Solar Cells Info

Source: Los Angeles Times Blogs /April 30, 2008
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/money_co/2008/04/first-solar-inc.html

Times staff writer Edward Silver, who keeps a close eye on green investing trends, filed this report on solar-module maker First Solar Inc.’s earnings report today:  First Solar thinks different, and that’s why its stock is in a class by itself in the renewable-energy field. Though it’s a young company in an emerging industry, it has become a profit machine, a status burnished by its first-quarter results.  Today it reported earnings of 57 cents a share, outdoing consensus estimates by a dime. Revenue of $196.9 million was triple the year-earlier sum. Taking the (more…)

Hong Kong, May 6, 2008
Source: DuPont Photovoltaics, press release
http://www2.dupont.com/Photovoltaics/en_US/news_events/article20080506.html

DuPont today announced it will soon begin construction on a research center in Hong Kong and a manufacturing facility in Shenzhen to support the rapidly growing photovoltaic (PV) solar energy industry.  “Through investments in materials, technology development and manufacturing, DuPont is accelerating its ability to deliver innovations that will improve the lifetime and efficiency of photovoltaic modules, and also have enough production capability to help keep pace with the fast rising global demand,” said David B. Miller, group vice president — DuPont Electronic & Communication Technologies. (more…)

Lawrence, Mass., May 5, 2008
Source: Solectria Renewables, press release
http://www.solren.com/news/index.htm

Solectria Renewables introduces a line of residential grid-tied photovoltaic (PV) inverters that have the highest California Energy Commission efficiencies in the industry (96%) for transformer-isolated inverters. Power levels for the new inverters, PVI 3000, PVI 4000, PVI 5000, and PVI 5300, range from 3000 to 5300 watts.  ,To improve ease of installation, these inverters were designed based on the recommendations and requirements of top industry professionals. New features include a quick-mount wall bracket, built-in direct current (DC) disconnect, and fused PV combiner. In addition, they are lightweight and have a flat profile.
(more…)

New Canaan Country School, Planet Self Storage, and James T. Carlton Marine Science Center All Benefiting from Solar Energy
Rocky Hill, Conn., April 22, 2008
Source: ReneweableEnergyworld.com
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/partner/story?id=52256

The Connecticut Clean Energy Fund (CCEF) today announced that three of the solar photovoltaic (PV) projects that it funded through its On-Site Renewable Distributed Generation Program are now completed and successfully operating.  These installations include:
*  A 30.6-kilowatt solar PV system on the rooftop of the Stevens Upper School Building at New Canaan Country School in New Canaan, Conn.;
*  A 28.6-kilowatt solar PV system at Planet Self Storage in Newington, Conn., the state’s first ground-mounted solar PV system in a commercial application; and
*  A 17.2-kilowatt solar PV system located on the roof of the James T. Carlton Marine Science Center at the Mystic Seaport Museum in Mystic, Conn.
All three installations were supported with grants from CCEF’s On-Site Renewable Distributed Generation Program.  CCEF grants for these projects totaled $324,530 and covered approximately half of the total project costs. (more…)

Palo Alto, Ca, April 15, 2008
Souce: Suntech Power Holdings, press release
http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=192654&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1131924

Based on its recent analysis of the solar energy development market, Frost & Sullivan recognizes Suntech Power with the 2008 Global Frost & Sullivan Company of the Year Award. This Award lauds Suntech for delivering low-cost, high-quality, innovative, and energy-efficient photovoltaic (PV) cells and modules and system integration solutions in the solar energy sphere to a growing customer base across the globe.
(more…)

San Francisco, CA and Münich, Germany, May 7, 2008
Source: Sun-Tech Power Holdings, press release
http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=192654&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1141221

Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd.  one of the world’s leading manufacturers of photovoltaic (PV) cells and modules, today announced it has signed an agreement with Hanau Energies SAS to supply a 4.5MW building integrated PV system (BIPV) to a farm located in Alsace, France. The project will be one of the largest BIPV installations ever built and will employ Suntech’s ‘Just Roof’ modules to form complete weatherproof roofs on five agricultural warehouses on a farm in the Alsace region of France. The 4.5MW installation is anticipated to be completed by January 2009 with an additional 1MW already being planned. (more…)

by: Jennifer Kho, May 02, 2008
Source. GReentechmedia.com
http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/
xeroxs-parc-to-spin-out-solar-startup-856.html

The Palo Alto Research Center plans to launch a venture-capital-backed company that can improve solar cells’ efficiency with thinner electricity-conducting grid lines. The center also hopes to commercialize a low-energy water-filtration technology, reusable printing paper and energy-management software for data centers, all in the next year.

Xerox’s Palo Alto Research Center plans in the next six months to spin out a company that hopes to reduce the thickness of grid lines on solar cells, increasing efficiency by 6 to 8 percent.  At an open-house event called “Inside Innovation at Xerox” earlier this week, Scott Elrod, manager of the center’s Clean Technology Program, told Greentech Media that the group already has a solar-electric manufacturing partner that plans to invest in and adopt the technology. “We’re starting to engage VCs and hope to have a separate company in about six months from now,” he said. (more…)

Source: EMSNow.com /May 01, 2008
http://www.emsnow.com/npps/story.cfm?pg=story&id=33266

Backed by 40 years of experience as a market leader in electronic materials, the Thick Film Materials Business Unit of Heraeus has developed a series of metallization materials for silicon solar cells. The HeraSol line of screen-printable silver front side conductor pastes are tailored solutions for either SiNx or TiOx anti-reflective coatings used on single or multicrystalline wafers. The SOL950 series of fired pastes – available in leaded and lead-free formulations – provide higher efficiency due to low contact resistance and high fill factors. The HeraSol series is cadmium-free and is co-fireable with commercial back side metallizations. (more…)

by Michael Kanellos,  April 30, 2008
Source. CNet News.com
http://www.news.com/8301-11128_3-9932503-54.html?tag=nefd.top

First Solar exceeded expectations once again in its most recent quarter and told investors that revenue for 2008 would likely come in at $975 million to $1.05 billion, higher than the $900 million to $950 million range provided earlier. The company–which specializes in cadmium telluride solar cells–reported revenue of $196.9 million for the first three months of the year, more than double the $66.9 million in revenue garnered in the first quarter of 2007. Net income went to $46.6 million, or 57 cents a share, well above the $5 million for the first quarter of 2007. (more…)

Source: by Sandra Upson, Plentymag.com /May 2, 2008
http://www.plentymag.com/blogs/edge/2008/05/startup_announces_extreme_sola.php

Sunrgi, a Hollywood-based start-up, came out of stealth mode this week claiming it can collect twice as much sunlight as other photovoltaic designs and convert it to electricity for 5 cents a kilowatt-hour, on par with fossil fuels.  The company’s core technology is concentrating solar power, which uses lenses to focus sunlight onto small strips of photovoltaic cells. The advantage is that more photons are collected by smaller quantities of solar cells, meaning that the systems require much less of the expensive semiconductor materials that go into making ordinary solar panels. But the cells are also fragile and easily damaged in extreme heat, as I wrote about here. (more…)