Solar Cells Info

WUXI, China, Nov. 22, 2007

Source: Yahoo business news
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/061122/cnw011.html?.v=20

Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd. (NYSE: STP – News), one of the world’s leading manufacturers of photovoltaic (PV) cells and modules, has announced it has recently entered into a solar module supply contract with Atersa, a subsidiary of Elecnor Group, one of Spain’s leading project planning and integrated management and infrastructure development companies. In one of its largest and most sophisticated projects to date, Suntech will supply solar modules with an aggregate output of 23.2MW to Atersa for installation in the Photovoltaic Grid Connection Park in the Extremadura region of Spain. It is expected that these solar modules will be supplied within the first half of 2007.

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by Stephen Lacey, RenewableEnergyAccess.com

Billerica, Massachusetts  / November 21, 2006

Source:  RenewableEnergyAccess.com
http://renewableenergyaccess.com/rea/news/story?id=46615

SCHOTT Solar, Inc. issued a notice to its employees at its solar wafer and module manufacturing plant in Billerica, Massachusetts, that the facility may have to close down because of inadequate supplies of silicon. “SCHOTT — like many other solar manufacturers right now — is having a tough time identifying adequate supplies of silicon. The company doesn’t have enough silicon to run all its facilities, and won’t until 2008.”

The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notifications (WARNs), which were issued last Thursday, are required under federal law for manufacturing facilities with more than 200 employees. The WARNs said that the plant could close within 60 days. According to Marc Roper, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at SCHOTT Solar Inc., the decision to issue the WARNs was entirely related to the company’s inability to lock up enough silicon for cell production. Roper said that SCHOTT had no intentions of pulling out of the U.S. photovoltaic (PV) market.

“This is all about the silicon supply situation. It is definitely not related to any consideration of the market in the U.S.,” said Roper. If the plant (more…)

Hamburg, Germany / November 21, 2006
source: RenewableEnergyAccess.com
http://renewableenergyaccess.com/rea/news/story?id=46617

Conergy AG, with the approval from its board of management, plans to build a technologically advanced production plant for solar modules on the site of the former chip factory in Frankfurt (Oder). The production process will begin with a cell thickness of 200 micrometers but is designed for a reduction to 160 micrometers. In the first stage, the company will invest around Euro 250 million [$320 million] in what may be the world’s first fully integrated mass production of wafers, cells and modules. In the medium term, it will create more than 1,000 jobs on the site of the former chip factory.

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Posted : 23 Nov 2006
Source: Electronic Engineering Times
http://www.eetasia.com/ART_8800442998_765245_a4faacd0200611_no.HTM

China photovoltaic (PV) cell and module maker Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd formed a new subsidiary, Shenzhen Suntech Power (Stock) Co. Ltd, to promote and develop solar power grid integration projects, particularly in Southern China.  “Shenzhen Suntech marks a milestone in our ongoing efforts to develop the solar market in China,” said Zhengrong Shi, chairman and CEO of Suntech. “The new company will provide us with additional promotional and technical service capabilities in Southern China and allow us to take advantage of the Shenzhen government’s support for solar energy applications.”

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BP Solar To Invest $70 Million to Expand US Facility: Responds to growing demand for solar energy
by nearly doubling capacity and creating new jobs
Press Release date: 16 November 2006
Source: BP Solar website
http://www.bp.com/genericarticle.do?categoryId=3050551&contentId=7025769

Frederick, MD, November 16, 2006

BP Solar today unveiled its plans for a $70 million expansion project at its North American headquarters in Frederick, MD. The expansion will result in nearly doubling the facility’s current casting and sizing capacity to approximately 150 MW. The company projects that 70 new jobs will be created. Other plans include an upgrade of the interior of the facility by employing sustainable design components. Initial engineering feasibility studies into the project have already been completed and the company will now carry out detailed front-end engineering design work. This expansion will make BP Solar’s Frederick facility the largest fully integrated plant in North America.

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Nuying Huang, Taipei; Esther Lam, DigiTimes.com
Wednesday 15 November 2006

Source: DigiTimes
http://www.digitimes.com/bits_chips/a20061114A6028.html

Although solar cells based on monocrystalline silicon deliver better performance than multicrystalline silicon, industry players believe that the latter should rise as the mainstream material for solar cells due to its lower cost. It is commonly agreed that monocrystalline silicon has a better power conversion rate than than that of multi-crystalline silicon solar cell by about 1% and this brings relatively higher average selling prices (ASPs). Some industry players even regard the production status of monocrystalline silicon solar cells as an indication of a vendor’s competitiveness.

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Sharp Corp will introduce two new thin-film solar (photovoltaic) modules with better temperature characteristics intended for commercial/industrial applications.

November 20, 2006
source: Nikkei Electronics Asia
http://neasia.nikkeibp.com/dailynewsdetail/005692

Market demand in this area will be growing significantly in the future, and the new model NA-902WP is intended for industrial/commercial use in the Japanese market, while the NA-901WP is targeted at international markets. The NA-901WP and NA-902WP are high-output models, delivering 90W of power. The adoption of an amorphous/microcrystalline thin-film tandem cell design, which uses stacked layers of amorphous silicon and microcrystalline silicon achieves a conversion efficiency of 8.5% (40% higher than conventional amorphous solar cells), among the industry’s highest levels for thin-film silicon-based solar cells currently in volume production.

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By LEAH KRAUSS, UPI Energy Correspondent
TEL AVIV, Israel, Nov. 16, 2006  (UPI)

Source: United Press International
http://www.upi.com/Energy/view.php?StoryID=20061116-050127-6744r

Sharp’s announcement this week that it has higher-efficiency thin film solar cells underlines the potential of this technology to take over the solar market. “The adoption of an amorphous/microcrystalline thin-film tandem cell design, which uses stacked layers of amorphous silicon and microcrystalline silicon achieves a conversion efficiency of 8.5 percent — 40 percent higher than conventional amorphous solar cells — among the industry’s highest levels for thin-film silicon-based solar cells currently in volume production,” Sharp said in a statement Wednesday.

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Hitachi America Ltd. signs Cooperation Agreement with Prism Solar Technologies, Inc. for marketing of Hitachi’s bifacial photovoltaic cells
Tarrytown, New York – November 17, 2006
source:
http://www.prismsolar.com/news.html

Hitachi America Ltd. (Hitachi) has signed a Cooperation Agreement with Prism Solar Technologies, Inc. (PST).  Under the agreement PST will market Hitachi’s proprietary bifacial photovoltaic (PV) cells and manufacture modules for sale under the Hitachi brand name in the US to key clients and customers groups.

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Acquisition Accelerates Growth and Product Innovation

SAN JOSE, Calif., Nov 15, 2006

Source: SunPower Corporation Press Release Nov 15, 2006
http://investors.sunpowercorp.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=218726

SunPower Corporation (Nasdaq: SPWR), a Silicon Valley-based manufacturer of the world’s highest-efficiency, commercially available solar cells and solar panels, today announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire PowerLight Corp., a privately owned solar systems provider based in Berkeley, Calif. PowerLight is a leading global provider of large-scale solar power systems, having designed and deployed hundreds of large-scale solar systems with a total capacity of more than 100 megawatts over the past ten years. The PowerLight acquisition is expected to be immediately accretive to SunPower’s non-GAAP earnings.(1)

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