Solar Cells Info

New York, Feb. 18,2007
Reportlinker.com announces that a new market research report related to the Renewable energies industry is available in its catalogue.

Solar Photovoltaic Market Report 2007
To order this report:
www.reportlinker.com/p076238/2008/02/Solar-Photovoltaic-Market-Report-2007.html

The solar PV market continued to grow in 2007, both in installed capacity and production although it was held back by a worldwide shortage of solar grade silicon. Opinions differ within the industry as to the future duration of this shortage and these are discussed in the report. 2006 and 2007 have been significant, with the entry of an important new player in the global market, China. Chinese solar PV companies have developed very fast and a number have conducted IPOs in China and other countries. A mushrooming production capacity for solar cells and modules has been accompanied by growing production and re-cycling of silicon. Domestic demand in China has not kept pace and it is an export oriented industry to date. Germany, followed by Japan and the USA still remains the global leader, but new countries are entering the market and the industry is spreading beyond its historical areas. These developments have been accompanied by some uncertainty because of a breakdown in the statistical recording system in Germany, the largest market, with half the world’s installed capacity.
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Sufia Tippu, EE Times Europe
Bengaluru, India, Feb 18, 2008
Souce: EETimes Online
http://www.eetimes.com/news/semi/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=206800125

The Indian government has approved an additional five companies to take part in projects in Fab City, a proposed semiconductor manufacturing location near Hyderabad. This would take the total investment in Fab City to $7 billion, Minister of State for Commerce, Jairam Ramesh said here Monday (Feb. 18), speaking at the two-day India Semiconductor Association summit. The focus of the latest investments is on solar energy conversion he said but added that the Indian government has many further projects either with in-principle approval or under considerations which could bring further investments to Fab City. (more…)

Solar firms to share research in bid to speed development of new super-efficient thin-film solar cell technology
Sarah Griffiths, BusinessGreen, 08 Feb 2008
Source: BusinessGreen.com
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2209279/german-solar-giants-ink-thin

German solar firms Schott Solar and ersol Thin Film GmbH have announced they are joining forces to accelerate the development of thin-film solar cells, which they claim could increase module efficiency by 50 per cent.  The firms will combine research and development resources as part of an initiative to develop a micromorphous thin-film module with a double-layer structure consisting of an amorphous and a microcrystalline film. The firms claim the double-layer structure should result in improved cell efficiency as it results in two layers of silicon converting the entire light spectrum into power.
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St. Helier, Jersey, Jan 17, 2008
Source: Pressportal.ch
http://www.presseportal.ch/de/pm/100013003/100552961/meinl_international_power_ltd

Total investment volume: EUR 87 million, Scheduled commissioning date: September 2008

Meinl International Power Ltd. (MIP) has signed contracts for the development of a solar farm in Andalusia/Spain. The plants will be constructed in one of Europe´s most Southern and therefore sunniest regions by a consortium headed by Alpine Energie Deutschland GmbH. The solar farm is designed for a total capacity of 15.4 MWp. The general contractor has agreed to complete the project by the end of September 2008 in order to be eligible for a favourable feed-in tariff.
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United Arab Emirates, January 24,2008
Source: AMEInfo.com
http://www.ameinfo.com/144741.html

The World Energy Summit held earlier this week in Abu Dhabi served as a showcase for Masdar, the $15bon future energy initiative that has been launched by the Abu Dhabi government. The most eye-catching aspect of the initiative is Masdar City, which is being billed as the ‘greenest city in the world’.
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by Martin LaMonica, Jan 15, 2008
Source: CNet News
http://www.news.com/8301-11128_3-9850837-54.html?tag=nefd.only

SolFocus on Tuesday said that it has begun installation of its concentrated photovoltaic arrays at a 3-megawatt solar power plant in southern Spain.  The first 200 kilowatts of solar power to go live will be part of 500 kilowatts that SolFocus will provide in a project sponsored by Spain’s Institute of Concentration Photovoltaic Systems, or ISFOC by its Spanish acronym.
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By Chen Qide, China Daily, Dec 11, 2007
Source: China Daily
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2007-12/11/content_6312458.htm

Nantong in northern Jiangsu Province is set to become one of China’s key thin-film amorphous silicon solar cell manufacturing bases after Nantong Qiangsheng Photovoltaic Technology Co Ltd (QS Solar) announced it had launched a $400 million project.  A senior company manager said yesterday that the project, China’s largest of its kind, will be carried out in three phases within three years. The first phase, which consists of three sets of 25 MW production facilities, will see the first set put into operation by mid-January of 2008, Sha Xiaolin, chairman of QS Solar, said.
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Toyko, Nov 29, 2007
Source: Reuters /Reporting by Yuko Inoue and Mayumi Negishi; Editing by Hugh Lawson
http://www.reuters.com/article/technology-media-telco-SP/idUST35539720071129

Japan’s Sharp Corp (6753.T: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Thursday it would invest 22 billion yen ($200 million) to boost output capacity for thin-film solar cells more than tenfold by October 2008, amid a silicon shortage and rising demand for clean energy.
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Aliso Viejo, CA, Dec. 3, 2007
Source. PR Newswire/CNN Money.com
http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/prnewswire/CLM05703122007-1.htm

XsunX, Inc. , a solar technology company engaged in the build- out of its multi-megawatt thin film photovoltaic (TFPV) solar module manufacturing facilities, today provided progress updates on its efforts to establish its TFPV manufacturing infrastructure.  In November, the Company announced that it had secured a $21 million equity financing commitment to support the launch of its base line production system and the first 25 megawatts of its planned 100 megawatts of solar module manufacturing capacity.
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* Inauguration ceremony for ersol’s Cell Fab 2 attended by Federal Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel
* Additional production capacity of 100 MWp
* Around EUR 46 million invested in cell production plant in Arnstadt
* Creation of up to 150 permanent jobs
* Environment relief of about 1 million tons of CO2 by one annual production

Arnstadt, 16 November 2007
Source; ersol solar energy, press release
http://www.ersol.de/en/newsmediarelations/pressreleases/pressrelease/news/1195200475/
?tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=35&cHash=ed2936bd4d

ersol Solar Energy AG (ersol) is opening its second cell production plant this afternoon together with Federal Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel. In just a few weeks, ersol will officially put its new facility for high-efficiency crystalline solar cells into operation. Around EUR 46 million was invested in the new production site for crystalline silicon solar cells in Arnstadt, which has a production capacity of 100 MWp. Up to 150 people will gradually be employed on a permanent basis in the second ersol cell production plant. The first multi- and monocrystalline silicon solar cells will leave Arnstadt in early 2008, thus supporting an environmentally friendly energy supply through a sustainable energy mix. (more…)