Solar Cells Info

Source: Government News -Australia / 23 June 2008
http://www.governmentnews.com.au/2008/06/23/article/HHUVBSVXUK.html

Australian soldiers will be able to wear and carry new solar technology embedded uniforms and gears, now that researchers at Australian National University (ANU) have won a major defence contract. The Centre for Sustainable Energy Systems (CSES) at ANU has received $2.1 million in defence funding to develop micro-thin and flexible solar energy panels for security applications.
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By Richard Weiss and Nicholas Comfort, June 19, 2008
Source: Bloomberg.com
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601086&sid=aIgyBySzJ3CE&refer=latin_america

Q-Cells AG, Germany’s largest solar company, is relying on new plants in Mexico and Malaysia to cut costs and boost output amid soaring demand for renewable energy, Chief Financial Officer Hartmut Schuening said.  The company, based in Thalheim, Germany, expects the facilities to speed up delivery times for products such as thin- film modules to Asian and North American clients, Schuening told Bloomberg Television at an award ceremony in Frankfurt last night. The resulting cost cuts should improve profitability in established and new markets alike, he said. (more…)

By Matt Neznanski, (Corvallis) Gazette-Times, Corvallis, OR, June 21, 2008
Source: TheWorldLink
http://www.theworldlink.com/articles/2008/06/21/news/doc485ca762cbb99337057697.txt

When Oregon State University researchers first announced they had created a transparent transistor, John Wager, professor of electrical and computer engineering, said it was too early to tell what practical applications might arise from it.  Five years later, the technology has found its first industrial use: making solar panels lighter, more efficient and with the ability to blend in or accent a building’s architecture. (more…)

Source: Printed Electronics World, 23 June 2008
http://www.idtechex.com/printedelectronicsworld/articles/
highlights_of_photovoltaics_beyond_conventional_silicon_event_00000971.asp

The second day of the conference began with keynote presentations from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the Idaho National Laboratory.  Prof. Arthur Frank of the NREL gave some insight into the type of research they conduct on sensitized solar cells, both dye and quantum dot.  The NREL’s research efforts on DSSC’s focus on better matching dye absorption coefficients to the solar spectrum. The resulting improvements could lead to an increase of photocurrent by 40% and efficiencies going from 11% to 20%. (more…)

Zuerich, June 16, 2008
Source: Reuters /Reporting by Eva Kuehnen, editing by Elizabeth Fullerton
http://uk.reuters.com/article/governmentFilingsNews/idUKL1632770620080616

German solar module maker Solon (SOOG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research) bought a roughly 16 percent stake in newly formed U.S. solar cell maker SpectraWatt, broadening its supplier base and its presence in the U.S. market, the company said on Monday.  Solon shares jumped as much as 7 percent and were up 5 percent at 55.30 euros by 1507 GMT. The stock has fallen about 27 percent since the beginning of the year.  Solon said it paid a sum in the lower double-digit million euros for the stake. (more…)

by Martin LaMonica, June 16, 2008
Source: CNet News Green Tech Blog
http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-9969631-54.html

Intel made a big leap into the burgeoning clean-tech sector on Monday by creating SpectraWatt, a spinoff company that will manufacture solar cells.  Its investment arm, Intel Capital, is leading a $50 million round in SpectraWatt. Other investors include Goldman Sachs subsidiary Cogentrix Energy, PCG Clean Energy and Technology Fund, and German solar company Solon. (more…)

by Stevie Smith – Jun 17 200
Source: The Tech Herald
http://www.thetechherald.com/article.php/200825/1262/
IBM-announces-partnership-to-evolve-solar-cell-efficiency

Multinational computing corporation International Business Machines (IBM) has this week announced a partnership with photolithography specialist Tokyo Ohka Kogya (TOK), which will see the two parties pooling their resources in an effort to produce a new generation of solar energy products. Specifically aimed at establishing new, low-cost methods of manufacturing that will lead to cheaper products that are also easier to install than those available today, TOK and IBM will be looking to develop processes, materials and equipment suitable for the creation of the somewhat unfortunately named CIGS solar cell modules.
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by Martin LaMonica, June 18, 2008
Source: CNet News Green Tech Blog
http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-9972306-54.html

Upstart Nanosolar says that it has built the Ferrari of solar cell manufacturing: a one gigawatt machine that prints solar cells at 100 feet per minute.  In the company blog, CEO Martin Roscheisen on Wednesday said that the one gigawatt machine is a first for the solar industry, orders of magnitude more “capital efficient” than existing production techniques. (more…)

Honolulu, HI, June 9, 2008
Source: Hoku Scientific, press release/MarketWire
http://www.shareholder.hokuscientific.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=314890

Hoku Solar, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Hoku Scientific, Inc. (NASDAQ: HOKU) established to design, engineer and install photovoltaic (PV) power systems, and Young Brothers today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement for Young Brothers to purchase solar electricity generated by a 224-kilowatt photovoltaic (PV) system to be installed, owned and operated by Hoku Solar. Young Brothers is the leading provider of inter-island ocean cargo service in Hawaii. (more…)

New Product Addresses Critical Anti-Reflective Film Application for Solar Cells
Tempe, AZ, June 6, 2008
Source. Amtech Systems press release/Businesswire
http://www.amtechsystems.com/

Amtech Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASYS – News), a global supplier of production and automation systems and related supplies for the manufacture of solar cells, semiconductors, and silicon wafers, today announced that the Company’s solar subsidiary, Tempress Systems, will be introducing its latest solar cell production tool at the Intersolar 2008 Technology Trade Fair in Munich, Germany June 12-14, Hall/Stand B5.117.
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