Solar Cells Info

Bangalore, 1 Aug, 2007
Source: The Economic Times
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/2247968.cms

BANGALORE: India may set up a 2,500 tonne polysilicon complex, estimated to cost more than Rs 1,000 crore, to give an impetus to the solar energy sector, a key Government official said.  Bangalore-headquartered Bharat Electronics Limited is expected to be the major player in promoting the facility, Principal Scientific Adviser to Government of India, Dr R Chidambaram said. (more…)

Source: photonics.com /August 2007
http://www.photonics.com/content/spectra/2007/August/news/88445.aspx

Organic solar cells that convert 6.5 percent of incoming light into usable power have been created with a design approach that incorporates two multilayered parts that act together to boost output.  Although organic solar cells have been around for years, their relatively low conversion efficiencies — in the neighborhood of 5 percent — have been an obstacle to widespread commercial use.
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Tim Hayes, Optics.org / Jul 24, 2007
Source:
http://optics.org/cws/article/research/30632

Linking two organic solar cells with different absorption characteristics allows a wider range of the spectrum to be used.   A US-Korea research team has developed organic solar cells with a power-conversion efficiency of 6.5% at illuminations of 200 milliwatts/cm2, compared with the 5% or less they claim to have previously been attained by polymer cell structures (Science, 317, 222). (more…)

New 70 Megawatt Devans plant will help fill orders
By Martin Luttrell TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
Marlboro, July 26, 2007
source: telegram.com
http://www.telegram.com/article/20070726/NEWS/707260389/1002/BUSINESS

As Evergreen Solar Inc. ramps up manufacturing capacity for production of its solar cells, its chief executive officer said the additional orders will put the company on the path to profitability.  Speaking yesterday to about a dozen shareholders at the company’s annual meeting at the Marriott Courtyard hotel, CEO and President Richard M. Feldt said that groundbreaking for a 70-megawatt Devens plant will occur next month, and if work can continue inside the building over the winter, production will begin there next summer.  “In the next year we could break even, and even make money in the following year,” he said.
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Philippines President Macapagal Arroyo to Inaugurate New, Green Building Design
SAN JOSE, Calif., July 27, 2007
Source: SunPower Corp. press release
http://investors.sunpowercorp.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=256947

SunPower Corporation (Nasdaq: SPWR), a Silicon Valley-based manufacturer of high-efficiency solar cells, solar panels and solar systems, today announced the inauguration of its second solar cell fabrication facility, known as cell Fab 2, in the Philippines. The dedication of cell Fab 2 will take place on July 30, 2007 at the new plant, located in Batangas, south of Manila. President Macapagal Arroyo of the Philippines and The Honorable Raphael P. M. Lotilla, secretary of energy, will be on hand to help inaugurate the facility which has been recognized by the International Energy Agency for its superior energy-efficient design.
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Frankfurt, July 23, 2007
Source: Reuters
http://www.reuters.com/article/mergersNews/idUSL2339494520070723

Q-Cells (QCEG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research) will ramp up its investment in U.S. solar firm Solaria, hiking its stake to 33 percent, to strengthen its position in the fast-growing U.S. solar market, the German solar cell maker said on Monday.  The two companies also agreed on a cell supply contract worth about 2.5 billion euros ($3.46 billion) at today’s prices, with an overall capacity of up to 1.35 gigawatt over the next ten years, the world’s second-largest maker of solar cells said. (more…)

Leslie D’Monte in Mumbai, July 30, 2007
Source: Rediff.com
http://inhome.rediff.com/money/2007/jul/30sol.htm

India is becoming an attractive solar market and firms such as Moser Baer and US-based Signet Solar are confident of the growth in this market. The recent semiconductor policy sops that cover solar cells and photovoltaics (PVs) and the government policy for “off-grid” electrification are added incentives. Moser Baer’s $880 million (around Rs 3,500 crore (Rs 35 billion)) eight-year sourcing tie-up with Norway-based REC Group, for instance, simply furthers this line of thinking. The deal could get Moser Baer Photo Voltaic around $1 billion in revenues over the period of the contract. A company spokesperson, however, declined to put any figure to the deal.
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Aliso Viejo, CA, August 06, 2007
Source: PR Newswire
http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/prnewswire/CLM12006082007-1.htm

XsunX, Inc. , a developer of advanced manufacturing systems and thin-film photovoltaic solar modules, will begin offering its planned 2008 production capacities for its new Amorphous Silicon Solar Modules, beginning at the 22nd European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Trade Show in Milan, Italy September 3-7, and continuing at the Solar Power 2007 Conference and Trade Show in Long Beach, California from September 24-27. (more…)

July 31, 2007 /Munich, Germany
Source: RenewableEnergyAccess.com
http://www.renewableenergyaccess.com/rea/news/story?id=49491

The difficulty in securing a feedstock supply to produce conventional wafer-based solar cells has encouraged a frenzy of industry projects related to thin-film solar cells.  WTC estimates that the market for thin-film cells is set to explode in the next few years, reaching $1.5 billion in 2012. While America has been steadily losing ground to Japan and Europe in wafer-based cells, about half of the thin-film cells are made by US companies and this share is expected to remain high. (more…)

Kingston, August 7, 2007
Source: poughkeepsiejournal.com
http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070807/NEWS01/70807023

Rep. Maurice Hinchey, D-Hurley, has secured a $4 million investment from the House of Represntatives for research and development at the planned Solar Energy Consortium in Kingston.  The funds will be directed to C-9 Corporation, a company that plans to conduct its solar operation in partnership with consortium. Hinchey secured the funds for C-9 Corporation as part of the Defense Appropriations bill for Fiscal Year 2008, which cleared the House on Sunday. (more…)