Solar Cells Info

Freiburg, Germany, May 28, 2009
Source: Solarstrom press release
http://www.solarstromag.com/index.php?pageID=15&news:oid=n467&template=nm.html

S.A.G. Solarstrom is planning to build a free-standing plant comprised of polycrystalline modules at a former military site spanning approximately 30 hectares in Stríbro, around 30 kilometers west of Plzen. Premium modules from Yingli Solar will be used, as well as the recently presented KACO inverter Powador XP350-HV TL. Based on the amount of sun this location receives, the plant will produce some 13,650,000 kWh of energy per year – enough for more than 3,100 four-person households. (more…)

by Tom Cheyney, 29 May 2009
Source: PVTech.org
http://www.pvtech.org/news/_a/
bp_solar_to_supply_66_mw_of_pv_modules_for_rge_energy_projects/

Under the terms of a deal announced at Intersolar Europe this week, RGE Energy will use hundreds of thousands of BP Solar crystalline-silicon PV panels for 66 MW of installations, including a 46-MWp plant to be built in Koethen, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany.  The project launch is planned for the third quarter; the approval procedure is being processed, and by the end of the year, all of the 220-W modules should be set for installation, the companies said. (more…)

Bonn, 26 May 2009
Source: Pressecho.de
http://www.presseecho.de/umwelttechnik/PB265458.htm

Germany will again be the most important photovoltaic market worldwide in 2009, according to the forecast from EuPD Research, the leading market researcher for solar energy. According to estimations made in the new study: ‘The German PV Market Understand the Demand – Explore the Potential’, two gigawatts of modules will be newly installed in Germany. Although global context factors do not bode well with the optimistic outlook of the international photovoltaic industry – the break down of the Spanish market, the worldwide supply surplus and the financial crisis, are all causes for uncertainty. However solid framework conditions in Germany could make sure that the local photovoltaic market will experience considerable growth nonetheless ? thrusting it even more into the global spotlight. (more…)

Rome,  May 24, 2009
Source: Reuters India
http://in.reuters.com/article/oilRpt/idINLO46892420090524

More than 38,000 photovoltaic (PV) installations that turn sunlight into power are currently on stream in Italy with a total capacity of 485 megawatt, the state-run power management agency GSE said on Sunday. PV installations mushroomed in Italy from about 22 MW in early 2007 after the government launched a new incentive plan, considered by analysts to be among the most generous in Europe. (more…)

by Nancy Cheng, Taipei; Adam Hwang
Source: DIGITIMES, 5 May 2009
http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20090505PD201.html

Switzerland-based Oerlikon, in preparation for fast emerging orders for production equipment of amorphous silicon (a-Si) thin-film photovoltaic (PV) modules from the Asian market once the global economy recovers, will outsource the production of such equipment to Singapore-based EMS provider Flextronics International, with components supply from Taiwan-based makers, according to Oerlikon Taiwan. (more…)

By Paul Buckley, Winchester, UK, 20 April 2009
Source: EETimes/Power Management

Sunfilm, AG (Grossroehrsdorf, Germany) and Applied Materials, Inc., (Santa Clara, California) have revealed that the world’s first tandem junction SunFab Thin Film Line installed at Sunfilm’s Grossroehrsdorf facility has achieved factory acceptance.  Using 5.7m² substrates, the line passed final acceptance test certification, verifying that it has met specifications for producing solar photovoltaic modules with efficiencies of up to eight percent, as well as yield and overall annual capacity specifications. The line is now beginning volume production. (more…)

by Paul Buckley, Winchester, UK, May 25, 2009
Source: EETimes
http://eetimes.eu/germany/217600857

ENN Solar Energy Co., Ltd, the subsidiary of China’s biggest private energy provider, ENN Group, is launching new silicon thin film solar modules in the German market at InterSolar 2009 in Munich.  The Chinese company produces thin film solar modules with the innovative Tandem Junction technology that features two layers of amorphous and microcrystalline silicon applied to the glass substrate. (more…)

Moncada awards long-term contract to Linde Gas Italia for bulk and specialty gases supply systems
Munich, Germany, May 26,  2009
Source: Linde Gases press release
http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/ndmViewId=news_view&
newsId=20090526005296&newsLang=en

Linde Gases, a division of The Linde Group, today announced that it has been awarded the exclusive contract to supply high purity gases to Italy’s first thin-film solar module manufacturing plant. The Moncada Energy Group s.r.l., a leading private producer of renewable energy in Italy, is building the plant in Campofranco (Sicily).  Under this agreement, Linde Gas Italia, a member of The Linde Group, will provide Moncada with turnkey installation of the plant’s bulk and specialty gases supply systems. On an ongoing basis, it will also deliver nitrogen (N2), hydrogen (H2), silane (SiH4) and chamber cleaning gases which are essential to making thin-film solar cells. (more…)

by Christoph Hammerschmidt, EE Times Europe
MUNICH, Germany, 9 April 2009
Source: http://eetimes.eu/uk/216500047

Solar cells currently have two weak points: Efficiency and operational lifetime. While dozens of research teams pursuit the task to improve the conversion efficiency, almost nobody seemed to be interested in the operational lifetime topic. Now this has changed; IMEC partners with Cytec Industries to develop PV devices with extended lifetime. (more…)

Source: ScienceDaily, Apr. 10, 2009
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090409151444.htm

In the race to renewable energy, organic solar cells are now really starting to take off. They can be manufactured easily and cheaply, they have low environmental impact, and since they are compatible with flexible substrates, they could be used in many applications such as packaging, clothing, flexible screens, or for recharging cell phones and laptops.  Teams at the Laboratoire d’ingénierie moléculaire d’Angers in Angers (CNRS/Université d’Angers) and at the Laboratoire des matériaux, surfaces et procédés pour la catalyse in Strasbourg (CNRS/Université Strasbourg 1) have recently obtained record conversion efficiency with solar cells based on organic molecules. (more…)