Solar Cells Info

Albuquerque, N-M. April 27, 2007
Source: PR-inside.com

EMCORE Corporation , announced today that the Photovoltaics Division has been awarded a $2M contract by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) Center for the design, manufacturing, testing and delivery of fully integrated solar panels for the Mars Cruise Stage spacecraft. This spacecraft is designed to carry the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover and communicate with the entry vehicle that will carry the rover to the surface of the planet. The launch of the spacecraft is planned for fall of 2009. (more…)

Satoshi Ookubo, Nikkei Electronics / Apr 19, 2007
Source:
http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/english/NEWS_EN/20070419/131210/

Kyocera Corp. has announced a plan to boost its solar cell production to 500 MW per year in FY2010. The 500 MW is about three times the current output of 180 MW. Toward the production enhancement, the company will reinforce production bases in Japan, the US, Europe and China, investing a total of about ¥30 billion through FY2010. Through this production enhancement, Kyocera looks to meet increasing demand across the world for solar cell.
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Source:  Centrosolar.com press release /Aprl 26, 2007
http://www.centrosolar.de/index_e.php
Munich, April 26, 2007

Solarsquare AG, now a subsidiary of CENTROSOLAR AG, acted promptly to access sources of supply for pure solar silicon. This raw material, which is required in the production of solar cells, was procured on behalf of the cell manufacturer Q-Cells. In return, the latter has (among others) hitherto supplied Solarsquare with solar modules, which Solarsquare has then marketed. This supply agreement, which involves annual quantities currently amounting to almost 12 MWp, has now been improved. In future, on Q-Cells will be supplying Solarsquare AG with solar cells rather than modules; now that Solarsquare is part of the CENTROSOLAR Group, it has direct access to the group’s facilities for processing cells into customer-specific module types. CENTROSOLAR is consequently able to make more effective use of its own, existing value chain and boost its rate of return.

Q-Cells intends to offer further quantities to CENTROSOLAR over and above those envisaged by the supply agreement. A certain volume of supplies has moreover been agreed for the period after 2009. The new agreement thus places the existing business relations between the two companies on an even broader, long-term footing.

* Development of additional nominal capacity of 120 MWp by the end of 2008
* Investment of approx. € 46 million for new cell plant

Press release 17 April 2007
Source: Ersol.de press release
http://www.ersol.de/en/newsmediarelations/pressreleases/pressrelease/news/1176791584/

Ersol’s Solar Cells division is today celebrating its topping-out ceremony, together with Thuringia’s premier Dieter Althaus (CDU) and numerous local politicians, for its new solar cell production facility in Arnstadt. In addition to its production site in Erfurt, the ersol Group is establishing a factory there for crystalline silicon solar cells. The planned investment volume totals around € 46 million. This year, the planned investments of the ersol Group total almost € 120 million. “We are very happy to be taking this decisive step in building our second cell plant. The production of mono- and multicrystalline silicon solar cells has always been, and remains, at the core of the ersol Group. The capacity this will generate for us brings us steadily closer to our expansion target of 400 MWp capacity by the end of 2010“, explains Dr. Claus Beneking, CEO of ersol Solar Energy AG, of the Company’s future capacity expansion.
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Source: SunPower.com /press release,
BARCELONA, Spain, April 25, 2007
http://investors.sunpowercorp.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=239358

SunPower Corporation (Nasdaq: SPWR), a Silicon Valley-based manufacturer of high-efficiency, commercially available solar cells, solar panels, and solar systems, today announced a number of solar power plant projects being built or supplied by its PowerLight subsidiary. These projects will expand PowerLight’s market-leading footprint in Spain to more than 61 megawatts.
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Source: SunEdison.com / press release /April 23, 2007
http://www.sunedison.com/images/press/042307-alamosagbreaking.pdf

Colorado Governor Bill Ritter and US Senator Ken Salazar break ground on 8.22 Megawatt Photovoltaic solar plant
Xcel Energy to Buy Solar Energy Generated by SunEdison’s Alamosa Photovoltaic Solar Plant to. Meet Colorado’s Amendment 37 and the “20 Percent by 2020” Renewable Energy Standard

