Solar Cells Info

Menomonee Falls, Wis, May 12, 2008
Source: Kohl’s Dept. Stores press release/BusinessWire
http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/?ndmViewId=news_view&
newsId=20080512005360

Kohl’s Department Stores (NYSE:KSS) announced today that it plans to convert more than 50 of its existing New Jersey, Connecticut and Maryland locations to solar power, representing nearly 80 percent of its locations in these three states. Currently Kohl’s operates 34 stores in New Jersey, 17 in Connecticut and 16 in Maryland. (more…)

Associated Press/May 30, 2008
Source: Forbes.ciom/
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2008/05/30/ap5064578.html

Shares of solar power companies rose Friday after German lawmakers reached a tentative agreement on a milder reduction in state subsidies than some investors had feared.  Before dawn Friday, lawmakers agreed to cut the nation’s so-called feed-in tariff that obliges utilities to buy electricity from solar sources at fixed, above-market rates for 20 years. The subsidy has made Germany a magnet for solar energy investors.
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by Chris Morrison, VentureBeat, 27 May 2008
Source: TheIndustryStandard.com
http://www.thestandard.com/news/2008/05/27/
sunedison-raises-161-million-solar-services-and-installing

SunEdison, a solar services company based in Beltsville, Md., has taken $131 million in venture funding and $30 million in debt to finance its rapid expansion and ongoing projects, including some of the largest solar installations in the United States. (more…)

Livermore, CA, May 30, 2008
Source: REC Solar press release/Businesswire /yahoo finance
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/080530/20080530005154.html?.v=1
REC Solar to provide deep discounts on solar electric systems to Livermore residents for a limited time

Leading residential and commercial solar installation company REC Solar announced they have been selected as a preferred solar electricity provider by The Livermore Solar Electricity Group. To celebrate, REC Solar is running a special summer program offering Livermore residents deep discounts on solar electric systems for their homes and businesses. (more…)

Source: Denver Business Journal, May 22, 2008
http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2008/05/19/
daily33.html?ana=from_rss%20

REC Solar Inc. said Thursday it’s expanding operations in Colorado.  The private company, based in San Luis Obispo, Calif., currently has more than a dozen full-time employees in Colorado, mostly working on installing residential solar energy systems.  The company said Thursday it’s adding a commercial division at 9032 Marshall Court in Westminster. The company said it’s hiring and expects to more than double its number of Colorado employees in 2008. (more…)

by Rebecca Kuo, Tainan; Rodney Chan
Source: DIGITIMES, 28 May 2008
http://www.digitimes.com/bits_chips/a20080528PD202.html

Taiwan-based optical film maker Efun Technology is diversifying into the photovoltaic (PV) industry by investing in a thin film solar cell company, whose initial target capacity is 40MWp by 2010, according to Efun.  Efun said the solar cell company, “Pa Yang” (transliterated from Chinese), will complete equipment installation in the fourth quarter of 2008. Efun holds a one-third stake in Pa Yang.

Pa Yang’s operations will be enabled by Efun’s already established connections in the upstream and downstream sectors, Efun said, adding Pa Yang aims to expand its capacity to 80MWp by 2011, and 350MWp by 2014.

Source: Azo.com /May 22, 2008
http://www.azom.com/news.asp?newsID=12309

Managing director Stephan Hansen of First Solar (GmbH) – one of the worlds fastest growing manufacturers of thin-film solar modules – will speak at an international conference in Munich on June 11th about the future opportunities of thin-film solar technology.  The number of solar projects with this technology has been growing rapidly in recent years, especially in countries like Spain, Italy, France and Germany where governments have successfully promoted photovoltaics and conditions for solar energy are attractive. (more…)

Source: CleanTech.com,  May 30, 2008
http://media.cleantech.com/2916/
dupont-expects-to-more-than-triple-solar-sales

CEO Charles Holliday said that within five years the company’s sales in photovoltaics will be over $1 billion.  The head of Wilmington, Del.-based DuPont (NYSE: DD) said today that his company is well positioned for long-term growth in a number of fields, including renewable energy, forecasting sales in solar photovoltaics to more than triple in the next few years. (more…)

Munich, Germany, May 5, 2008
Source. QImonda AG press release
http://www.qimonda.com/about/press/releases/05_2008_Centrosolar_e.html

Qimonda AG, a leading manufacturer of memory products, and Centrosolar Group AG, a leading German solar company, today signed a contract to jointly build, equip and operate a solar cell manufacturing plant. The joint venture will produce solar cells based on silicon and will be owned 49 percent by Centrosolar and 51 percent by Qimonda Solar GmbH, a 100 percent subsidiary of Qimonda AG. In the planned cooperation, Qimonda will contribute its existing know-how in silicon-based mass production as well as important access to silicon supply. Centrosolar will contribute its expertise with solar systems and the sales and distribution of solar modules. The venture company which will be located on Qimonda’s existing site in Vila do Conde, Portugal is planned to initially invest Euro 70 million by September 2009. (more…)

by Nuying Huang, Taipei; Esther Lam
Source: DIGITIMES, 26 May 2008
http://www.digitimes.com/bits_chips/a20080523PD211.html

The price premium for see-through building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) materials over conventional BIPV materials has drawn attention among solar module companies to gear up their deployments.  Thin-film solar cells can be integrated into exterior glass walls via laser patterning. Since the processed solar modules have higher transparency compared to conventional modules, they do not necessary have to be placed on rooftops, industry players commented.
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