Irish company researches “spray-on” solar cells - 01 August 2008
Schneider Electric acquires leading Canadian inverter supplier Xantrex for $412 million - 28 July 2008
Solyndra secures $325 million CIGS supply deal with Solar Power - 01 August 2008
Day4 Energy claims 18% cell efficiencies for multi-crystalline cells - 30 July 2008
Neo Solar Power updates solar cell and thin-film production plans - 05 August 2008
TrendSetter solar products reports financials for FY 2007 and 2006 - 08 August 2008
Why can’t solar cells pickup infrared? - 08 August 2008
DuPont Microcircuit materials introduces new Solamet PV159 for photovoltaic solar cells - 08 August 2008
PV powered integrates monitoring solutions into solar inverters - 08 August 2008
Solar design company offers ‘power’ trip - 08 August 2008
Air
Liquide Electronics has cited ‘serious tensions in the supply chain’
with respect to silane (monosilane, SiH4), forcing the company to raise
prices immediately for silane by 20 percent as contracts allow. The
move comes closely behind Air Liquide’s announcement on the 6th of
March, 2008 that it plans to triple silane production.
Christophe Fontaine, Group Vice President of Electronics for Air Liquide, commented, “Silane’s booming demand is fueled by the market growth of flat panel display and photovoltaic (solar cell) applications. In spite of new capacity investment underway, in the short term, the existing silane worldwide merchant capacity will be challenged by high demand, leading to some serious tensions in the supply chain.”
Surging demand across the photovoltaics, flat panel display and other semiconductor industries is behind the problem, coupled to conservative expansion projects by major producers that typically take several years before increased supplies are available. Air Liquide’s expansion plans in Japan will come on stream in 2010.
According to photovoltaic materials supplier REC, the silane gas market would reach more than 3,000 metric tons in 2008.
Air Liquide is the largest dedicated merchant silane supplier in the world with an estimated 35 percent market share. Many suppliers of silane only sell silane as a bye-product business.
