Your daily dose of photovoltaic technology developments and solar news
Top Story
Solar photovoltaic market grew 6% in 2009, says Solarbuzz
Global solar photovoltaic installations reached 6.43GW in 2009, an increase of 6% over 2008, according to a new report from Solarbuzz, which was recently acquired by The NPD Group. According to the market research firm, this is a new record for installations and generated US$38 billion in global revenues. The top three countries in Europe were Germany, Italy and the Czech Republic, which accounted for 4.07GW of installations. European countries accounted for 4.75GW of installations or 74% of world demand in 2009. The United States was the third-largest market in 2009, which grew 36% to 485MW, with Japan posting growth of 109% to secure the fourth spot.
News
China Sunergy acquires two solar module manufacturers
China Sunergy has signed an agreement to acquire 100% of the shares of two related module manufacturers, CEEG (Shanghai) Solar Science & Technology and CEEG (Nan Jing) New Energy.
Order Focus: Meyer Burger bags US$235 million order from Asia
In another demonstration of the rush to add new ingot production to meet demand for c-Si solar wafers, Meyer Burger has received an order worth approximately US$235 million for wire saws, cropping saws and wafer inspection systems from an unidentified customer based in Asia. Deliveries of the equipment are expected throughout 2010 and 2011.
RF Micro Devices produces its first III-V solar cell: low-cost volume cell expected in 2012
Compound semiconductor manufacturer RF Micro Devices (RFMD) has claimed its first milestone toward entering volume production of III-V-based multijunction PV cells on six-inch gallium arsenide (GaAs) wafers with the successful fabrication of solar cells using its standard semiconductor fab equipment.
Order Focus: CNPV signs long-term sales agreement with Sinatis Europe
CNPV Solar Power has entered into a long-term strategic partnership sales agreement with Sinatis Europe, the French project development and distribution company. Under the terms of the contract, CNPV will supply Sinatis Europe with a total of 50MWp of PV modules from 2010 to 2012, which includes 10MWp of scheduled delivery during 2010. The remaining 15MWp and 25MWp are scheduled for delivery in 2011 and 2012, respectively.
Underwriters Laboratories and Atlas team on solar module testing to increase test capacity
Prolonged time frames for weathering testing services for PV modules due to capacity constraints could be easing with the announcement of a strategic alliance between Underwriters Laboratories and Atlas Material Testing Technology. UL currently operates Photovoltaic Centers of Excellence in San Jose, Calif., and Suzhou, China, and will open two new state-of-the-art testing facilities this year: one in Germany and one in Japan. Atlas Weathering Services Group has five laboratories and over 20 outdoor exposure sites around the world in a variety of climates, including desert, subtropical, high-altitude and corrosive.
Order Focus: Solon to supply 90,000 modules nationwide with distributor entrason
Project Focus: Statkraft opens first solar park in Italy - partners with Siemens for further plants
Blogs
Guest blog: PV Inverters – The New Bottleneck?
This guest blog was provided by Ash Sharma, Renewable Energy Research Director and Tom Haddon, PV Research Analyst at IMS Research:
In the past, inverters have often been an overlooked part of the PV supply chain – probably because of the relatively small proportion they account for in PV system costs. Recently however, inverters have become critically important to customers due to the severe lack of them available which delayed the connection of hundreds of installations at the end of 2009.
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
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
China Sunergy appoints Stephen Zhifang Cai as CEO
China Sunergy has announced the appointment of Stephen Zhifang Cai as chief executive officer. Allen Wang, China Sunergy's former CEO, tendered his resignation from the company for personal reasons.
ReneSola conducts management shake-up
ReneSola has made several management changes including the appointment of a new chief strategy officer, CFO, vice president of finance and vice president of wafer sales. All management appointments have been approved by the company's board of directors and will take effect as of April 1, 2010.
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.
Product Briefings
New Product: SunLink’s ‘Ground Mount Solution’ offers fast-track utility-scale module installa
Product Briefing Outline: SunLink has introduced a new ground mount system to its family of commercial and utility-scale module mounting products. The new technology joins the Company’s flagship roof mount system and the recently released thin film solution for Nanosolar. Designed as a total system to save you procurement, management, and deployment time, the patent-pending ‘Ground Mount Solution’ is available as a ballasted or post-mount solution, making it ideal for a wide variety of installations and situations.
New Product: Full spectrum monitoring device from Atlas enables audit test compliance
Product Briefing Outline: To help customers show objective evidence that they are in compliance with test specifications during ISO 17025 quality audits, Atlas now offers the ‘Atlas LS-200’ Full Spectrum Monitoring device. The LS-200 has been specifically designed for use in Ci Series ‘Weather-Ometers’ to precisely measure the SPD output of the xenon lamp. Validation tests have shown that this device has excellent correlation to the spectroradiometers used in the Atlas Calibration Laboratory.
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.
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