Solar Cells Info

Rome, Italy – Rotterdam, The Netherlands – March 6, 2008

SolarPlaza, an international solar energy broker firm, is organising it’s 9th international solar energy networking and deal-making event on the 27th and the 28th of March 2008. This event will take place in Rome, Italy, and will focus on investment opportunities in the Italian PV market.

Changing market circumstances
With the feed-in tariff of the world largest PV market, Germany, steadily decreasing and uncertainty about the continuation of the tariff in Spain, the solar industry is looking for other markets to sell their products.

With a high irradiation rate, an attractive feed-in tariff and a market cap of 1200 MW, the Italian market could well be one of the most attractive markets for the solar industry at the moment.  As the total, new, installed capacity for Italy is likely to reach 200 MW in 2008, compared to 60 MW in 2007, the Italian market should show a 300% year-on-year growth figure.

Networking and deal-making event for developers and investors
The purpose of this international event is to explore investment opportunities and to match the Italian PV project developers with the growing group of national and international investors and renewable energy equity funds.

Programme
On the first day, a visit will be made to a solar energy project and in the afternoon several speakers will elaborate on the legislation, financing and experiences of developers with large-scale project development. The second day will cover topics like financing opportunities by banks and the experiences of international investors. Furthermore, presentations will be made by developers offering their best solar-park projects.

Organisation
The organisation is in the hands of SolarPlaza, which previously organised international PV trade missions to Taiwan, Spain, China, Italy, Greece and California.

Participation is open for Italian developers, international investors and anyone interested in exploring PV business opportunities in Italy. This event will include informal lunches and dinners for personal networking. As proven in previous business events, the intensive contacts with other committed international business people will offer an effective and enjoyable way to explore business opportunities.

Cost
The all-inclusive fee for the completely organised PV-Investment two-day event is € 1,850, including a one-night stay in a 5-star hotel, with breakfast, lunches and dinners. Participants who subscribe and pay before the 12th of March 2008 receive a €200 discount. Details and a registration form are available at www.solarplaza.com.

Contact: Johan Trip, CGO of SolarPlaza (j.trip@solarplaza.com; +31(0) 10-280 9198)

Reporting by Sakari Suoninen; editing by James Jukwey
HELSINKI, Feb 20, 2008
Source: Reuters UK
http://uk.reuters.com/article/oilRpt/idUKL2047318020080220

Finnish copper products maker Luvata said on Wednesday it would invest 20 million euros ($29 million) in production equipment for solar panel wires, hoping to benefit from renewable energy boom.  Solar panel makers are demanding thinner photovoltaic wires as panels become smaller, and Luvata’s thinner wires minimise shadowing on the energy-capturing cells, it said.
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By Duke Helfand, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer, February 20, 2008
Source: LATimes
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/politics/cal/
la-me-green20feb20,1,1943355.story?ctrack=1&cset=true

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and other municipal leaders unveiled a green energy initiative Tuesday by the city’s utility that they predict will create as many as 400 union jobs over the next three years to install and maintain solar panels on city buildings and other structures around Los Angeles.
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By Cathy McKitrick, The Salt Lake Tribune
Feb 22, 2008
Source: Salt Lake Tribune
http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_8332840

Imagine powering your home by harnessing the sun’s energy – without having to install costly solar panels.  A bill advancing on Capitol Hill could allow Utah’s sun-kissed St. George to lead out with a city-built solar project where residents could buy shares, tap the energy and receive tax credits as if they had put the equipment on their own roofs. St. George City Attorney Shawn Guzman said the city already has land set aside for the solar arrays near its sewage treatment plant. (more…)

Escalating oil prices are pushing operators to use alternative energies to power cellular base stations in remote areas of the world
by Jack Ewing, Europe /Feb. 20, 2008
Source: BusinessWeek.com
http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/feb2008/gb20080220_277413.htm

Mobile phones long ago began conquering parts of the world that are far away from the nearest electrical substation. But the rising price of oil is exposing a problem with the networks that connect mobile handsets together.  In the far reaches of places like India or Africa, where companies such as Ericsson (ERIC) or Nokia Siemens Networks, a joint venture of Nokia (NOK) and Siemens (SI), are installing new cellular base stations at a furious pace, the facilities almost always get their power from diesel-powered generators. (more…)

by Emma Ritch  / February 29, 2008
Source: Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal
http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/stories/2008/03/03/
story1.html?b=1204520400%5E1598029

The solar industry is giving rise to a new crop of small businesses, but these companies are hitting roadblocks when it comes to filling their “green collar” jobs.  Despite unprecedented interest in clean technology, the small firms that make up most of the solar industry in the Bay Area are struggling because they need more workers who are trained and certified to complete the complex tasks associated with photovoltaic systems, according to the first comprehensive report on the solar industry in the Bay Area.
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by Grayson Steinberg. Cronkite News Service
Phoenix, AZ, Feb. 28, 2008
Source: Tucsoncitizen.com
http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/local/78158.php

As Arizona looks to tap more of its most abundant resource, sunshine, state lawmakers want to create tax breaks for power plant builders and to help homeowners, businesses and schools convert to solar power.  At least six bills this session address solar energy. (more…)

by Andy Vuong, February 28, 2008
Source: DenverPost
http://blogs.denverpost.com/vuong/2008/02/28/ascent-solar-partners-with-japans-itochu/

Ascent Solar, a budding solar energy firm in Colorado, announced a new partnership this morning with ITOCHU Corp. of Japan. The partnership could help Ascent distribute its solar panels in Japan and other parts of the world.  Ascent makes flexible solar panels or modules that can be used in building materials. It has a deal with a Norwegian company that will use Ascent’s technology in curtains.
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FreeLoader 8.0 Portable Solar Charger Launched, promises to power an iPod for 18 hours
by Stuart Miles, 28 feb. 2008
Source:
http://www.pocket-lint.co.uk/news/news.phtml/13114/14138/
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Tech fans users can now show their green credentials by opting to charge their new shiny gadgets by solar power.  Solar Technology has launched its latest solar power charger the FreeLoader 8.0 Portable Solar Charger. It, according to the company, promises to charge a multitude of the latest mobile gadgets for free using solar energy even with our poor weather in the UK.
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Peccell Develops Large-Area High-Voltage Solar Cell Modules; To Start Sample Shipments of Thin Flexible Solar Cells in 2009
Yokohama, Japan, Feb 26, 2008
Source: Peccell Technologies press release/  JCN Newswire
http://japancorp.net/Article.Asp?Art_ID=17102
Peccell Technologies, Inc. has developed a technology to produce large-area high-voltage film-type dye-sensitized solar cell (DSC) modules with a high-speed, low-cost printing process. Peccell, based in Yokohama City and led by Prof. Tsutomu Miyasaka, Toin University of Yokohama, has been developing next-generation thin flexible DSCs jointly with Fujimori Kogyo Co., Ltd. and Showa Denko K.K.
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