Solar Cells Info

1 March 2007
Source: SolarWorld group press release
http://www.dgap.de/link.php?von=19970101&typ=adhoc&isin=DE0005108401&sprache=en&a=10&v=en&id=70067

In Hillsboro in the US federal state of Oregon SolarWorld AG is beginning
to establish an integrated solar silicon wafer and solar cell production
which will reach a capacity of 500 MW until the year  2009 thus at the same
time building the largest solar factory on the American continent. At a
price of only 30 million EUR the solar technology group succeeded in taking
over the silicon wafer production of the Japanese Komatsu Group which had
invested some 600 million EUR at the Hillsboro location – in the immediate
vicinity of the world’s largest factory of the chip manufacturer Intel –
but had never gone into production with the new facility due to a weak
demand situation in the chip industry. The SolarWorld Group will further
develop the new site with an investment of 300 million EUR. The federal
state of Oregon will support these investments with funds from its
Anti-Global-Warming-Program. Following this acquisition the SolarWorld
Group will shift its solar crystallization activities from Vancouver to
Hillsboro and already start up production in the summer of 2007. In the
first stage of the expansion capacities will be enhanced to 100 MW. At the
same time the group will double the capacities of its specialized solar
module factory at the Camarillo/California production site to 100 MW.
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Solar panels in Australia following German shades.  Sunburnt country has few solar panels.
Peter Hannam /March 5, 2007
Source: Theage.com
http://www.theage.com.au/news/business/solar-panels-in-german-shades/2007/03/04/1172943275976.html

SOLAR power may score near the top of any carbon-correctness measure but its potential to ease Australia’s looming electricity shortages is its main selling point, according to BP Solar, the country’s biggest producer of photovoltaic (PV) panels.  “The uncaptured value of solar PV is in peak electricity with the additional benefit that it’s carbon-free,” said Mark Twidell, regional director of BP Solar Australasia.  Peak load demand is now growing at four times the pace of base, or average, demand in some states, according to BP Solar, driven by the wider use of air-conditioning and warmer summers. Federal government estimates put the peak load investment needs at $25 billion, Mr Twidell said.
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Peter Clarke , EE Times Europe / Feb 21, 2007
http://www.eetimes.com/news/latest/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=197007587

LONDON — ErSol Solar Energy AG has agreed to supply monocrystalline silicon cells to Silicon Valley Solar Inc. in support of the development of Sol-X2 internal flat-plate concentrator solar photovoltaic modules.  ErSol (Erfurt, Germany) has agreed to supply cells with between 16.26 percent and 17.47 percent efficiency. Initially ErSol will be supporting development and preproduction. ErSol is also expected to provide a sufficient quantity of cells to support SV Solar’s initial mass production ramp.
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3 March 2007
Source: Forbes report
http://www.forbes.com/markets/feeds/afx/2007/03/02/afx3481299.html

TOKYO (XFN-ASIA) – Kyocera Corp plans to invest 40-50 bln yen to double output capacity for solar cells by fiscal 2010 as part of a trend, the Nihon Keizai shimbun reported.  Kyocera, which currently has annual production equivalent to 240mw, firm will gradually add equipment to lift output capacity to around 500mw in fiscal 2010, the paper said.
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Kulongoski hails plans for Hillsboro solar-cell factory
By Associated Press /Mar 03, 2007
Source: The Daily News TDN, Longview, Washington
http://www.tdn.com/articles/2007/03/03/biz/news02.txt

SALEM — A German company’s plan to turn a Hillsboro factory into a major producer of solar cells and wafers is a big boost not just for Hillsboro but also for the state’s economy and for its commitment to clean energy, Gov. Ted Kulongoski said Thursday. Germany’s SolarWorld AG announced it will invest $397 million in a newly acquired factory in Hillsboro, and up to 1,000 jobs could be created.
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Golden, CO, February 28, 2007
Source: PrimeStar Solar /press release
http://www.primestarsolar.com/documents/finalCRADA1_000.pdf

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and PrimeStar Solar, Inc. announced today that they have signed an $870,000 cooperative research and development agreement to transition NREL’s leading cadmium telluride (CdTe) photovoltaic (PV) technology to commercial module production. This technology has been used to produce the world record cadmium telluride photovoltaic cell efficiency of 16.5% by NREL’s Professor Xuanzhi Wu and his
colleagues.  In this agreement, Professor Wu is the principal investigator for NREL while Dr. Joe Beach and Dr. Fred Seymour are the principal investigators for PrimeStar Solar.

