Your daily dose of Photovoltaic Technology Developments and Solar News

Continuing its commitment to be a leading polysilicon and wafer supplier to the photovoltaics industry in the years to come, Renewable Energy Corporation ASA (REC) has already selected the next major location for future production expansion after 2010. REC said in a statement that it selected a site in Becancour, Quebec, Canada. Read more >>

Trina Solar has changed track on its balanced, fully integrated ingot through PV module manufacturing model on the back of a major polysilicon and wafer supply deal with GCL Silicon Technology. The revised supply deal will see GCL Silicon supply polysilicon and wafers sufficient for 4,825MW (600MW per annum) of solar modules to be manufactured by Trina Solar in aggregate over an eight year period. Delivery of polysilicon at predetermined prices started in April of 2008, Trina Solar said. Read more >>

LDK Solar has reached a major milestone with the announcement that it has reached 1GW in annualized capacity. The solar grade wafer supplier has revised capacity expansion forecasts at least three times in 2008, which were all significantly ahead of previous projections.  At the beginning of the year, LDK Solar expected to reach a capacity of 800MW in 2008. However, this has been revised upwards (see chart below) at least twice since then and is now expected to reach 1.2GW by the end of 2008. Read more >>

SCHOTT Solar has signed a three-year module supply agreement with PermaCity Solar, a California-based installer of PV systems. SCHOTT will supply the modules from both its manufacturing site in Billerica and its under-construction facility in Albuquerque. Read more >>

Yingli Green Energy Holding Co., Ltd. has announced a framework agreement with a local government in Beijing that will see the company construct a new 10MW solar power plant in the area. Yingli plans to establish a new company that will construct the plant in conjunction with a body controlled by the county government. Read more >>

Titan Energy Systems Ltd., the India-based solar module manufacturer, has entered into a contract worth more than US$480 million with Suniva for the supply of high-efficiency monocrystalline solar cells. The take-or-pay agreement is scheduled to see the delivery of the cells from Suniva’s Atlanta facility through 2013. Read more >>

SunEdison will finance, install, operate, and maintain a 1.2-MW solar PV system on the rooftop of General Motors' White Marsh, MD, powertrain assembly plant. When the 8700-panel system goes online in the third quarter of 2009, it will be one of the largest rooftop solar installations on the US East Coast, occupying about 300,000 square feet. Read more >>

Masdar, the Abu Dhabi-based renewable energy company, has taken the initial steps in its construction of its first PV plant in Ichtershausen, Germany. The groundbreaking took place yesterday on the site of the 70MW facility that will eventually turn out the world’s largest (5.7m²) PV modules using equipment supplied by Applied Materials. Read more >>

SOLON AG has released details of its first-half financial revenues, showing an increase of 112% over 2007’s figure for the same time period. First-half revenues rose to €410.6 million for 2008 from €193.7 million for 2007, while the company’s total operating performance for the period increased by 110% to €446.9 million. Overall, the company produced 84MWp of modules in the period. Read more >>

Suntech Power has reiterated installed capacity projections for 2008 and 2009, due to continued strong demand for its products that sees the company fully booked for the second-half of 2008, while hinting that 2009 would see a similar situation. Suntech was able to expand capacity by 120MW in 2Q08, resulting in a total installed base of 660MW. The company said that it remained on track to reach 1GW of installed capacity by the end of 2008 and reiterated its 1.4GW target for the end of 2009. Read more >>