Solar Cells Info

Erfurt, 28 March 2008
Source: Ersol press release
http://www.ersol.de/en/newsmediarelations/pressreleases/pressrelease/
news/1206640093/?tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=35&cHash=c9d9e3dc6f

With the publication of its audited financial statements for 2007 ersol Solar Energy AG (ersol) today confirms its preliminary revenue figures (2007: € 160.2 million, previous year: € 127.8 million). The operating result (EBIT) grew by 10.1% to € 22.3 million (previous year: € 20.3 million). Notwithstanding substantial expansion activities, in 2007 the Company thus posted the highest turnover and best operating results in its 10-year history. The EBIT margin stood at 13.9%, compared to 15.9% in the previous year. Due to the strong increase in the negative financial result (€ -8.9 million) there was a decline in the profit after taxes compared to the previous year (2007: € 8.7 million, previous year: € 12.3 million). Earnings per share – diluted by the capital increase in summer 2007 and reduced by increased expenditure for interest and currency hedging transactions – were only € 0.85. In 2006 this figure was € 1.25 and thus 47.1 % higher. A significant increase is anticipated for 2008.
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* Major contract covering the supply of metallurgical silicon concluded
* Establishment of an in-house wafer production in Malaysia
* Group to start manufacturing ingots
* Further expansion of thin-film technology activities decided
* New business area: planning and development of large-scale PV facilities
* Forecasts for fiscal 2008 and 2009 revised upwards

Bitterfeld-Wolfen, 27 March 2008
Source: Q-Cells.com press release
http://www.qcells.de/cmadmin_2_542_0.html

Today, on 27 March 2008, Q-Cells AG the world’s largest manufacturer of solar cells, presented its annual report for fiscal 2007 at a balance sheet press conference in Frankfurt/Main. The Company has confirmed its provisional figures.
With a production volume of 389.2 MWp, Q-Cells became the world’s largest manufacturer of solar cells last year. Sales rose by 59 % to EUR 858.9 million (EUR 539.5 million). Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) grew by 52 % to EUR 197.0 million (EUR 129.4 million). The EBIT margin, at 23 %, was therefore maintained at the high level of the previous year. Net income without the income contribution from the stake in Renewable Energy Corporation ASA (REC) amounted to EUR 127.2 million (EUR 87.7 million). Total net income stood at EUR 148.4 million in 2007, which is an
increase of 69% on the figure for the previous year. (more…)

Source: AzoOptics.com / March 26, 2008
http://azooptics.com/Details.asp?newsID=2220

Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide, Inc. today announced that its German solar partner, Asola Advanced and Automotive Solar Systems GmbH, has won a $20 million contract from Krannich Solar, for the supply of high-efficiency silicon photovoltaic solar modules. Krannich Solar, which is one of the largest solar system providers in Europe, will take delivery of Asola’s high quality products in 2008. (more…)

Horizontal Deployment of Thin-Film Technology for TFT LCDs – Annual Production Capacity on 1 GW Scale
Tokyo, Japan, Mar 27, 2008
Source:Sharp Corporation / press release
http://sharp-world.com/corporate/news/080327.html

Sharp Corporation has made a total capital investment of approximately 72 billion yen to build a thin-film solar cell plant in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture that is capable of boosting annual production up to a scale of 1 GW per year.  Production will begin by March 2010 with a 480 MW initial production capacity for solar cells. Combined with the 160 MW capacity of the Katsuragi Plant (Nara Prefecture), this will expand Sharp’s global total production capacity for thin-film solar cells to 1 GW in April 2010. (more…)

Bedford, MA, March 28, 2008
Source: Spire Corp. press release / BusinessWire /
http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=76421&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1122993

Spire Corporation, (Nasdaq: SPIR), a global solar company providing turnkey solar factories and capital equipment to manufacture photovoltaic modules worldwide, today announced it will participate in the 2008 Photon Photovoltaic Technology Show in Munich, Germany from April 2 to April 4, 2008. Spire Corporation’s Chairman and CEO, Roger Little, along with senior members of Spire’s management team, will attend the conference.
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New 20MW Crystalline Module Line in Portugal Follows Completion of 12MW Factory in the Dominican Republic
Bedford,  MA, March 12, 2008
Source: Spire Corp. press release / BusinessWire /
http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=76421

Spire Corporation (Nasdaq: SPIR), a global solar company providing turnkey solar factories and capital equipment to manufacture photovoltaic modules worldwide, today announced it has received a contract from the solar division of Spanish renewable energy company Fluitecnik S.A., to provide a photovoltaic module assembly line for that company’s operations in Portugal. Spire will provide Fluitecnik with a semi-automated crystalline module manufacturing line capable of producing up to 20 megawatts (MW) of solar modules per year for sale into the European solar marketplace. Spire will supply the process technology and training to operate the factory, as well as assistance in qualifying the factory and its modules to meet rigorous International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) standards and certification. The line will integrate Spire’s key stringing and tabbing, lamination, and testing machines along with intermediate tooling stations; it is designed to be easily expandable at a later date. Spire recently completed a 12MW crystalline cell module line, expandable to 20MW, for Fluitecnik in the Dominican Republic. (more…)

Irvine, CA – March 5, 2008
Source: Qunatum Technologies / press release
http://www.qtww.com/

Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ: QTWW) today announced that its German solar partner, Asola Advanced and Automotive Solar Systems GmbH, has been awarded a contract by AS Solar GmbH for the supply of high-efficiency silicon photovoltaic solar modules. The value of this contract is estimated at $135 million over a three year period, beginning in 2008, and subject to final negotiations on quantity and price in 2009 and 2010. (more…)

Source: NREL Press release / March 24, 2008
http://www.nrel.gov/news/press/2008/574.html

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory have moved closer to creating a thin-film solar cell that can compete with the efficiency of the more common silicon-based solar cell.  The copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) thin-film solar cell recently reached 19.9 percent efficiency, setting a new world record for this type of cell. Multicrystalline silicon-based solar cells have shown efficiencies as high as 20.3 percent. The energy conversion efficiency of a solar cell is the percentage of sunlight converted by the cell into electricity.
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Arlington, VA, March 25, 2008 / press release
Source: Dominican Today
ttp://www.dominicantoday.com/dr/economy/2008/3/25/27433/
AES-and-Riverstone-launch-solar-joint-venture-Target-US1-billion
The AES Corporation (NYSE: AES) and Riverstone Holdings LLC today announced that they have committed up to $1 billion as part of a new joint venture to develop a global platform of utility-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) projects.  Under terms of the agreement, AES, one of the world’s largest global power companies, and Riverstone, a New York-based energy and power-focused private equity firm, will each provide up to $500 million of capital over five years to invest in PV solar projects around the world.
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by Lisa Zyga/ March 27, 2008
Source: PhysOrg.com
http://www.physorg.com/news125842769.html

In the new solar cell design by MIT researchers more light can be captured increasing efficiency and decreasing cost per watt. Researchers from MIT have improved commercial solar cells that will soon be significantly cheaper and more efficient than those available today. Ely Sachs, a professor of mechanical engineering at MIT, predicts that by 2012 such solar cells will be comparable in price with coal, which is about $1 per watt.

Sachs and his colleagues have started a company called 1366 Technologies. With the help of a recent $12.4 million grant, the team is building a pilot-scale manufacturing plant to fabricate their first batch of solar cells. The cells currently have an efficiency of 19.5%, and cost about $1.65 per watt. That´s a 27% improvement in efficiency over similar commercial solar cells of today, which have about 15% efficiency and cost about $2.10 per watt.
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