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Solar start-up wants to double the amount of light going into a solar cell to boost output and lower overall cost.
By Martin LaMonica /Staff Writer, CNET News.com /February 22, 2007
Source: CNet news
http://news.com.com/Solaria+shines+light+on+high-powered+solar+panel/2100-11392_3-6161457.html

Solaria, a solar electric start-up, has devised a novel way to get more power from a solar cell: chopping it up into many pieces.  The company’s CEO, Suvi Sharma, gave an early peek at his company’s products Wednesday at Piper Jaffray’s Opportunities in Alternative Energy investor conference in New York.

Solaria is one of several companies pursuing solar concentrators as a way to increase the output coming from solar cells. Solar concentrators use optics, such as mirrors or lenses, to focus sunlight onto the solar cells that convert light to electricity. By magnifying light, designers can generate more power from solar cells made of silicon and other expensive materials. Rather than dramatically boosting the sun’s power, Solaria intends to only double the light’s rays in its initial products, which are coming out this year, said Sharma. A future product, due next year, will triple the light’s intensity.
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Source: ErSol Press Release 21 February 2007
http://www.ersol.de/en/pm.php?type=pm&id=129&year=2007

* Sales doubled in 2006 to € 127.8 million and EBIT to € 20.3 million
* 2007 will be marked by strong expansion activities
* Significant boost in earnings and sales in 2008
* Continued focus on technological progress – cooperation with US company
Silicon Valley Solar Inc. (SVS)

ErSol Solar Energy AG (ErSol), Erfurt has once again closed off the previous financial year with record results. Based on preliminary calculations, consolidated sales grew in 2006 by 98% to € 127.8 million (2005: € 64.4 million) following the Group’s capacity expansion, deliveries already accrued, thanks to the long-term raw materials agreements concluded in 2005, and the integration of the silicon-recycling subsidiary SRS in financial year 2006. Earnings have also shown disproportionate growth despite start-up costs for new business segments: earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) were more than doubled to € 20.3 million (2005: € 9.5 million) and the EBIT margin grew to 15.9% (2005: 14.7%). ErSol has also recorded a sharp growth in earnings before taxes (EBT): EBT increased to € 19.7 million (2005: € 9.5 million).
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By Jessica DiNapoli /Sun Senior Writer   / Feb 26 2007
Source: The Cornell Daily Sun
http://www.cornellsun.com/node/21656

“I’m not going to lie, I work a lot — probably from 8 a.m. until 1 a.m.” said Adam Farrell ’06. “But I party just as hard.”  Farrell has a jam-packed agenda as co-founder of Silicon Solar — a company with over 82,000 customers and estimated sales of $5 million that is expanding across America and into China. “We have over 300 products, from small innovative type things to solar hot water systems,” said Patrick McDonough ’06, sales and marketing for Silicon Solar.

One such product is a solar light that sits atop real estate signs, so that they light up at night. Silicon Solar had humble beginnings as a high school earth science project: as Farrell worked on his project, he realized that he could save money. So, instead of purchasing solar cells from Radio Shack for $5, Farrell looked into buying solar cells in bulk from a warehouse in Massachusetts. In bulk, the cells cost about ten cents. “That’s a pretty good margin,” Farrell said.
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26.02.2007
Source: Aleo Solar AG /press release
http://www.presseportal.de/story.htx?nr=946325&ressort=7

Prenzlau/Oldenburg – Aleo Solar AG has signed a contract package with Q-Cells AG, doubling the delivery volume of solar cells  under two existing contracts. Only a few days ago, Aleo solar announced the conclusion of a supply contract with Q-Cells for its Spanish manufacturing subsidiary in Barcelona. All in all, Aleo Solar has now signed medium- and long-term contracts with a total of three prominent suppliers. The total volume of contractually secured solar cells for the next 10 years amounts to well over 600 MWp.

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