Solar Cells Info

Meeting the actively growing market demand, with future potential increases possible
Tokyo, February 16, 2009
Source: Sanyo Electric Co. Ltd press release
http://www.sanyo.com/news/2009/02/16-1en.html

SANYO Electric Co., Ltd. (SANYO) announces that it will increase production capacity for HIT solar cells by building new production facilities inside the grounds of the Nishikinohama Factory (Kaizuka City, Osaka), already a production base for SANYO’s proprietary HIT solar cells, to meet active demand for solar power generation equipment around the world.  The new building construction will begin on February 17, and is expected to reach completion by October 2009. While reviewing the market conditions, production is expected to start immediately to be better able to respond to market demands, and thereafter considered with a view to increase the facilities’ productivity as necessary. (more…)

Kerry A. Dolan, Forbes, April 02, 2009
Source: Rediff.com
http://business.rediff.com/report/2009/apr/02/forbes-solar-power-for-rs-90-a-day.htm

Imagine a solar panel as affordable as a fancy new bicycle. A panel designed so simply that you can install one (or more) yourself, just outside your windows, in the course of an afternoon.  That’s the concept behind Oakland, Calif.-based Veranda Solar, a start-up founded last year by Capra J’neva and Emilie Fetscher, recent graduates of the product design program at Stanford University. J’neva and Fetscher dreamed up attractive, flower-shaped solar panels as part of their master’s project at the design school. “We created a starter solar system that expands as your budget does,” J’neva says. (more…)

Source: DIGITIMES, Taipe, Michael McManus, 19 March 2009
http://www.digitimes.com/bits_chips/a20090319VL200.html

Although global solar panel production went up 48% worldwide to 5.6 gigawatts (GW) in 2008, market reserach firm The Information Network laments that the US is lagging in the market. In posing the question, “What’s worse, buying solar panels from Eurasia or oil from OPEC?” the market reserach firm noted that less than 14% of solar panel production – 750 megawatts (MW) – was produced in the US last year. (more…)

Source: DIGITIMES, Nuying Huang, Taipei; Adam Hwang, 23 March 2009]
http://www.digitimes.com/print/a20090323PD200.html

Motech Industries, a Taiwan-based maker of crystalline silicon solar cells, is expanding its capacity of poly-Si wafer slicing from an annual level equivalent to 100MWp currently to 160MWp, with the expansion to be completed in mid-2009, according to the company. In order to secure supply of wafers for solar cell production, Motech has installed an annual capacity of 100MWp for ingot growing and slicing, the company indicated. For the additional annual wafer-slicing capacity of 60MWp, Motech will rely on outside supply of ingots, the company said. (more…)

Source: DIGITIMES, Nuying Huang, Taipei; Adam Hwang, 25 March 2009
Tsuo and Shi speeches at PV convention in Taipei, compiled by Digitimes, March 2009
http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20090325PD202.html

Simon Tsuo, chairman of Taiwan-based Motech Industries, and his counterpart from China-based Suntech Power, Zhengrong Shi, both believe that there will not be any significant breakthrough in the development of thin-film photovoltaic (PV) modules in the near future. Tsuo and Shi, two important figures in the solar industry in Taiwan and China, expressed their views in their keynote speeches delivered at the first Taiwan-China PV industry convention taking place in Taipei during March 24-25. Motech is the largest crystalline silicon solar cell maker in Taiwan, while Suntech is the largest crystalline silicon PV module maker in China. (more…)

Source: DIGITIMES, Press release; Jessie Shen, 27 March 2009
http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20090327PR201.html

The global photovoltaic (PV) market is set to contract for the first time in 2009 in terms of new installations, according to IMS Research.  IMS Research’s ongoing analysis shows that although the PV market doubled in 2008 in megawatt (MW) terms, a contraction in shipments is anticipated in 2009. The contraction will be caused by the sudden drop-off in demand from Spain, with its newly implemented 500MW cap. This is likely to result in a shortfall of some 1.5-2GW in 2009. Although this will in part be counter-balanced by growth in Italy and Eastern Europe, the dramatic decline of the Spanish market will lead to an overall drop in worldwide shipments. (more…)

* European Patent Office revokes Swiss university’s patent
* Applied Materials had been accused of violating patent
SAN FRANCISCO, March 3, 2009
Source: Reuters-UK
(Reporting by Clare Baldwin; Editing by Edwin Chan and John Wallace)
http://uk.reuters.com/article/rbssTechMediaTelecomNews/idUKN3142574820090331

The European Patent Office on Tuesday revoked a solar patent issued to a Swiss university in an apparent victory for chip gear-maker Applied Materials Inc (AMAT.O). The solar photovoltaic technology patent was issued to the University of Neuchatel and licensed exclusively to Oerlikon Corp (OERL.VX), a Swiss technology group, Applied Materials said. Oerlikon had alleged the patent was being violated by Germany’s SunFilm AG, a key customer of Applied Materials. (more…)

Investment Could Lead to Thousands of New Jobs
Washington, DC – March 20, 2009
Source: US Dept of Energy, press release
http://www.energy.gov/news2009/7078.htm
Energy Secretary Steven Chu today offered a $535 million loan guarantee for Solyndra, Inc. to support the company’s construction of a commercial-scale manufacturing plant for its proprietary cylindrical solar photovoltaic panels. The company expects to create thousands of new jobs in the U.S. while deploying its solar panels across the U.S. and around the world. (more…)

By Alexis Madrigal, February 11, 2009
Source: Wired.com
http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/02/bigsolar.html

The largest series of solar installations in history, more than 1,300 megawatts, is planned for the desert outside Los Angeles, according to a new deal between the utility Southern California Edison and solar power plant maker, BrightSource.  The momentous deal will deliver more electricity than even the largest nuclear plant, spread out among seven facilities, the first of which will start up in 2013. When fully operational, the companies say the facility will provide enough electricity to power 845,000 homes — more than exist in San Francisco — though estimates like that are notoriously squirrely. (more…)

Source: AZONano.com, Feb 5, 2009
http://www.azonano.com/news.asp?newsID=9749
Despite a sluggish forecast for the overall high-tech industry in 2009, nanomaterials for solar cells grew 47% in 2008 and is projected to grow another 44% in 2009, according to a report Market Outlook for Nanomaterials for Electronics Applications: Semiconductors, Solar, Displays. Sensors, RFID, Lighting recently published by The Information Network, a New Tripoli, PA-based market research company. (more…)