Solar Cells Info

Nuying Huang, Taipei; Esther Lam, DIGITIMES, 31 August 2007
http://www.digitimes.com/bits_chips/a20070830PD222.html

The persistent shortage of polysilicon may reach an equilibrium in the first half of 2008 at the earliest, as both new comers and existing players all plan for expansion in 2008, said E-ton Solar Tech company general manager Chin-Yao Tsai.  M.Setek from Japan and DC Chemical from Korea, the two new comers in polysilicon production who are both acknowledged by industry players for their relatively strong competitiveness in the industry, both plan for new supply in 2008, Tsai said. M.Setek plans to have an annual output of 5,200 tons of polysilicon in 2008 while DC Chemical plans for 3,000 tons in annual output. More polysilicon supply is also going to be available from some China-based makers, he noted.
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Xinyu City, China and Sunnyvale, CA, Aug. 20, 2007
http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/prnewswire/AQM08320082007-1.htm

LDK Solar Co., Ltd. , a leading manufacturer of multicrystalline solar wafers, announced that the company hosted a groundbreaking ceremony on August 18, 2007 to celebrate the commencement of construction on its polysilicon production plant. This event was hosted by Mr. Xiaofeng Peng, Founder, Chairman and CEO. Attending the ceremony as the key honorable guest was Mr. Xinxiong Wu, Governor of Jiangxi Province with many other honorable guests from Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, the U.S., Europe, India and other parts of the world to celebrate this event.
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Aug. 23, 2007 /Energy Tribune Staff
Source. EnergyTribune.com
http://www.energytribune.com/articles.cfm?aid=608

India is getting a share of the booming global market for photovoltaic panels. California-based Signet Solar recently announced that it will invest $2 billion over the next decade to set up three solar photovoltaic manufacturing units in India.  When completed, each of the three plants will have an annual output of 300 megawatts. Signet Solar chairman and founder Prabhu Goel said he was “convinced that India is ideal for manufacturing the world’s lowest-cost solar modules.” The company is also planning a research and development center in India.
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Peter Clarke, EE Times Europe,
London, Aug 27, 2007
Source. EETimes.com
http://www.eetimes.com/news/design/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=201802370

Solar Semiconductor Inc. (Sunnyvale, Calif.) has said it has signed a supply contract with Q-Cells AG (Thalheim, Germany) worth $170 million.  Solar, with its manufacturing base in Hyderabad, India, has signed a multiyear agreement for the supply of 156-mm mono- and multicrystalline cells by Q-Cells for use in module production in Solar’s photovoltaic module manufacturing plant in India. (more…)

ARISE Technologies Corporation Announces Start of Construction of PV Cell Manufacturing Plant and Update on High Efficiency PV Cell Program
Waterloo, ON, Aug. 30, 2007
Source. Artse Technologies press release
http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/August2007/30/c4225.html

ARISE Technologies Corporation  announced today that it has started construction of its photovoltaic cell manufacturing plant in Bischofswerda, Germany. HOCHTIEF Construction AG, the general contractor for the project is on site and has started construction. The Company expects to have the building weather tight before the end of this year and to be producing PV cells early in the 2nd quarter of 2008. Pictures of the construction site are located at
http://www.arisetech.com/content/view/137/98/ (more…)

Oslo, Norway, Aug 21, 2007
Source: Norsk Hydro ASA, press release
http://www.hydro.com/en/press_room/news/archive/2007_08/ascent_en.html

Hydro is investing an additional NOK 62 million in the solar energy company Ascent Solar, a producer of super-thin, flexible solarcell modules. In March this year, Hydro invested NOK 56 million, making for a total investment of NOK 118 million in the Colorado-based company. “Ascent has developed an exciting and future-oriented solar cell technology, and we believe there will be a large market for their products. Its super-thin, flexible solar cell modules go very well with Hydro’s building systems activities, and we look forward to maintaining our prosperous partnership with Ascent,” says Einar Glomnes, head of Hydro’s solar division. (more…)

Woodbury, N.Y., Aug. 23, 2007
Source: Veeco Instruments Inc. Press release
http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=111487&p=NewsArticle&id=1043116

Veeco Instruments Inc. (Nasdaq:VECO) has introduced a line of new production-scale PV-Series(TM) Thermal Deposition Sources, enabling copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) thin film solar manufacturers to more quickly transition from pilot to full scale solar cell production. Veeco’s new line of thermal deposition sources for CIGS includes PV-Series SUMO(R) (for copper, indium and gallium) and PV-Series Valved (for selenium and sulfur) for R & D and production environments. (more…)

Littleton, CO, August 24, 2007
Source: Ascent Solar Technologies, Inc, press release
http://www.ascentsolar.com/view.php?tg=press&id=38

Ascent Solar Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTI), a developer of state-of-the-art, thin-film photovoltaic modules, announced today that it has been awarded a $165,000 contract by a U.S. Department of Energy National Laboratory, to develop advanced materials and processing tools that could potentially lead to higher manufacturing speeds, and thus, greater throughput and lower manufacturing costs, for Ascent Solar’s thin-film copper-indium-gallium-diselenide (CIGS) photovoltaic material. (more…)

Award of the Industry’s Largest Concentrator Solar Cell Order to Date Affirms EMCORE’s Position as the Technology and Manufacturing Leader and Signals the Maturation of the Concentrator Photovoltaics (CPV) Market
Albuquerque, NM, August 29, 2007
Source: Emcore Corp. press release
http://www.emcore.com/news/release.php?id=163

EMCORE Corporation (NASDAQ: EMKR), a leading provider of compound semiconductor-based components and subsystems for the broadband, fiber optic, satellite, and terrestrial solar power markets, announced today that it has been awarded a follow-on production order from Green and Gold Energy (GGE) for 3 million solar cells for use in GGE’s SunCubeTM terrestrial concentrator system. This 105 MW purchase order represents the largest procurement of concentrator solar cells in the industry to date and is a follow-on order to an initial 5 MW order placed earlier this year. All hardware ordered under this contract is to be shipped by the end of 2008.
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MOPS, August 31, 2007 Esther Lam, DIGITIMES
http://www.digitimes.com/bits_chips/a20070831PM202.html

Despite Kenmos Technology having refuted speculation about its potential investment in thin-film solar cell production, the backlight unit (BLU) maker today posted a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TSE) officially announcing its investment in a solar-cell affiliate. Kenmos indicated that its board of directors approved the investment in a solar-cell affiliate in which it will hold a 45% stake. The company said the remaining stake will be held by overseas equipment and channel distributors, but did not reveal further details. (more…)