Solar Cells Info

As the solar industry prepares for solar-panels production to surpass silicon demand, thin-film companies are expected to endure less hardship, as long as they can actually deliver products.
by: Rachel Barron, May 28, 2008
Source: GreenTechMedia.com
http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/thin-film-to-survive-solar-shakeout-943.html

Thin-film solar manufacturers are prepared to endure hard times better than traditional solar companies in the next few years, Stephen O’Rourke, managing director for Deutsche Bank Securities, said at a Greentech Media conference in Massachusetts on Wednesday.  While not everyone agrees, a number of analysts have been predicting a solar-industry shakeout starting anywhere from this year to five years from now as the silicon shortage ends and the solar industry finds itself with an oversupply of panels (see Solar Sector Heading for a Shakeout, Silicon Still a Hot Topic at Photon and Solar Margins About to Shrink?). (more…)

Solar Panels Will Be Supplied from its Devens Facility
Marlboro, MA, May 22, 2008
Source: Evergreen Solar press release/ Businesswire
http://www.evergreensolar.com/app/en/investors/

Evergreen Solar, Inc. (Nasdaq: ESLR), a manufacturer of solar power panels with its proprietary, low-cost String Ribbon(TM) wafer technology, announced it has signed two new long-term sales contracts. Yesterday, Evergreen Solar and German-based Ralos Vertriebs GmbH signed an agreement valued at approximately $750 million for panel deliveries beginning in 2008 and extending through 2013. Combined with another agreement signed last week with a United States-based installer, Evergreen has new contractual backlog of approximately $1 billion. (more…)

By Nicholas Comfort and Jakob Lindstroem /May 30, 2008
Source: Bloomberg.com
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601085&sid=a0Bnvbnp57uI&refer=europe

Solar stocks, including Q-Cells AG and Renewable Energy Corp. ASA, rallied after Germany’s ruling coalition government agreed to implement smaller-than-expected subsidy cuts.  Q-Cells, Germany’s largest solar-power company, surged 9.8 percent, the biggest one-day gain in two months, to close at 78.15 euros on the Frankfurt exchange. Renewable Energy Corp. ASA, the largest maker of polysilicon used in solar panels, climbed 6.1 percent to close at 151.5 kroner in Oslo.
(more…)

Source: EDN, May 30,  2008
http://www.edn.com/blog/450000245/post/250027425.html

Highlighting the news from Solar City this week was the announcement that Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates-based Masdar PV plans to invest more than $2 billion in thin-film photovoltaic solar technology in a three-phased strategy to produce thin-film photovoltaic (PV) modules, and inked a deal (possibly $600 million) with Applied Materials for three of its SunFab thin film lines. (more…)

San Diego, CA, May 27, 2008

Source: BusinessWire press release

http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20080527005885&newsLang=en
Press Conference to take Place on Thursday, June 5th in Mexicali
Up to $3.5 Billion Company Complex to be in 10,000 Acre, World-Class Science and Technology Park on U.S.-Mexican Border

Silicon Border Science Park, located in Mexicali, the capital city of Baja California, Mexico, has been selected by Q-Cells, the world’s largest solar cell manufacturer, for its next major expansion. Q-Cells’ primary manufacturing facility is located in Bitterfeld-Wolfen, Germany. The company chose Silicon Border Science Park for its American manufacturing site because of its strategic location and business-friendly environment.
(more…)

Source: PVTech, 27 May 2008
http://www.pv-tech.org/fab_and_facilities/article/  q_cells_plans_35_billion_thin_film_manufacturing_complex_in_mexicali_mexico

Silicon BorderQ-Cells has announced its intentions to develop a major thin film photovoltaics manufacturing facility at the Silicon Border industrial park near Mexicali, Mexico at a projected cost of $3.5 billion. The development is dependent on the future growth of the PV market in the US, Mexico and Latin America and is a mid to long-term plan according to Q-Cells. Q-Cells said that an agreement with the Mexican Federal Government, the Government of the State of Baja California and Silicon Border Development, which plans to build and operate the industrial hi-tech park, have been made.
(more…)

by Toby Shute/Universal Press Syndicate, May 30, 2008
Source: TheMoneyTimes
http://www.themoneytimes.com/articles/20080530/
a_fat_load_of_thin_film-id-1024517.html

If you follow the solar space at all, you know that polysilicon supply bottlenecks are a major source of cost pressure in the industry today. To secure the raw material, Suntech Power (NYSE: STP) has been signing a slew of supply deals. Trina Solar (NYSE: TSL), meanwhile, almost moved into polysilicon production — and then didn’t. (more…)

by Robin Pagnamenta, Energy and Environment Editor, Times
Source: The Times /May 30, 2008

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/markets/the_gulf/article4029328.ece

The Masdar state-sponsored renewable energy fund is investing $2 billion in thin film photovoltaic technology

Abu Dhabi unveiled plans yesterday to invest $2 billion (£1.02 billion) in a project designed to make it a world leader in solar power.  Despite the deserts of Arabia being rich in oil, the Gulf state is betting that this alternative source of energy could help to secure the region’s long-term economic future.  The investment by Masdar, a state-sponsored renewable energy fund, represents one of the largest stakes in the solar industry.
(more…)

by Martin LaMonica / May 29, 2008
Source: CNet News
http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-9954708-54.html

Masdar, an Abu Dhabi-based clean-technology initiative, said on Wednesday that it will invest $2 billion to manufacture thin-film solar cells.  The money will significantly boost global solar cell production, potentially bringing prices down. It’s also a major bet on thin-film solar cells, which use less material than traditional silicon. (more…)

by Tanja Bause, Windhoek /23 May 2008
Source: The Namibian (Windhoek) /AllAfrica.com
http://allafrica.com/stories/200805230840.html

THE Oprah Orphanage Home and Kindergarten in Katutura’s Ongulumbashe informal settlement made history this week when it became the first place in Namibia generating electricity from the energy expended by playing children.  The Desert Research Foundation of Namibia installed a DRFN Energy Merry-Go-Round, which generates enough electricity to power the home’s lights and appliances like a fridge and even a computer.
(more…)