Your daily dose of Photovoltaic Technology Developments and Solar News

Sulfurcell has announced its intention to expand its manufacturing capabilities following a successful equity funding round of €85 million. The company plans the construction of a new plant in Berlin for the production of CIS/CIGS thin-film solar modules. The plant will have an annual capacity of 75MW, with an intermediate expansion to 35MW. Read more >>

In an attempt to meet the increasing demand for high-purity silane gas in the PV industry, the Linde Group and Schmid Silicon Pilot Production have decided to collaborate on silane production via the joint ownership of a new facility in Dresden, Germany. The silane produced at this facility will contribute towards the current capacity for Linde’s customers and will be based on the new Schmid Monosilane Technology process. Read more >>

Florida Power & Light Company has selected SunPower Corporation to build the largest solar photovoltaic power plant in the United States at a location at DeSoto County, and a second plant at the Kennedy Space Center. The DeSoto County plant will have a 25MW capacity and is expected to be completed in 2009, while the 10MW plant is scheduled for completion in 2010. Read more >>

Yingli Green Energy has entered into five new sales contracts to supply an aggregate of more than 7MW of PV modules to five different companies in Korea. The companies are LG CNS Co., Ltd., DMS Co., Ltd., Hyosung Corporation, Nam Jung Energy Co., Ltd. and Kaycom Corp. “We are pleased with the success that we have had so far in building our business in Korea and these new contracts clearly demonstrate continued progress in extending our global presence,” commented Mr. Seok Jin Lee. Read more >>

Applied Materials has announced that it has won its first customer in Italy for its ‘SunFab’ 5.7m2 turnkey thin-film line. The new customer is Moncada Energy Group s.r.l., a leading private Italian producer of renewable energy currently using wind farm technology. Moncada is expected to build a 40MW plant in Campofranco, Sicily. Read more >>

EMCORE Corporation has said that it has received two definitive supply agreements for solar cell receivers in June 2008 with a total value of approximately $29 million, which include advance deposits for production fast tracking. Read more >>

According to the latest figures compiled by The Cleantech Group, venture capital invested in most types of clean energy markets reached a new record amount for the second quarter of 2008 at $2 billion, surpassing the previous record of $1.8 billion set in the third quarter of 2007. Read more >>

The partnership between NexTech Solutions, Inc. and FAS Holdings Group, LLC, entitled NexTechFAS, has announced that it is collaborating with engineering and consulting company Abbie Gregg, Inc. (AGI) on solar technology development. Read more >>

Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. (ECD) has announced today that its UNI-SOLAR thin-film flexible solar laminates have been chosen to power a 12MW system on the rooftop of General Motors in Figueruelas, Zaragoza, Spain. The laminates for the system will be supplied by ECD through its wholly owned subsidiary, United Solar Ovonic, LLC. The project, which will be ready for use in fall of 2008, will be the world's largest rooftop solar power system upon completion. Read more >>

Underwriters Laboratories (UL) is to open a Photovoltaic Technology Center of Excellence next week in San Jose that will be the largest of its kind in North America. The 20,000 square foot facility will be used for PV in product safety testing and certification. The requirement for PV modules to be listed to UL standards in U.S. and Canadian markets, as well as the need to conform to International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) standards, has increased demand for product testing and certification services. Read more >>