Your daily dose of Photovoltaic Technology Developments and Solar News
Top Story
BP Solar to close PV module plant in Australia
BP Solar’s 50MW photovoltaic cell and module manufacturing plant in Sydney Olympic Park, Australia is to close at the end of March 2009, as the company focuses production at larger scale facilities in other parts of the world. Approximately 200 jobs will be affected by the closure, but BP Solar said it would continue to market and sell its solar systems in the country.
News
Amtech licenses dry-etch system for solar PV cell processing from PST
Amtech Systems has signed a a licensing agreement with South Korean toolmaker PST to market PST's proprietary phosphorus silicate glass dry etch processing system and to develop and manufacture additional models for use with Amtech's existing solar photovoltaic manufacturing equipment product lines.
MEMC guides $100 million reduction in 4Q08 revenue expectations
MEMC has provided an update to its next quarter revenue target that falls significantly below guidance given only a few weeks ago at it announced 3Q08 results. Citing a worsening macroeconomic environment that has impacted demand from semiconductor and solar customers alike, the company expects revenue to be approximately $500 million, plus or minus $25 million, compared to $540-$600 million, previously guided.
PV Crystalox Solar guides higher wafer shipments; 95% allocation in 2009
Polysilicon and solar wafer producer, PV Crystalox Solar has said that wafer shipment volume for 2008 will be in the region of 225-230MW, which is slightly above its previous guidance of 220-225MW. The company had previously reported that 1H08 production had reached 110MW. Despite the global economic situation the company noted that demand continues to remain strong with shipments continuing as scheduled and that 95 percent of its expected 2009 production has been secured with long-term contracts. Customers include Q Cells, Suntech, Schott Solar and the Intel spin off, SpectraWatt.
Gov. Schwarzenegger signs executive order raising California renewable goals, streamlining approvals
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed an executive order Monday that increases the state's Renewable Portfolio Standard to 33% by 2020 and promises to streamline California's renewable energy project approval process. He also announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding with federal agencies to establish a coordinated approach in the expedited permitting process to reduce the time and expense for developing renewable energy on federally owned state land.
French government proposes new incentives to greatly increase solar power, other renewables
Solyndra inks lucrative thin-film solar PV rooftop sales deal with Carlisle Energy
NREL, Iberdrola deploy first U.S. solar resource measuring stations
Blogs
MiaSolé gets in touch with its inner cap, AMAT makes solar money, and First Solar’s IPO anniversary
MiaSolé launches an underwhelming new Website and becomes the latest to jump on that annoying photovoltaic company branding bandwagon--the capitalization of midname letters, Applied Materials actually makes money for the first time on solar, and First Solar celebrates an important anniversary--these items get the Chip Shots treatment in this edition of the blog.
Photonic convergence: Earnings season, China PV heebee geebies, CIGS gets Time nod, and more
The quarterly earnings season is in full bloom, a research report gets all jittery about certain Chinese solar PV companies, Time magazine lauds the loudest-mouthed CIGS contestant, Los Angeles will vote on a solar-power ballot proposition, and a brilliant new product that will revolutionize solar panel...maintenance--all are discussed in this edition of the blog.
Photosynthesis meets photovoltaics: Perpetual Power installs ‘solar orchard’ at Limoneira
Intel invests again in PV, getting clarity from Masdar, Suniva starts up solar-cell line
Solar-powered colleges: State of California, SunEdison join forces to put PV on university campuses
Going Places
ReneSola gains VP of manufacturing, but loses COO
ReneSola announced two senior management changes in the course of reporting its quarterly financial results. Cheng-Hsien Yeh, resigned as chief operating officer effective Nov. 1 to pursue other interests, while Mingde Wang joined the company on Nov. 15 as its VP of manufacturing.
Dr. Ximing Dai named CTO of Sunrise Global Solar Company
Sunrise Global Solar Company (Sunrise) named Dr. Ximing Dai as the company’s new Chief Technology Officer. She brings more than two decades of solar expertise and a wide expertise in research, product development and technology management. Most recently, Dai was CTO of JA Solar overseeing the development of several high-efficiency cell products and production capacity increases. She was also a member of JA Solar’s Board of Director’s.
GT Solar appoints Jacobs Engineering’s Noel Watson to board
GT Solar has appointed Noel Watson to its board, bringing the total number of directors to eight. Watson has been chairman of Jacobs Engineering Group since 2006.
Product Briefings
New Product: Oerlikon Solar launches ‘Amorph High Performance’ thin film technology
Product Briefing Outline: Oerlikon Solar has introduced its next generation ‘Amorph High Performance’ thin film technology. Oerlikon Solar has claimed a major leap forward in panel performance by achieving more than 7% stabilized efficiency that has enabled a 16% increase in panel power output. The company said that more than 500,000 panels of the new technology have been produced. ‘Amorph High Performance’ fab capacity is also claimed to be up by more than 50% without an increase in fab cost. This has significantly raised economic viability for this high growth PV technology. Oerlikon has already been granted the requisite master certificates from TÜV.
XeroCoat launches single-layer low-refractive index coating boosting module power conversion
Product Briefing Outline: XeroCoat Technology has entered the solar energy market targeting the solar thermal and solar photovoltaic segments with its antireflective coatings. The XeroCoat antireflective coatings are claimed increase conversion efficiency and, consequently, the power output of solar systems, while being of low cost.
New Product: KLA-Tencor’s new P-6 surface profiler handles 2D and 3D surface analysis
Product Briefing Outline: KLA-Tencor has unveiled its latest stylus surface profiling system, the ‘P-6,’ offering a unique set of advanced features for scientific research and production environments, such as photovoltaic solar cell manufacturing. The P-6 system benefits from measurement technologies developed on advanced semiconductor profiler systems, but in a smaller, more economical bench top design for samples up to 150mm. The P-6 profiler has been qualified at BP Solar, a major photovoltaic manufacturer.