ALAMOSA, COLO. – April 23, 2007 – An 82-acre tract in south central Colorado will be the site for one of the largest photovoltaic power plants in the United States. Dignitaries including Colorado Governor Bill Ritter, U.S. Senator Ken Salazar, and executives from SunEdison and Xcel Energy spoke at today’s groundbreaking ceremony for the 8.22-megawatt Alamosa Photovoltaic Solar Plant. The solar plant will be built, financed and maintained by SunEdison, North America’s leading solar energy services provider. Xcel Energy will buy the solar power generated by the
Alamosa plant, which is scheduled for completion by early 2008.
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Wedding Thin Film Technology to Bio-Based Substrate

By: Marketwire / Apr. 10, 2007
SANTA CLARITA, CA
Source: BioSolar press release via Marketwire
http://www.sys-con.com/read/359598.htm

BioSolar(TM), Inc. (OTCBB: BSRC), developer of a breakthrough technology to produce thin film, flexible solar cells on bio-based plastic substrates, today announces that the company is launching its development program to produce a proprietary bio-based resin uniquely suited to the rigors required for solar cell production. The methodology the company is developing to create low-cost thin film solar cells is a multi-faceted endeavor, with this newly launched bio-based specialty resin project signaling commencement of the first phase of the development.

Explaining some of the intricacies of the process, Dr. David Lee, BioSolar’s CEO, said, “Our thin film solar cell development is unique because it involves the deposition of thin layers of amorphous silicon directly onto bio-based substrates utilizing a process known as chemical vapor deposition, or CVD. One of the challenges faced by BioSolar is that the current generation of bio-based resins has much lower melting and degassing temperature points than those of conventional petroleum-based plastic substrates. Currently available plastics made from bio-based resins begin to exhibit signs of degradation at processing temperatures used by existing CVD chambers. Therefore, we believe that existing bio-based plastics are not suitable for the manufacture of thin film solar cells, and we have launched our development program to blend the appropriate resins.”

The company’s primary bio-based substrate development effort is to overcome the processing temperature challenge of degassing and deformation of the bio-based substrate material during the thin film deposition process. Lowering the processing temperature will not result in solar cells with desirable characteristics. Therefore, we are developing various ways to correct or overcome these undesirable material properties at the processing temperatures currently used by existing CVD chambers.

The secondary objective of the bio-based substrate development effort is to satisfy the durability and environmental requirements established by conventional petroleum-based plastic substrates. These include electromagnetic properties, mechanical strength, dimensional stability, opacity, reflectivity, hydroscopic properties, weatherability, adhesion, flame resistance, and other traits identified by BioSolar’s engineering and development group.

The Solar Power is Yours!
Montreal- April 18 2007
Press Release from ICP Solar Technologies
http://www.renewableenergyaccess.com/rea/partner/story?id=48170

MONTREAL – April 18, 2007 – ICP Solar Technologies, a leading developer, manufacturer and marketer of solar cells and products, is proud to announce a new partnership with the Captain Planet Foundation to bring solar power to planet Earth! As part of ICP’s commitment to environmental causes across the globe, for every online purchase of their of Sunsei(TM) brand products via the ICP online store, they will make a contribution to the Captain Planet Foundation to support hands-on environmental projects for youth.
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JIANGSU, China, April 17, 2007
Source: Canandian Solar Inc, press release
http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=196781&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=985952

Canadian Solar Inc. (“the Company”, or ”CSI”) (Nasdaq: CSIQ) celebrated the grand opening of its subsidiary, CSI Cells Co., Ltd. in Suzhou, China on April 15, 2007. The first phase of CSI Cell’s new facility, with an area of about 10,000 sq meters, has an annual capacity of 25 MW, and is expected to be ramped up to 100 MW by the middle of Q4 of 2007.
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Suntech America President Appointed to Board
WUXI, China and OLNEY, Md., April 19, 2007
Source: Suntech Power Holdings, press release
http://www.suntech-power.com/News/tabid/99/Default.aspx?id=276&Module=597

Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd. (NYSE: STP), one of the world’s leading manufacturers of photovoltaic (PV) cells and modules, today announced that it has joined the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and that Suntech America President Roger Efird has been appointed to the association’s board of directors.
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