Solar Cells Info

July 30, 2007
Source:
http://insidegreentech.com/1538/amtech-gets-4-9m-follow-on-solar-order

Amtech Systems (Nasdaq: ASYS) said today it received a $4.9 million follow-on order from a new customer in Asia.  On July 11, the Arizona supplier of production and automation systems for the solar cell, semiconductor and wafer industry said it signed a $4.4 million supply contract with the Asian company.  The name of the new customer was not disclosed.
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Round Rock, Texas, July 31, 2007
Source: UPI
http://www.upi.com/Energy/Briefing/2007/07/31/miss_ny_schools_win_solar_car_race/8341/

Teams from Mississippi and New York have won in the Texas-to-New York Dell-Winston School Solar Car Challenge. The Solar Car challenge required students’ solar cars to use only the sun for power.  The Newton County Solar Team from Decatur, Miss.; the Houston Solar Car Team from Houston, Miss.; and the Newburgh Free Academy team from Newburgh, N.Y., won their respective divisions. The nine-day, 2,020-mile race began July 16 at Dell’s headquarters in Round Rock, Texas, and finished in Newburgh, N.Y. Nine teams from six states took part in the race.
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Charlotte, N.C., July 31, 2007
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/88759.html

North Carolina-based SPX Corp. signed a $40 million contract to supply solar equipment to Norway’s NorSun AS. SPX’s Kayex business will design and manufacture crystal-growing equipment for NorSun’s production mono crystalline ingots and wafers. Shipment of equipment is scheduled to begin in the third quarter of 2007.
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By James W. Crawley, Jul 27, 2007
Source: scnow.com
http://www.scnow.com/midatlantic/scp/news.apx.-content-articles-FMN-2007-07-27-0022.html

Calling all inventors: Build a better power source for soldiers and the Pentagon will beat a path to your door. And, pay you a cool $1 million.  To lighten the heavy load of batteries carried by troops to power radios, night-vision goggles, satellite navigation units, laptops and other electronics, the military is offering prizes for building the best wearable power pack. Oh, and it has to supply the juice for four days and weigh less than 9 pounds.
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Contra Costa Times, July 25, 2007
http://www.contracostatimes.com/news/ci_6460741?nclick_check=1

Fremont-based startup solar panel firm Solaria Corp. said it has snagged $50 million in funding led by Germany’s Q-Cells AG, one of the world’s largest independent manufacturers of solar cells.  The 35-employee, 7-year-old Solaria, will use the funding for research and development and to increase its production capacity, according to its chief executive.  Thalheim, Germany-based Q-Cells contributed $25 million, increasing its existing stake in the Fremont startup firm.
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Milpitas, CA, July 12, 2007
Source: SoloPower press release
http://www.solopower.com/about/news/series_b_financing.html

SoloPower, an innovator of thin-film solar photovoltaic cells and modules, today announced the completion of its Series B financing which raised $30 million. The deal was led by new investor, Convexa Capital and supported by Scatec AS and Spencer Energy AS. Existing investors, Crosslink Capital, Firsthand Capital Management and Musea Ventures also joined the round. The new funds will support the company’s efforts to further develop, manufacture and commercialize a new generation of high-efficiency, low-cost solar cells and modules. (more…)

By Jenni Laidmann, Blade Staff Writer
Source: ToledoBlade.com
http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070713/NEWS34/707130364

A fledgling solar energy company founded by a University of Toledo professor received $7 million in venture capital this week.  This first round of funding from a Swiss company, Emerald Technology Ventures, and NPG Energy Technology Partners of Washington means MWOE Solar Inc. of Toledo can complete a pilot production line to demonstrate its high-volume, low-cost method of making solar cells on a stainless-steel substrate no thicker than a sheet of paper.
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New Delhi 28 Jul, 2007
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Corporate_Announcement/

Moser Baer Photo Voltaic (MBPV), a Moser Baer subsidiary, has entered into an eight-year, $880-million agreement with Norway-based REC Group for sourcing multi-crystalline silicon wafers. Silicon wafers go into manufacturing wafer-based solar cells.  MBPV uses multiple technologies, including crystalline silicon, nano-technology and thin film, to make solar cells and modules. It has manufacturing facilities in an SEZ at Greater Noida. (more…)

Source: Associated Press/ July 24, 2007
http://www.delmarvanow.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070724/NEWS01/70724002/-1/DW

DOVER — Chemical maker DuPont Co. will lead a federally funded effort to develop and test prototype high-efficiency solar cells that could improve the lives of U.S. military troops, the company said Monday.  DuPont has joined with the University of Delaware to establish the Very High Efficiency Solar Cell Consortium, which initially will focus on developing affordable portable battery chargers based on ultrahigh efficiency solar cells. The announcement follows the university’s demonstration of a viable design for a solar cell with a potential efficiency increase of 30 percent. (more…)

Golden, Colo., July 25, 2007
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/86778.html

U.S. Energy Department researchers and Innovalight Inc. have found that quantum dot materials may improve efficiency of silicon solar cells.  Researchers at the department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory have shown that a new and important effect called Multiple Exciton Generation occurs efficiently in silicon nanocrystals. MEG results in the formation of more than one electron per absorbed photon.
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