Your daily dose of photovoltaic technology developments and solar news
Top Story
Q-Cells CEO exits amid investor anxiety
Q-Cells chief executive officer Anton Milner has resigned with immediate effect amid fears of a 'loss of confidence' from the company's investors. The supervisory board met to discuss a management shake-up on March 11, at which point they accepted Milner's exit. Current CFO, Nedim Cen, will take over as CEO, holding both positions.
News
Bavarian State leader apposes German feed-in tariff cuts
Obtaining Bundestag approval for Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrat Party proposal for further cuts to Germany’s solar power feed-in tariffs could be in doubt after Horst Seehofer, the Bavaria state premier and sister party, Christian Social Union (CSU) to Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats told Reuters he was apposed to the cuts. The centre-right coalition has a majority of seats in the German lower house of parliament, which will have to vote on proposed cuts.
Munich Re covers LDK Solar modules for PV projects
As China-based c-Si wafer producer, LDK Solar moves downstream into PV module production, its new modules will now be insured for its performance warranty by Munich Re. LDK Solar has also updated module shipment guidance for the first quarter of 2010, noting it expects to ship between 20 and 25MW and between 300 and 400MW of modules this year. Munich Re's Special Enterprise Risk unit's new insurance performance warranty covers the performance warranty of LDK Solar modules for a period of 25 years. The warranty guarantees that the modules will perform to at least 90% capacity in the first ten years and to at least 80% in the remaining 15 years.
SunPower teams on modelling high-penetration PV on California energy network
Two grants totalling US$1.5 million have been awarded to SunPower from the California Solar Initiative Research, Development, Deployment and Demonstration (CSI RD&D) Program to explore the planning and modelling for high-penetration PV on the California transmission and distribution network. Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) is also partnering with SunPower on a second project to research the required hardware and software tools needed for providing bi-directional communication and management between PV systems and utility controls using advanced metering infrastructure.
SMA Solar starts Ontario subsidiary, plans to build PV inverter factory in province
The lure of Ontario’s attractive subsidies, especially for firms with “local content,” has enticed another solar company to set up manufacturing and expand operations in the Canadian province. SMA Solar Technology has started a subsidiary for production, sales, and service in Ontario, with plans to invest €5-10 million for the buildout of a 500MW capacity photovoltaic inverter factory.
Project Focus: SunEdison receives go-ahead for largest plant in Europe
SunEdison has received final approval from the Italian government to develop and construct what will be the largest solar power plant in Europe. The 72MW project will be based in Northeastern Italy, near the town of Rovigo.
Project Focus: SunPower scores 200MW rooftop PV contract with Southern California Edison
Order Focus: OZZ Solar to buy 18MW of Satcon PV inverters for Ontario rooftop projects
Blogs
Another day, another U.S. module factory: Solar Power, Inc. to build 50MW plant in Sacramento area
In the words of the inimitable Yogi Berra, “it’s déjà vu all over again,” as yet another announcement has been made by a solar company about plans for a new PV module assembly plant in the United States. This time, Solar Power, Inc., an up-and-coming vertically integrated firm based in Roseville, CA (with module manufacturing in Shenzhen, China), will build a 50MW factory on its home turf in Sacramento County. A big reason for the move is an initial pledge of $24.7 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds coming SPI’s way, in the form of an RZFB, or Recovery Zone Facility Bond, from the county. SPI exec VP Jeff Pontius filled me in on some of the details.
A tale of two moduling plants: Kyocera, Heliene pursue different paths to tap North American market
Kyocera Solar and Heliene Canada are among those companies hoping to tap into one of the fastest-growing markets on Planet Photovoltaica--North America. Joining the increasing number of firms pursuing a distributed-manufacturing model, each outfit has recently announced plans for building module-making facilities in hotbed areas for renewables--Kyocera in San Diego, CA, and Heliene in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario—with an eye toward getting product to market later this year. Although both plants will be manufacturing crystalline-silicon-type modules, it turns out the two enterprises have differences and commonalities in their approaches. In recent interviews with PV Tech, executives from both companies shared more details about the respective factories.
