Solar Cells Info

Plainview, New York USA, May 22, 2008
Source: Veeco Instruments Inc, press release
http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=111487&p=NewsArticle&id=1150087

Veeco Instruments Inc., announced that it has extended its thin film solar equipment product line with the acquisition of Mill Lane Engineering, a privately held manufacturer of web coating systems for flexible solar panels. Mill Lane is based in Lowell, MA and has approximately 20 employees. The purchase price was $11 million, paid at closing, plus potential additional payments based upon the satisfaction of specific future conditions, including certain order, sales and profit levels. Mill Lane has an existing multi-unit order for web coating systems from a leading manufacturer of thin film copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) solar cells. (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…)

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 Raju Shanbhag, TMCnet Contributing Editor /May 5, 2008
Source: TMCNet
http://internetcommunications.tmcnet.com/topics/broadband-mobile/articles/27056-qimonda-centrosolar-group-jointly-manufacture-solar-cells.htm

Qimonda (News – Alert), a manufacturer of memory products, and Centrosolar Group, a German solar company, have entered into an agreement to jointly build, equip and operate a solar cell manufacturing plant.  The joint venture, which is owned 49 percent by Centrosolar and 51 percent by Qimonda Solar GmbH, will produce solar cells based on silicon. Apart from contributing its know how to get important access to silicon supply, Qimonda will also contribute its existing know-how in silicon-based mass production.
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Beijing, April 24, 2008
Source: Oerlikon Solar press release
http://www.oerlikon.com/ecomaXL/index.php?site=SOLAR_EN_press_releases_detail&udtx_id=5888

Oerlikon Solar and Baoding Tianwei announced today the contract signing for a turnkey thin film solar module production line. The initial production capacity will be 46.5 MWp (Megawatt peak) per year. The deal includes all major thin-film solar module production equipment including metrology and testing facilities. In the coming months the machinery will be shipped, installed and commissioned by a team of Oerlikon Solar experts. The project site is located in Bao Ding。 (more…)

Changzhou, China, April 24, 2008
Source: Trina Solar press release
http://www.trinasolar.com/front/en/news.php?newid=64

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 the Company has signed a long-term polysilicon supply agreement with SILFAB S.p.A. (more…)

Kyocera to Deliver 1.6 MW of Andalay Solar Panels-
Los Gatos, CA, March 13, 2008
Source: Akeena Solar Inc, press release /BusinessWire
http://www.akeena.net/cm/Investor%20Relations/Home.html

Akeena Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKNS), a leading designer and installer of solar power systems, and Kyocera Solar Inc., one of the world’s largest producers and suppliers of solar energy products, have announced a strategic partnership to manufacture Andalay solar panels. Under the agreement Kyocera will manufacture Andalay solar panels utilizing Kyocera’s high efficiency solar cells and will deliver 1.6 MW of panels to Akeena during 2008. Kyocera has also been named Akeena’s preferred supplier for its commercial business. (more…)

Source: PVTech.org /07 April 2008
http://www.pv-tech.org/materials/article/gt_solar_wins_first_polysilicon_reactor_deal_in_europe

GT SolarThe Silicon Mine B.V., a solar grade silicon start-up, has placed a $91 million order with GT Solar for 48 rod, chemical vapor deposition (CVD) reactors and silicon tetrachloride (STC) hydrogenation conversion units for its first polysilicon plant based in The Netherlands. This is the first win in Europe for GT Solar, according to the company. (more…)

by Garrett Hering
Source; PHOTON International, April 2008
http://www.photon-international.com/news_archiv/details.aspx?cat=News_PI&sub=america&pub=4&parent=968

US-based solar-grade silicon start-up AE Polysilicon on Feb. 15 broke ground on a $100 million facility located outside Philadelphia at the Key International Port Complex.  The facility will use fluidized bed reactor (FBR) technology to produce granular silicon. (more…)

By Mikako Nakajima and Pavel Alpeyev, Tokyo, April 8, 2008
Source: Bloomberg -Japan
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601101&sid=aScvYXNPyjFk&refer=japan

Sumco Corp., the world’s second- largest maker of silicon wafers, expects sales of the material used to make solar power cells to gain 11-fold in the next seven years as customers including Sharp Corp. boost production. Sales of solar-cell wafers will rise to 200 billion yen ($1.9 billion) in the 12 months ending Jan. 31, 2015, from 17.8 billion yen last fiscal year, President Kenjiro Shigematsu said in an interview with Bloomberg Television broadcast today. The company’s annual output of the wafers will rise to 1,010 megawatts in the period, from 105 megawatts at present, he said.
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