greater advantage of cheap oil to reform energy pricing.

4) Lower external vulnerabilities: IMF has forecast a stable current account deficit, pegged at 1.3 per cent in FY15 and 1.6 per cent in FY16. World Bank, on its part, pegged the current account deficit at well below 2 per cent in the medium term and noted that India "has a resilient external position" less than

two years after the rupee depreciation episode.

Meanwhile, Crisil is of the opinion that India is better prepared to handle any shock from a US Federal Reserve hike. Crisil has said, "India's strengthening economy now makes it better prepared to face the volatility in capital flows arising from interest rates hikes by the US Federal Reserve."

5) Better among EMs: In the report titled India's Economy Is On The Mend, But Corporations Remain Wary, Crisil said the growth prospects "appear brighter", particularly among emerging markets.

The report noted that India is now the fastest growing economy among the BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) and is no longer seen as part of the "fragile five" (Turkey, Indonesia, Brazil, and South Africa)

source - PTI

TE Connectivity’s New PRO BEAM EB16 Selected as Design of Choice for ARINC’s Expanded Beam Standard

HARRISBURG, Paris  April 16, 2015 – TE Connectivity recently  announced its new PRO BEAM EB16 optical termini has been selected as the design of choice for the new ARINC Project Paper 845 Expanded Beam Standard for Air Transport Aircraft. This decision was made by ARINC’s Fiber Optic Subcommittee and Cabin Systems Subcommittee.

“With this new global commercial aviation industry standard, we are honored that our termini design has been chosen by ARINC as the design of record,” said Rodney Smith, Product Manager, Global Aerospace, Defense & Marine, TE. “Our engineers are committed to innovation and excellence, and are always looking for ways to advance today’s technology and performance.”

Designed to fit MIL-DTL-38999 Series III size 16 cavities, the PRO BEAM EB16 optical termini are a drop-in replacement for physical contact termini. The termini’s ball lens physically expands and collimates the optical beam area 30 times of its original size to provide easier optical alignment, low sensitivity to contamination, and consistent performance over thermal changes. The beam is then refocused back down onto the core of the receiving fiber.

 “The non-contacting interface of optical connections is designed for no wear, which is especially important in high-mating cycle and high-vibration applications,” said Smith. “The use of expanded beam optical technology also offers low sensitivity to thermal fluctuations and stable performance over the life of the system.”

Because the beam size is substantially expanded when traversing the mechanical interface, the signal will not deteriorate due to airborne contamination particles of the same size that would otherwise seriously affect the performance of the PC connection.

The PRO BEAM EB16 termini is field terminable and fits a standard size 16 cavity. It is intended for a variety of commercial and military aerospace applications including fixed wing and rotary aircraft, unmanned aerials systems, and radar and sensor systems.

pid and evolving electronics/entertainment industry that will exceed passenger expectations.The goal of ARINC’s Fiber Optics Subcommittee is to update physical standards, design guidelines, component criteria, and testing and maintenance procedures for fiber optic components and systems for use on air transport airplanes. ARINC’s Cabin Systems Subcommittee was established to develop cost effective and valuable network infrastructure for the airlines to cope with the ra