Your daily dose of photovoltaic technology developments and solar news

A global exclusive distribution agreement has been signed between Pioneer Materials and Matheson Tri-Gas that will enable Pioneer Materials to concentrate on production and product development of its range of CIGS (copper indium gallium selenium), CIS (copper indium di-sulphide) and other related thin film compounds, while speciality materials producer and distributor handles sales, distribution and customer services.

Leveraging its refining facility in Germany (5N PV GmbH), which was established to meet the needs of First Solar’s thin-film production facility in the country, 5N Plus has now been selected by First Solar rival, Calyxo to supply high-purity metals and compounds for its CdTe thin film products. Calyxo is a subsidiary of Q-Cells. The agreement also includes long-term PV module and production scrap recycling services. 5N Plus also recently secured a similar deal with another CdTe thin film start-up, Abound Solar.

GCL-Poly has announced 2009 financial results and detailed a major effort to diversify operations and move downstream into wafer and solar project development. Revenue from the sale of polysilicon and wafers amounted to RMB 2,537.1 million (US$371.6 million) and and RMB 262.3 million (US$38.4 million respectively. GCL-Poly was able to produce 7,454MT of polysilicon in 2009 and sold 5,675MT as well as 46.4MW of wafers via tolling arrangements. Average selling price for polysilicon was US$65.4 per kg and US$0.83/W for wafers. As the company ramped polysilicon production and benefited from improved economies of scale, production costs declined significantly from US$66.0 per kg in 2008 to US$39.4 per kg in 2009.

SunPower Corp has reported record fourth quarter revenue of US$548 million, which helped push 2009 total revenues to US$1.52 billion, a 6% increase over 2008. SunPower guided revenue for 2010 would be between US$2.00 and US$2.25 billion and heavily weighted to large-scale utility projects in the second half of the year. The SunRay Renewable Energy acquisition will add 1.2GW to its project pipeline, which the company said was now standing at 4GW. The company reached a cost per watt of slightly below US$2.00 in the fourth quarter.

The roller coaster ride for UMG-silicon production at Timminco would seem to be over for the time being with the company announcing it has completely stopped production due to lack of demand and plummeting prices. Timminco’s silicon metal subsidiary, Becancour also suffered from low quality issues with much of its production in 2009 returned to the company from its customers. Becancour has switched to silicon metal production, which is showing stronger demand from polysilicon producers. However, the company reiterated its difficult financial position and going concern issues.

SolFocus is installing a 1MW high-concentrator photovoltaics system at Victor Valley College in the high desert of California. Construction of the HCPV installation, which consists of 122 of the company's SF-1100S 8.4KW arrays spread across six acres, is taking place on the college's main campus in Victorville, CA. When the power plant is completed in May, it will generate about 2.5 million kilowatt-hours annually (roughly 30% of the college's electricity demand) and be the largest facility of its kind in North America, according to SolFocus.

Via its majority share holding in PrimeStar Solar, GE has outlined its R&D efforts with CdTe thin-film technology. GE said that hundreds of technologists in Germany, China, India and the United States are working on solar technologies. The company noted that it was utilizing its four Global Research operations to address each of the challenges required to bring a new CdTe thin-film product to market.

The German government solar energy official, Dr. Karin Freier told a Euroforum conference that solar module installations reached 3GW in 2009, according to Reuters. The official figures have yet to be released, with many industry observers believing the figures are being withheld until proposed feed-in tariff cuts gain full authorization. Reuters quoted Freier as saying that more than 5GW could be installed in Germany this year as the race to beat the tariff cuts that are to start July 1st occurs.

Demand for residential PV systems in the second-half of 2009 enabled Centrosolar to post record revenue and earnings figures in the fourth quarter and helped restore revenue for the year of €308.7 million, compared to €332.6 million in 2008. Approximately 50% of sales came from outside Germany and the company expects revenue growth of between 10 and 20% in 2010. Module production at its new plant in Wismar, Germany will expand production from 110MW in 2009 to 150MW in 2010. Centrosolar claimed that it success in the small roof-integrated systems market in France has led the company to become the market leader in the country.

Although a new long-range forecast from Bloomberg New Energy Finance believes wind will be the main technology used through 2030, solar photovoltaics is expected to grow considerably in that timeframe and help contribute to renewable energy generating 22% of global energy production by 2020 and 31% by 2030. According to the report annual global expenditure on renewable energy projects will increase from US$90 billion in 2009 to US$150 billion in 2020. Given current policy targets from countries around the world, expenditure is projected to increase to US$200 billion annually by 2030.