Solar Cells Info

New 20MW Crystalline Module Line in Portugal Follows Completion of 12MW Factory in the Dominican Republic
Bedford,  MA, March 12, 2008
Source: Spire Corp. press release / BusinessWire /
http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=76421

Spire Corporation (Nasdaq: SPIR), a global solar company providing turnkey solar factories and capital equipment to manufacture photovoltaic modules worldwide, today announced it has received a contract from the solar division of Spanish renewable energy company Fluitecnik S.A., to provide a photovoltaic module assembly line for that company’s operations in Portugal. Spire will provide Fluitecnik with a semi-automated crystalline module manufacturing line capable of producing up to 20 megawatts (MW) of solar modules per year for sale into the European solar marketplace. Spire will supply the process technology and training to operate the factory, as well as assistance in qualifying the factory and its modules to meet rigorous International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) standards and certification. The line will integrate Spire’s key stringing and tabbing, lamination, and testing machines along with intermediate tooling stations; it is designed to be easily expandable at a later date. Spire recently completed a 12MW crystalline cell module line, expandable to 20MW, for Fluitecnik in the Dominican Republic. (more…)

Irvine, CA – March 5, 2008
Source: Qunatum Technologies / press release
http://www.qtww.com/

Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ: QTWW) today announced that its German solar partner, Asola Advanced and Automotive Solar Systems GmbH, has been awarded a contract by AS Solar GmbH for the supply of high-efficiency silicon photovoltaic solar modules. The value of this contract is estimated at $135 million over a three year period, beginning in 2008, and subject to final negotiations on quantity and price in 2009 and 2010. (more…)

Source: NREL Press release / March 24, 2008
http://www.nrel.gov/news/press/2008/574.html

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory have moved closer to creating a thin-film solar cell that can compete with the efficiency of the more common silicon-based solar cell.  The copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) thin-film solar cell recently reached 19.9 percent efficiency, setting a new world record for this type of cell. Multicrystalline silicon-based solar cells have shown efficiencies as high as 20.3 percent. The energy conversion efficiency of a solar cell is the percentage of sunlight converted by the cell into electricity.
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Arlington, VA, March 25, 2008 / press release
Source: Dominican Today
ttp://www.dominicantoday.com/dr/economy/2008/3/25/27433/
AES-and-Riverstone-launch-solar-joint-venture-Target-US1-billion
The AES Corporation (NYSE: AES) and Riverstone Holdings LLC today announced that they have committed up to $1 billion as part of a new joint venture to develop a global platform of utility-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) projects.  Under terms of the agreement, AES, one of the world’s largest global power companies, and Riverstone, a New York-based energy and power-focused private equity firm, will each provide up to $500 million of capital over five years to invest in PV solar projects around the world.
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by Lisa Zyga/ March 27, 2008
Source: PhysOrg.com
http://www.physorg.com/news125842769.html

In the new solar cell design by MIT researchers more light can be captured increasing efficiency and decreasing cost per watt. Researchers from MIT have improved commercial solar cells that will soon be significantly cheaper and more efficient than those available today. Ely Sachs, a professor of mechanical engineering at MIT, predicts that by 2012 such solar cells will be comparable in price with coal, which is about $1 per watt.

Sachs and his colleagues have started a company called 1366 Technologies. With the help of a recent $12.4 million grant, the team is building a pilot-scale manufacturing plant to fabricate their first batch of solar cells. The cells currently have an efficiency of 19.5%, and cost about $1.65 per watt. That´s a 27% improvement in efficiency over similar commercial solar cells of today, which have about 15% efficiency and cost about $2.10 per watt.
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Source: Marketwire/CNN Money.com  / March 28, 2008
http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/marketwire/0381275.htm

Solar Thin Films, Inc. (OTCBB: SLTN) today announced that it has signed a three-year marketing agreement with CG Solar. Under the terms of the agreement, Solar Thin Films will initially have non-exclusive rights to distribute CG Solar’s photovoltaic products within North America and Europe. Solar Thin Films will receive exclusive rights to distribute CG Solar’s photovoltaic products within North America, for the duration of the marketing agreement, upon the aggregate sale of 3 MWs of CG Solar’s product within North America and Europe.
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John Walko ,  EE Times Europe
London,  19 March 2008
Source: EETimes
http://www.eetimes.com/news/latest/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=206904594

Mitsubishi Electric Corp. is planning to invest $70 million in a major expansion of capacity to make photovoltaic (PV) cells and modules, to meet what it says is huge growing demand worldwide.  Mitsubishi (Tokyo) will boost production at two plants in Japan, aiming to boost capacity from 150 megawatts last year to 500 megawatts by its 2013 financial year. Annual production capacity of PV cells will be increased at the Nakatsugawa Works Iida Factory (Nagano Prefecture), and of modules at its Nakatsugawa Works in Kyoto.
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Changzhou, China, March 9, 2008
Source: Trina Solar Ltd. press release/PRNewswire
http://www.trinasolar.com/front/en/news.php?newid=57

Trina Solar Limited (NYSE: TSL; “Trina Solar” or the “Company”), a leading integrated manufacturer of solar photovoltaic products from the production of ingots, wafers and cells to the assembly of PV modules, founded in 1997, today announced that it has signed an agreement with GT Solar Incorporated (“GT Solar”) to purchase primary converter and reactor systems for its planned polysilicon production project for a total consideration of approximately US$49 million, with purchase price to be paid in installments over an approximate period of 12 to 18 months. The execution of this agreement is subject to final approval by the Boards of both companies.
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By Michael Berger, March 4, 2008
Source: Nanowerk Spotlight
http://www.nanowerk.com/spotlight/spotid=4798.php

Nanotechnology is already part of the process through which silicon-based photovoltaic solar cells – which make up some 95 percent of the solar cell market today – produce electricity. Nanotechnology is also the focus of research and development of a new generation of solar power technology that includes organic and inorganic solar cells derived from nanocrystals that can convert sunlight into electricity at a fraction of the cost of silicon solar cells. (more…)

BY Jon Van,  March 3, 2008
Source: Chicago Tribune
http://www.chicagotribune.com/technology/
chi-mon_notebook_0303mar03,1,6604444.story

Efforts by Northwestern University scientists to boost the efficiency of plastic-like flexible solar cells could make the technology commercially viable.  Researchers have demonstrated a 40 percent efficiency increase in organic photovoltaic cells and believe that with further work they can raise that output significantly. Flexible solar panels could be manufactured cheaply using technology similar to printing newspapers or the packaging used for potato chips, said Tobin J. Marks, an NU chemistry professor who co-leads the research team with Robert Chang, a materials science professor.
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