Solar Cells Info

Menomonee Falls, Wis, May 12, 2008
Source: Kohl’s Dept. Stores press release/BusinessWire
http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/?ndmViewId=news_view&
newsId=20080512005360

Kohl’s Department Stores (NYSE:KSS) announced today that it plans to convert more than 50 of its existing New Jersey, Connecticut and Maryland locations to solar power, representing nearly 80 percent of its locations in these three states. Currently Kohl’s operates 34 stores in New Jersey, 17 in Connecticut and 16 in Maryland. (more…)

Associated Press/May 30, 2008
Source: Forbes.ciom/
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2008/05/30/ap5064578.html

Shares of solar power companies rose Friday after German lawmakers reached a tentative agreement on a milder reduction in state subsidies than some investors had feared.  Before dawn Friday, lawmakers agreed to cut the nation’s so-called feed-in tariff that obliges utilities to buy electricity from solar sources at fixed, above-market rates for 20 years. The subsidy has made Germany a magnet for solar energy investors.
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Source: Denver Business Journal, May 22, 2008
http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2008/05/19/
daily33.html?ana=from_rss%20

REC Solar Inc. said Thursday it’s expanding operations in Colorado.  The private company, based in San Luis Obispo, Calif., currently has more than a dozen full-time employees in Colorado, mostly working on installing residential solar energy systems.  The company said Thursday it’s adding a commercial division at 9032 Marshall Court in Westminster. The company said it’s hiring and expects to more than double its number of Colorado employees in 2008. (more…)

by Rebecca Kuo, Tainan; Rodney Chan
Source: DIGITIMES, 28 May 2008
http://www.digitimes.com/bits_chips/a20080528PD202.html

Taiwan-based optical film maker Efun Technology is diversifying into the photovoltaic (PV) industry by investing in a thin film solar cell company, whose initial target capacity is 40MWp by 2010, according to Efun.  Efun said the solar cell company, “Pa Yang” (transliterated from Chinese), will complete equipment installation in the fourth quarter of 2008. Efun holds a one-third stake in Pa Yang.

Pa Yang’s operations will be enabled by Efun’s already established connections in the upstream and downstream sectors, Efun said, adding Pa Yang aims to expand its capacity to 80MWp by 2011, and 350MWp by 2014.

Source: CleanTech.com,  May 30, 2008
http://media.cleantech.com/2916/
dupont-expects-to-more-than-triple-solar-sales

CEO Charles Holliday said that within five years the company’s sales in photovoltaics will be over $1 billion.  The head of Wilmington, Del.-based DuPont (NYSE: DD) said today that his company is well positioned for long-term growth in a number of fields, including renewable energy, forecasting sales in solar photovoltaics to more than triple in the next few years. (more…)

Munich, Germany, May 5, 2008
Source. QImonda AG press release
http://www.qimonda.com/about/press/releases/05_2008_Centrosolar_e.html

Qimonda AG, a leading manufacturer of memory products, and Centrosolar Group AG, a leading German solar company, today signed a contract to jointly build, equip and operate a solar cell manufacturing plant. The joint venture will produce solar cells based on silicon and will be owned 49 percent by Centrosolar and 51 percent by Qimonda Solar GmbH, a 100 percent subsidiary of Qimonda AG. In the planned cooperation, Qimonda will contribute its existing know-how in silicon-based mass production as well as important access to silicon supply. Centrosolar will contribute its expertise with solar systems and the sales and distribution of solar modules. The venture company which will be located on Qimonda’s existing site in Vila do Conde, Portugal is planned to initially invest Euro 70 million by September 2009. (more…)

by Vincent Chen, Taipei; Esther Lam
Source: DIGITIMES, 20 May 2008
http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20080520PD214.html

By producing thin-film solar cells on equipment from EPV Solar, Taiwan-based Formosun Solar indicated that volume production has already started with shortage already observed. The company also stressed the advantage the large size of its solar cells has in comparison to conventional thin-film solar cells. (more…)

At a Greentech Media conference in Massachusetts, three venture capitalists selected the startup as the most promising of five presenting companies.
by: Ucilia Wang, May 28, 2008
Source: GreenTechMedia.com
http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/1336-technologies-wins-solar-startup-competition-945.html

Three New England venture capitalists picked 1366 Technologies as the winner of a startup competition at a Greentech Media conference Wednesday.  The panel, made up of Jeff Andrews of Atlas Ventures, Rob Day of @Ventures and Jay Fiske of Massachusetts Green Energy Fund, named 1366 as the most promising of five solar startups that presented their technologies and business plans at the conference. Aside from being named the top dog, the Lexington, Mass.-based startup also took home a hydrogen car. A toy version, that is.
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Yukiko Kanou, Nikkei Electronics /May 27, 2008
Source: Tech-On
http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/english/NEWS_EN/20080527/152443/

A Japanese institute and firms prototyped a foliage plant-like solar cell module by using organic thin-film solar cells.  A leaf-like module featuring bright green solar cells was developed by National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Mitsubishi Corp and Tokki Corp. (more…)

By Nicholas Comfort and Jakob Lindstroem /May 30, 2008
Source: Bloomberg.com
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601085&sid=a0Bnvbnp57uI&refer=europe

Solar stocks, including Q-Cells AG and Renewable Energy Corp. ASA, rallied after Germany’s ruling coalition government agreed to implement smaller-than-expected subsidy cuts.  Q-Cells, Germany’s largest solar-power company, surged 9.8 percent, the biggest one-day gain in two months, to close at 78.15 euros on the Frankfurt exchange. Renewable Energy Corp. ASA, the largest maker of polysilicon used in solar panels, climbed 6.1 percent to close at 151.5 kroner in Oslo.
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