SolarEdge partners with Flextronics for manufacturing of distributed PV power harvesting systems
The “press embargo” is a fact of life in the media biz. It usually comes in the form of a press release that a trusted journalist receives in advance from a company, PR agency, or other organization, with strict instructions not to breathe a word of it before the agreed-to date and time.
Blood, sweat, and tears: Global Solar’s Jeff Britt starts to see fruits of his CIGS labors pay off
There’s only a handful of industry veterans who have invested as much blood, sweat, tears, and time into the development of flexible thin-film solar photovoltaics as Jeff Britt. He joined Global Solar Energy in 1998, when the company’s copper-indium-gallium-(di)selenide technology was an R&D project, and any product commercialization years away.
German PV installations still hot, but Photon’s forecast figures are not
In more than name only: First Solar’s latest results officially push it to the head of the PV class
This ain’t no strip mall: SoloPower abandons flat-plate strategy, embraces flexible CIGS PV module
Is JA Solar setting ASP decline trends for 2010?
Going Places
Evergreen Solar promotes Peter Rusch to VP of sales for Europe, Africa, Middle East
Evergreen Solar has made two promotions, naming Peter Rusch as VP of sales for Europe, Africa and the Middle East, and Thomas Hoffman as the director of sales for Europe. In a newly created position, Rusch (who was director of sales for Europe) will oversee market development, sales strategy, and implementation in the three key regions of Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Hoffman will be tasked with continuing to expand the company's sales footprint in key European countries, including Germany, Italy, France, and Spain.
CPV company Soliant Energy names Ben Jamison as VP of marketing
Concentrated photovoltaics systems company Soliant Energy has brought Ben Jamison on board as its new VP of marketing. Jamison, who will report to chairman/CEO Terry Bailey, is a seasoned marketing executive with more than three decades of experience with leading companies in dynamic and growth markets. He will be responsible for all marketing-related activities at the Monrovia, CA-based CPV firm, including product management and field applications.
Recurrent Energy names power-gen vet Pat Caramante as VP of engineering and construction
Recurrent Energy has named Patrick Caramante as its new VP of engineering and construction. In this role, he will lead the company's E&C Group, responsible for the design, installation, commissioning, and operation of Recurrent's portfolio of distributed-scale solar projects.
Product Briefings
New Product: Edge grinding using Bystronic glass’ champ speed machine offers 99.5% yield
Product Briefing Outline: Bystronic glass now offers the champ speed-series of glass substrate edge grinders, using experience gained from the automotive industry to provide clean, ground edges, free from cracks and shell defects, boosting yield and productivity in PV module production. The champ speed-series machines are completely vibration-free and can therefore provide the greatest precision in edge grinding.
New Product: Horiba’s SEC-N100 Series digital MFC handles PV manufacturers gas flow requirements
Product Briefing Outline: Fluid control specialist, Horiba, has introduced a new range of mass flow controllers (MFC) competitively priced to fit the economic and production needs of the photovoltaic manufacturing sector. Manufactured in Japan, under strict quality conditions by HoribaStec, the SEC-N100 Series digital mass flow controller reliably controls the flow of process gases and cleaning gases. Multigas and multirange functions allow the user to configure the desired gas and flow range to increase flexibility and reduce overall costs, for example by decreasing flow controller inventory. Dedicated software makes this easy to do without removing the mass flow controller from the gas panel.
New Product: Pressure compensation seal from Schreiner ProTech protects junction box
Product Briefing Outline: Schreiner ProTech has designed a rugged, self-adhesive Pressure Compensation Seal (PCS), especially designed to provide solar module junction boxes with long-lasting protection against severe environmental conditions, preventing damage to sensitive electrical components. The product has already been selected by KOSTAL Industrie Elektrik to be integrated into their PV modules' junction boxes.
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