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Silicon solar cell producers should forget about the polysilicon shortages, while thin-film companies need not worry about silane supplies. Not because constrained supply issues are expected to ease and material costs to finally lower over the next two years, but because a potentially bigger concern is looming!
The Edenvale area of San Jose is becoming a little hotbed ofphotovoltaic activity, but the latest company set to move there remainsin stealth-mode information lockdown. As the San Jose Mercury News reported Wednesday,Stion has become the third PV firm over the past year or so, joiningCIGS concerns Nanosolar and SoloPower, to succumb to the city of SanJose’s offer of redevelopment monies for manufacturing tooling($700,000) and workforce training ($100,000) as part of Mayor ChuckReed’s “green vision”/emerging technologies fund agenda. The companywill move from its current Menlo Park location into a one-time IBMbuilding in the south San Jose neighborhood.
At the PV Fab Managers’ Forum in Dresden this week, IBM outlined its plans for partnering with the PV manufacturing industry to improve technology and manufacturing processes. Rainer Klaus Krause, IBM’s ISC Innovation Champion, presented to a high level audience of Fab managers and solar manufacturing executives the strategy to partner with manufacturers and technology providers to help the industry achieve price parity more quickly.
Few places cry out more for the widepsread implementation of solarenergy solutions than the desert state of Arizona. Can you imagine thesweet irony of all those air conditioners working overtime during theblazing summer months, eventually getting their power from household PVmodules, building-integrated arrays, or even from solar power channeledthrough the grid?
It’s the end of week and time to follow up on a couple of recentstories, including First Solar’s latest results and cautionary talesabout the Chinese semiconductor industry.
If you’ve looked at Applied Materials’ 1QFY08results announced yesterday, your eyes are not deceiving you: theequipment company booked more new orders from its global services,display, and energy and environment solutions units combined than fromits silicon segment—-$1.385 billion for the threesome compared with$1.075 billion for the core semi equipment business.
Excellent observations from Jo Ann McDonald over at Compound Semiconductor Magazine and interestingly a former Director of Corporate Communications at Emcore notes that the intended IPO of its CPV business division may be happening too fast for the company.
Having announced very aggressive polysilicon production targets lastyear, LDK Solar turned heads, while also turning some market/financialanalysts bearish on oversupply issues by 2010.
How do flexible electronics, American football, financial and marketresults, politics, and photovoltaics go together? They don’t, except asfodder for some Monday morning perspectives on Chip Shots.
Although they both participate in the emerging copper indium gallium (di)selenide (CIGS) thin-film photovoltaics sector, Ascent Solar Technology and International Solar Electric Technology (ISET) have at least as many differences between them as things in common.
