Solar Cells Info

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…)

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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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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Chinese entrepreneur makes good at home

Thursday, October 12, 2006
By Andrew Batson in Wuxi, China, The Wall Street Journal

Source:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06285/729737-82.stm

When he arrived in Australia 18 years ago as a physics student, Shi Zhengrong scraped by on a meager stipend from the Chinese government that he supplemented by working at a restaurant.

A doctorate, several patents, two solar-power companies and a $455 million initial public offering later, Dr. Shi is one of the richest people in China.

Suntech Power Holdings Co., the company he founded in 2001 in the flat, green lands of the Yangtze River Delta, has quickly become one of the world’s largest producers of photovoltaic equipment, which converts sunlight into electricity. Its combination of the latest technology and developing-world prices has helped it gain market share from more-established, and expensive, producers.

Dr. Shi’s wealth, comprised almost entirely of his holdings of Suntech stock, has fluctuated in value along with company’s volatile share price, from a low of about $1.3 billion to a peak of a little more than $3 billion, with a current value of around $1.7 billion. It is, by some estimates, the largest private fortune of anyone living in mainland China.

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Sharp Expands Solar Cell Production Capacity to 600 MW Per Year, the World’s Highest

Source: SHARP press release
http://sharp-world.com/corporate/news/061030.html

Additional Solar Cell Production Line to Katsuragi Plant

Sharp Corporation has increased annual production capacity for solar cells at its Katsuragi Plant in Nara Prefecture by 100 MW (megawatts) to meet burgeoning demand in Japan and abroad, and has constructed a system that will be able to enter full production by November 2006. As a result, solar cell production capacity at the Katsuragi Plant will reach 600 MW per year, the world’s highest.

Despite concerns in the photovoltaic (PV) power generating market about a shortage of processed silicon (the raw material for solar cells), PV systems are increasingly being used in Japan for industrial applications and are being installed on new residential construction in collaboration with home builders. In Europe and the U.S.A., demand is expected to expand even further in the future, centered on industrial and commercial uses thanks to the introduction of subsidies and implementation of policies mandating power buy-back programs by utilities.

To more effectively utilize raw materials, Sharp is working to make solar cells even thinner and improve thin-film solar cells which use minimal amounts of silicon, as well as establish highly efficient production systems and expand and upgrade its production lines. For the future, Sharp has set a goal to further expand its solar energy business, which holds out tremendous potential as clean energy that does not generate substances that place a burden on the environment.

• Timeframe for full-scale operation:     November 2006
• Investment amount:     Approx. 3.5 billion yen
• Annual production capacity:     600 MW

Top 10 solar cell producers for the year 2005.

Manufacturing plants to produce solar cells at a daily rate equal to the entire solar-cell production in 1980.

By Michael Kanellos
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
SAN JOSE, Calif., October 17, 2006
http://news.com.com/

Any way you look at it, the solar business is going to be big in 2010, according to equipment manufacturer Applied Materials.

By then, a number of solar-cell manufacturers will be running plants with 10 production lines, and each production line will be capable of squeezing out 100 megawatts worth of solar cells a year, Charlie Gay, vice president and general manager of Applied’s Solar Business Group, said on Tuesday during a luncheon briefing at Solar Power 2006, a conference taking place here this week.

That comes to 1,000 megawatts a year per factory, which is about how much electricity gets produced by a coal or nuclear plant, he said. Build a megasize solar factory, therefore, and you don’t have to build a coal-fired power plant. Put another way, the entire output of solar cells made in 1980 could be produced in a day in one of these plants.

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October 18, 2006
Sion Barry, Western Mail

Source; ICWales
http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/0300business/0100news/

Wales has secured a 300-job inward investment project pioneering groundbreaking solar power technology, which could allow consumers to recharge electronic devices as they walk.

US start-up venture G24i yesterday announced it is bringing a £60m dye sensitised solar cells manufacturing facility to Cardiff – at the site of the former Acer plant.

The company is pioneering what it claims is the world’s lightest, most efficient and least expensive solar technology. Its innovative material will initially be made to power devices such as mobile phones, handheld games consoles, MP3 players and laptop computers. It could also be incorporated into fabrics to make ‘smart’ textiles – allowing people to recharge devices while on the move.

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Isovolta AG
Icosolar – Composite Material for the Encapsulation of Photovoltaic Modules; Power Generation – Photovoltaic Solar Cells: Research and Manufacturing: Mono/Multicrystalline, Amorphous, Thin Film, Cells, Arrays, Modules, Roof Tiles
Industriezentrum NÖ-Süd, Straße 3, 2355, Wiener Neudorf, Austria
Telephone (+43) 5 – 9595 9417 Fax (+43) 5 – 9595 9430
web url: www.isovolta.com