Solar Cells Info

Zuerich, June 16, 2008
Source: Reuters /Reporting by Eva Kuehnen, editing by Elizabeth Fullerton
http://uk.reuters.com/article/governmentFilingsNews/idUKL1632770620080616

German solar module maker Solon (SOOG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research) bought a roughly 16 percent stake in newly formed U.S. solar cell maker SpectraWatt, broadening its supplier base and its presence in the U.S. market, the company said on Monday.  Solon shares jumped as much as 7 percent and were up 5 percent at 55.30 euros by 1507 GMT. The stock has fallen about 27 percent since the beginning of the year.  Solon said it paid a sum in the lower double-digit million euros for the stake. (more…)

by Martin LaMonica, June 16, 2008
Source: CNet News Green Tech Blog
http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-9969631-54.html

Intel made a big leap into the burgeoning clean-tech sector on Monday by creating SpectraWatt, a spinoff company that will manufacture solar cells.  Its investment arm, Intel Capital, is leading a $50 million round in SpectraWatt. Other investors include Goldman Sachs subsidiary Cogentrix Energy, PCG Clean Energy and Technology Fund, and German solar company Solon. (more…)

by Stevie Smith – Jun 17 200
Source: The Tech Herald
http://www.thetechherald.com/article.php/200825/1262/
IBM-announces-partnership-to-evolve-solar-cell-efficiency

Multinational computing corporation International Business Machines (IBM) has this week announced a partnership with photolithography specialist Tokyo Ohka Kogya (TOK), which will see the two parties pooling their resources in an effort to produce a new generation of solar energy products. Specifically aimed at establishing new, low-cost methods of manufacturing that will lead to cheaper products that are also easier to install than those available today, TOK and IBM will be looking to develop processes, materials and equipment suitable for the creation of the somewhat unfortunately named CIGS solar cell modules.
(more…)

Ghent, Belgium, 12 June 2008
Source: SunPower Corp. press release
http://www.presseportal.de/pm/71669/1209181/enfinity

Enfinity, a global developer of renewable energy projects, today announced that it has entered into framework agreement with SunPower Corporation (Nasdaq: SPWR), a manufacturer of high-efficiency solar cells, solar panels, and solar systems, to provide turn-key engineering, procurement and construction services for solar electric power plant projects totaling more than 25 megawatts. The installations contemplated under this agreement will be built as from 2008 till 2009 by SunPower in Italy and are contingent on Enfinity to secure financing and construction permits for the projects.  Sunpower and Enfinity are in discussion to expand their collaboration to include additional solar projects in Spain, Greece and other countries worldwide. (more…)

Source: Nikkei Electronics Asia/TechOn, Jun 4, 2008
http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/english/NEWS_EN/20080604/152831/

Hemlock Semiconductor Corp, a joint venture of Dow Corning Corp, Shin-Etsu Handotai Co Ltd and Mitsubishi Materials Corp, has begun production at its new polysilicon facility that will nearly double its output of polycrystalline silicon (polysilicon) to serve the needs of the semiconductor and fast-growing solar energy industries. (more…)

by Motonobu Kawai, Nikkei Microdevices, Jun 6, 2008
Source: TechOn
http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/english/NEWS_EN/20080606/152919/

Solar cell manufacturing in India is being established more rapidly than other devices. Several emerging manufacturers began volume production in 2007, while existing manufacturers are increasing output.  According to Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, an Indian research institute, solar cell production in India is expected to rise from 80MW per year in 2007 to 350MW in 2012 and 3GW in 2022 *1. In fact, however, solar cell production in India is likely to increase much faster than these forecasts.   [*1: “Solar Phtovoltaics in India: Status and Prospects” by Barua A., released at the 17th International Photovoltaic Science and Engineering Conference, 2007] (more…)

Cyberjaya, June 2, 2008
Source: Bernama.com
http://www.bernama.com.my/bernama/v3/news_lite.php?id=336814

Germany’s Q-Cells AG, the world’s leading photo-voltaic company and largest manufacturer of solar cells, will invest RM5 billion in Malaysia to produce solar cells for the global market, its chief executive officer Anton Milner said Monday.  The investment, he said, comprised three phases of development, starting with the setting up of a manufacturing complex on a 150-hectare site in Selangor Science Park II in Bukit Raja, Dengkil, near here.   “We have three phases of development here. What we have foreseen up to now is an investment budget of RM5 billion and we hope to employ 800 to 900 people in the first phase,” he told reporters after a ground-breaking ceremony at the site. (more…)

Aachen/Germany, June 3, 2008
Source: Aixtron AG press release
http://www.aixtron.com/index.php?id=312

AIXTRON AG announced today an order from the Fraunhofer Institut für Solare Energiesysteme (Fraunhofer ISE) for a 300mm Close Coupled Showerhead CRIUS epitaxy reactor.  Fraunhofer ISE, located in Freiburg, Germany, will use the system for the research and development of GaAs-based multi-junction solar cells on Si.  “Within the scope of the BMBF project “III-V-Si” we will receive AIXTRON’s Close Coupled Showerhead system,” said Dr. Frank Dimroth, head of the III-V-Epitaxy and Solar Cells group.

(more…)

Dix Hills, N.Y., May 30, 2008
Source: Solar Thin Films Inc, press release/BusinessWire

Solar Thin Films, Inc. (OTC BB:SLTN.OB), a developer, manufacturer and marketer of manufacturing equipment for the production of “thin-film” amorphous silicon and CIGS photovoltaic modules, has signed a memorandum of understanding (“MOU”) with China Singyes Holding Limited to build out 100MW of module manufacturing capacity in China. Under the MOU, Solar Thin Films will supply equipment, technology and general engineering and design support, and retain certain rights outside of China to market and distribute building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) products. (more…)

by Nuying Huang, Tainan; Rodney Chan
Source: DIGITIMES, 28 May 2008

Solar cell maker Motech Industries expects its total capacity to reach 2GWp within three to five years, according to company chairman Simon Tsuo.  In Taiwan, Motech’s Fab 1 will have its capacity raised to 180MWp from the current 160MWp. The company has also rented extra land near Fab 1 to build another plant.  Fab 2, which currently has a capacity of 160MWp, can house a total of more than 300MWp, while Fab 5, which recently came online, also has an expected total capacity reaching 300MWp, he said.  In total, Motech’s solar cell capacity in Taiwan will reach 1GWp, the chairman said. (more…)