Solar Cells Info

Contract with Blue Chip Energy to supply gases to Guessing plant
Pullach, Germany, Dec. 13, 2007
Source; Businesswire.com
http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/index.jsp?epi-content=GENERIC&newsId=20071213005888

Linde Nippon Sanso (LNS) is helping to promote solar power in Austria with a contract to supply the country’s first solar cell manufacturing plant. LNS has an exclusive contract to supply Blue Chip Energy GmbH in Guessing with all of the gases needed to make solar cells. (more…)

Adds 53,000 Square Feet to Meet Global Demand for Turnkey Solar Factories; Annual Capacity for Equipment Now Exceeds 500 MW
Bedford, MA, Dec. 6, 2007
Source: Spire Corp./Businesswire Press releaes
http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=76421&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1084891

Spire Corporation (Nasdaq: SPIR), a global solar company providing turnkey solar factories and capital equipment to manufacture photovoltaic modules worldwide, today announced it has expanded into an additional 53,000 square feet of solar equipment manufacturing space at its Bedford, Massachusetts headquarters facility. The company now maintains a total of approximately 144,000 square feet of manufacturing and headquarters space at this location.
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Bandwidth Semiconductor, Pioneer in Gallium Arsenide Solar Cells for Space Systems, Renamed Spire Semiconductor to Provide Solar Concentrator Cells for Terrestrial Applications
Bedfford, Mass, Dec. 13, 2007
Source: Spire Corp. /Businesswire press release
http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=76421&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1087075

Spire Corporation (Nasdaq: SPIR), a global solar company providing turnkey solar factories and capital equipment to manufacture photovoltaic modules worldwide, today announced that Bandwidth Semiconductor, Spire’s wholly owned subsidiary, will become Spire Semiconductor effective January 1, 2008. Bandwidth currently provides Spire with crystalline silicon solar- cell process technology and has re-entered the fast-growing, gallium arsenide (GaAs) concentrator solar cell market. This name change will better align Bandwidth with Spire’s overall solar industry focus.
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320 Panels Will Deliver 80,574 Kilowatt Hours of Electricity Each Year
CYPRESS, CA,Dec 13, 2007
Source: BusinessWire.com
http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/index.jsp?epi-content=GENERIC&newsId=20071213005379

Mitsubishi Electric & Electronics USA, Inc. has been selected to provide photovoltaic (PV) panels for the San Francisco Food Bank’s 55,000 sq.-ft. warehouse. The San Francisco Food Bank is one of the nation’s largest, distributing more than 28 million pounds of food to low-income families, individuals and 500 non-profit organizations each year.
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DUBLIN, Ireland, Dec 12, 2007
Source: Businesswire.com press release

Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c77145) has announced the addition of China Photovoltaic (PV) Battery Industry Report, 2007 to their offering.  PV industry witnessed a rapid growth, and in the future it will have a nearly limitless outlook. During the ten years from 1996 to 2006, yield of solar batteries in the world has increased by 26 times with an annual compound growth rate of 38%. Besides, annual installations of solar batteries have increased by 22 times with annual compound growth rate of 36%. Such a growth is too speedy to compare for any other industries except for the semi-conductor industry. Though Germany is today’s largest PV market, but solar power generation there still takes a low proportion of 0.5%. But solar energy will undoubtedly become one kind of mainstream energy; therefore, its market will witness a bright prospect in the long term.
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DUBLIN, Ireland, Dec 12, 2007
Source: BUSINESS WIRE press release

Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c77155) has announced the addition of Global & China Solar Polysilicon Industry Chain Report, 2007 to their offering. Polysilicon is the base for global electronic industry and PV industry, and 100% of the semiconductor chip and 95% of solar battery chips are made of silicon (including the silicon and polysilicon). The polysilicon is divided into two grades by silicon content, one is solar grade silicon (SG) with the silicon content of 99.9999%, which is mainly used for the production and manufacturing of the solar battery chip; the other is electronic grade silicon (EG) with the silicon content of 99.999999999%, which is used for the manufacturing of semiconductor chips.
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Solar Power, Inc. to Design and Install Photovoltaic Systems for Multiple Locations Across California
ROSEVILLE, CA,   December 10, 2007
Source. Businesswire
http://www.businesswire.com/

Solar Power, Inc. (“SPI”) (OTCBB:SOPW) has entered into an agreement with Solar Power Partners, Inc. a California-based renewable energy company specializing in Power Purchase Agreements (“PPAs”) as a vehicle for financing commercial installations of large-scale photovoltaic (“PV”) solar electric energy systems. “Our agreement with Solar Power Partners, Inc. and the systems we will be designing and installing for their customer are significant for a number of reasons,” said Steve Kircher, CEO of SPI. “Solar Power Partners’ customer is a major national retailer that has successfully tested and is now converting its retail facilities to photovoltaic solar electricity. It demonstrates the growing adoption of PV solar systems by businesses as a means to contain operating expenses in the face of rising energy costs.”
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Prenzlau/Oldenburg, Germany, 13 Dec 2007
source: PressPortal.de press release
http://www.presseportal.de/pm/56282/1102055/aleo_solar_ag

Aleo solar AG can already report firm orders for 2008 in Germany of more than EUR 25 million. The relevant contracts for aleo modules were signed with a number of dealers, fitters and solar technology specialists in December and will take effect in 2008.  Business is booming according to Norbert Schlesiger, Sales Manager for Germany. “There is strong demand for our premium modules, especially on the German market for roof-mounted installations. This is a very good start to 2008 for us. New orders for system components such as inverters and mounting systems are also up sharply”, he said.
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Energy savings will allow for more food to feed area hungry
Washihngton, Dec. 12, 2007
Source: BP America /PRNews press release
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/071212/nyw068.html?.v=101

BP America and the Capital Area Food Bank (CAFB) today announced a $1 million donation of BP Solar panels and other equipment that will make CAFB’s proposed new facility a local showcase of the latest solar technology. The solar system, which will be capable of generating 121.8 kW of clean electricity, will save more than 20 percent of CAFB’s annual electricity bill.  The CAFB is the largest public nonprofit, hunger and nutrition education resource in the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area. Each year, the CAFB distributes 20 million pounds of food, including 6 million pounds of fresh produce through more than 700 member agencies. The energy saved by the solar installation will not only reduce the environmental footprint of the building, but also will result in economic savings that can be used to secure more food to feed the area’s hungry.
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by Katharine Grayson Staff Writer, December 10, 2007
Source: Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal
http://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/stories/2007/12/10/daily9.html?surround=lfn

The city of Minneapolis will receive a $2 million grant to build an array of 3,000 solar panels atop the roof of a public-works building. The solar array will be the largest of its kind built in an urban area in the Upper Midwest, the city said Monday in a press statement. Funding for the project will come from the Xcel Energy Renewable Development Fund.
The city said the solar array might help it expand its fleet of 28 plug-in hybrid vehicles. In May, Minneapolis-based Xcel (NYSE: XEL) announced it would put up to $23 million toward renewable-energy projects. The state requires that the utility set aside $16 million for its renewable-energy fund. The city already has three solar arrays up and running.