Solar Cells Info

PHOENIX, Apr 20, 2007
Source: FirstSolar press release
http://investor.firstsolar.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=238798

First Solar, Inc. (Nasdaq:FSLR) announced that the Company had a ground breaking ceremony today on a new four-line solar module manufacturing plant in Kedah, Malaysia. Announced in Jan. 2007, the new plant will have an expected minimum annual nameplate capacity of 100MW.  The manufacturing plant will be located in Kulim Hi Tech Park located in Kedah, Malaysia and when fully ramped will employ approximately 500 people. Today’s groundbreaking puts First Solar on track to complete plant construction by late 2007, with full volume production expected by the end of 2008.
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Muscle and Speed: The Californian Solar Energy Market
Rotterdam, 26 April 2007
source:
http://www.solarplaza.com/content/pagina/SolarPlazaCalifornia/44978

With the creative energy of Silicon Valley, Mr. Arnold Schwarzenegger as governor and more than 3.2 billion dollars to spend, the solar industry in California and Silicon Valley is ready for a renewable energy boost. The flexibility of the Silicon Valley mindset – creating new and better products every day – the muscle power of Arnold Schwarzenegger, the abundant venture capital and the renewable fuel of government support could result in a booming solar industry!
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Source: Azom.com   /April 16, 2007
http://www.azom.com/details.asp?newsID=8234

Solar Integrated Technologies has announced that it has won two contracts in Italy totaling U.S. $10 million to provide 2 MW of solar systems at two sites outside of Rome, Italy. The project includes a ground-mount system and a BIPV system at the Malagrotta Landfill. The project, which is the Company’s largest European contract to date as well as one of the largest announced solar deals in Italy, is expected to be completed in late 2007. In addition to the initial revenue for the project, the Company also expects to receive annual bonus revenue and cash payments based on a revenue sharing arrangement from the power produced by the solar systems.
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Source: Huliq.com
http://www.huliq.com/20014/

SunPower Corporation, a Silicon Valley-based manufacturer of high-efficiency, commercially available solar cells, panels and systems, announced today that Sandia National Laboratories measured SunPower’s SPR-315 solar panel at the highest recorded conversion efficiency ever tested by Sandia for a commercially available, mass produced solar panel. This announcement follows recent renewable energy industry accolades from PHOTON Magazine and Energy Focus Ltd., (ENF) in the first quarter of 2007, underscoring SunPower’s position as the global leader in solar electric technology efficiency, performance and satisfaction.
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By United Press International
BUDAPEST, Hungary April 4, 2007
Source: Worldpeace Herald
http://wpherald.com/articles/4092/1/

Japan’s Sanyo has completed a new unit at its solar cell plant in Hungary that is to triple its annual capacity to 720,000 units in 2008.  The plant at Dorog, outside Budapest, will be Sanyo Electric’s largest facility producing solar cells in the world, the Hungarian news agency MTI reported Wednesday.  The new 70,000 square feet unit is part of a $5.3 million investment designed to triple its solar panel capacity, MTI said quoting the Hungarian business daily Napi Gazdasag.
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April 28, 2007 ALAMOSA, Colo. & BELTSVILLE, Md.
Source: Press Release from SunEdison
http://www.renewableenergyaccess.com/rea/partner/story?id=48312

SunEdison, the leading solar energy services provider, today announced that it has selected Suntech Power Holdings as key supplier for the 8.22-megawatt Alamosa Photovoltaic Solar Plant.  “Meeting the demands needed for the 8.22 megawatt Alamosa Photovoltaic Solar Plant is critical. The choice of our cornerstone supplier for this project – Suntech – was driven by the stringent selection criteria established by the SunEdison installation teams. It is important to SunEdison that we partner with leading vendors, who help simplify the complexity of solar through the delivery of robust, proven product,” noted Jigar Shah, CEO of SunEdison.
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Tim Colebatch, April 30, 2007
Source: theage.com.au
http://www.theage.com.au/news/business/solar-cells-wait-for-their-day-in-the-sun/2007/04/29/1177787972754.html

AS A solution to global warming, solar energy has everything going for it — except cost. But a new government move and little slivers of silicon invented in Australia might soon change that.  Prime Minister John Howard hinted on Friday that next week’s budget could lift the rebate for Australians to install solar panels for generating electricity — seizing the initiative after Labor’s Kevin Rudd pledged only to keep the rebate at its current level.

And if so, Origin Energy is ready to go. A decade ago it took a punt on the Australian National University’s team of solar energy researchers, and was richly rewarded when they invented sliver cells — a technology that promises to cut the cost of solar panels in half.  ANU researchers Andrew Blakers and Klaus Weber have given cutting-edge technology a literal meaning, with a breakthrough they thought up on a train to Edinburgh in 2000. The biggest cost in solar cells is the silicon wafer. But slice the wafer into 10-centimetre slivers of silicon, array them in a panel, and you could increase the solar energy conversion tenfold.
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April 30, 2007
Source:
http://www.bordermail.com.au/news/bm/national/760555.html

HOUSEHOLDS will be able to borrow up to $10,000 to fit their homes with solar panels, rainwater tanks and other green products under a $300 million Labor scheme which could slash greenhouse gas emissions by 15 million tonnes.  Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd outlined the green renovation scheme on the last day of Labor’s national conference yesterday, predicting the initiative would be equivalent to planting 15 million trees or taking four million cars off the road for a year.  Around 200,000 households on up to $250,000 a year will be able to take advantage of the program which will offer loans of up to $10,000, with interest capped at the inflation rate, for green products aimed at making established homes more energy and water efficient.
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ALICE SPRINGS, Northern Territory, Australia, April 18, 2007 (ENS)
Source: Environmental News Service
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/apr2007/2007-04-18-04.asp

Alice Springs has been named as Australia’s next Solar City, a designation that enables the tourist town to receive government funding for solar installations. It joins Adelaide, Townsville and Blacktown, which all have signed onto the Solar Cities program within the past year.  With A$12.3 million in funding through the Australian government’s Solar Cities program, the Alice Springs Solar City consortium is working with all sectors to change how people power their homes and businesses.
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John Vomhof Jr. – Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal / April 30, 2007
source: Mlive.com
http://www.mlive.com/business/ambizdaily/bizjournals/index.ssf?/base/abd-3/1177915233122600.xml

Target Corp. is spending millions of dollars to cuts its energy costs and secure a greener image in the process.  The Minneapolis-based retailer has installed solar panels on the roofs of four of its California retail stores and plans to install similar systems at 14 more locations later this year. The solar-panel systems will generate about 20 percent of those stores’ annual energy requirements.
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