Solar Cells Info

by Tom Cheyney, PVTech, 25 May 2009

http://www.pv-tech.org/chip_shots/_a/an_interview_with_first_solars_bruce_sohn_part_I/

At First Solar’s corporate headquarters in Tempe, Arizona, a morale-boosting slogan adorns posters stuck to the outside of cubicle partitions: “MILESTONE MADE! TEN ONE ONE.” That’s “Ten,” for 10 years in business–at least in the company’s First Solar incarnation. The original firm Glasstech Solar, led by visionary Harold McMaster, actually set up shop in 1984, then became Solar Cells, Inc. in 1992, which begat the present entity in 1999. The middle “One” stands for the gigawatt’s worth of panels produced in the solar module factories in Ohio, Germany, and Malaysia – as well as the annual production capacity that will be ramped by the end of 2009. The final “One” stands for perhaps the biggest accomplishment of all–the dollar-per-manufactured-watt standard beaten by two cents by First Solar in the final quarter of 2008, a cost that has since shrunk to 93 cents per watt in the first quarter of 2009. But then, “Ten/One/0.93” doesn’t quite have the same ring. (more…)

by Alan Fischer, Tucson Citizen, April 17, 2009
Source:
http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/local/114651.php

Five new projects granted $4 million in seed money could help make Arizona a center for solar development, backers said Friday.  Science Foundation Arizona announced the projects, and the formation of its new Solar Technology Institute, at lunch events in Tucson and Phoenix.  The Tucson event, attended by about 100 industry, government and university officials, was held just outside a 310,000- square-foot solar array that provides power at Global Solar Energy, 8500 S. Rita Road. (more…)

by Russell Gold, Wall Street Journal, April 10, 2009
Source:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123930640357406039.html

In a bid to drive down costs, BP Solar, a subsidiary of oil giant BP PLC, says it will increasingly rely on third-party suppliers to build solar cells and modules.  The decision last month to close a manufacturing facility outside Madrid and partially close another near Baltimore was “designed to get us out of manufacturing that is not competitive,” says Rayed Fezzani, chief executive of BP Solar. He said BP would contract with companies to supply the material, which would still carry BP’s warranty and brand name. More than 600 BP workers were laid off in the plant closings. (more…)

by Mami Akasaka, Tech-On!, April 15, 2009
Source: Tech-On English
http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/english/NEWS_EN/20090417/168926/?ST=english_PRINT

The Japan Patent Office announced the results of its survey on trends in solar cell-related patent applications. According to the results, Japanese applicants took the lead in the area of silicon solar cells, while European applicants outpaced the others in the area of organic semiconductor solar cells.  About 7,970 solar cell-related patents were filed around the world during the period between 2000 and 2006. By nationality, Japanese applications accounted for 68.4%, far more than European (15.3%) and US (10.6%) applications. (more…)

SARASOTA, Fla., April 14, 2009
Source: Sunovia Energy Technologies Press release/PRNewsWire
http://news.prnewswire.com/DisplayReleaseContent.aspx?
ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/04-14-2009/0005005704

Sunovia Energy Technologies, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: SUNV) (hereinafter “Sunovia”) and EPIR Technologies, Inc. (hereinafter ‘EPIR’ and collectively with Sunovia, ‘the Partners’ or ‘the Partnership’) announce the receipt of a $9 million Defense Department SBIR Phase III contract that allows for the expansion of production capacities and capabilities of the Partners’ cadmium telluride on silicon (CdTe/Si) manufacturing program. (more…)

Source: Electronics Newsweekly, April 22, 2009 /News from LexisNexis
http://www.controleng.com/articleXml/LN956741194.html

Spire Corporation (Nasdaq: SPIR) announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Spire Semiconductor, LLC, has been awarded an 18-month, $3,706,359 program by the Department of Energy s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), consisting of $2,960,850 in government funding and a $745,509 cost share. Under the contract, Spire  Semiconductor will develop next-generation manufacturing technology to produce 42% efficient III-V three junction tandem concentrator solar cells. (more…)

Source: Reuters.com /Frankfurt, Apr 8, 2009
* Joint venture eyes cost reduction
* Firs 40 MW project has been started
* Shares in Q-Cells up 3.3 pct, LDK up 4.6 pct

Q-Cells (QCEG.DE), the world’s largest maker of solar cells, and wafer maker LDK Solar (LDK.N) are eyeing markets in Europe and China as well as costs cuts as part of a newly found joint venture, Q-Cells said on Wednesday. The German cartel office early in March told Reuters that the two were planning a joint venture, and a person close to Q-Cells then said that both companies wanted to intensify cooperation, without outlining further details. LDK already supplies wafers — which is needed for the production of solar cells and modules — to Q-Cells and the cooperation will bring together closer two giants that operate in different parts of the solar value chain. (more…)

By Chris Morrison, April 16th, 2009
Source: BNet.com
http://industry.bnet.com/energy/10001091/
abound-solar-sunovia-chasing-after-first-solar/

Cadmium telluride-based thin film solar cells are certainly the technology of the moment. Following First Solar’s announcement in February that it’s producing cells for under $1 per watt, two more firms, Abound Solar (previously AVA Solar) and Sunovia have lined up with news of their own.  Of the two, Abound is the more mature firm, having taken a big $104 million funding last year. Now the company is finishing up construction on a 200 megawatt plant, which will reach full capacity in about a year. But the company is betting that it can beat First Solar’s 98 cent per watt production cost within three months, according to statements by CEO Pascal Noronha in Reuters. (more…)

JUNO BEACH, Fla., Mar 31, 2009
Source: http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/markets/industries/energy/
fpl-equip-florida-schools-generation-solar-education-stations-teach-students/

Florida Power & Light Company will install cutting-edge solar power arrays at six schools in its service territory to help teach future generations about the benefits of renewable energy. Each school receiving a ‘Next Generation Solar Education Station’ will be able to generate emissions-free electricity and provide students with a hands-on tool to learn how solar power works. (more…)

Projects to be located at Brookhaven National Laboratory would be largest installation in New York State
Source: BP Solar, press release 11 March 2009
http://www.bp.com/genericarticle.do?categoryId=9019567&contentId=7051762

BP Solar confirmed today that the company has been selected to enter into negotiations with the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) to provide nearly 37 megawatts (MW) of photovoltaic solar power on the grounds of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL).  BP Solar’s proposal includes two large-scale commercial solar photovoltaic projects at the BNL site located in Upton, New York. Each project would be sized at just over 18 MW, making BNL home to the largest solar photovoltaic site in the State of New York. (more…)