Your daily dose of photovoltaic technology developments and solar news

Solon SE is expanding its global reach with a strategic partnership agreement with Czech turnkey project developer Energ Servis. Solon has also agreed to, under the terms of the agreement, supply Energ Servis with 5MW of PV modules throughout 2010.

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.

As part of its module production expansion plans for 2010, Scheuten Solar has placed a follow-on order with Robert Bürkle for its multiopening Ypsator module lamination tool. The machine will be delivered and commissioned in the second quarter of 2010. According to Bürkle, Scheuten Solar will be able to produce a module every 45 seconds on two Bürkle lines from the middle of this year.

Struggling PV module start-up Day4 Energy saw fourth-quarter revenue reach CDN$36.6 million, an increase of 175% from the prior quarter and 120% increase over the same period in 2008. Full-year revenues for 2009 were CDN$60.0 million, compared to CDN$76.8 million for the prior year. The company was forced to reduce its workforce in early 2009 and shift module production to Jabil in Poland.

China Sunergy has signed an agreement to acquire 100% of the shares of two related module manufacturers, CEEG (Shanghai) Solar Science & Technology and CEEG (Nan Jing) New Energy.

CNPV Solar Power has entered into a long-term strategic partnership sales agreement with Sinatis Europe, the French project development and distribution company. Under the terms of the contract, CNPV will supply Sinatis Europe with a total of 50MWp of PV modules from 2010 to 2012, which includes 10MWp of scheduled delivery during 2010. The remaining 15MWp and 25MWp are scheduled for delivery in 2011 and 2012, respectively.

Prolonged time frames for weathering testing services for PV modules due to capacity constraints could be easing with the announcement of a strategic alliance between Underwriters Laboratories and Atlas Material Testing Technology. UL currently operates Photovoltaic Centers of Excellence in San Jose, Calif., and Suzhou, China, and will open two new state-of-the-art testing facilities this year: one in Germany and one in Japan. Atlas Weathering Services Group has five laboratories and over 20 outdoor exposure sites around the world in a variety of climates, including desert, subtropical, high-altitude and corrosive.

Solon has closed a framework agreement for the supply of 90,000 solar modules with the solar distributor entrason, northern Hesse. The contract will run over several years, with an estimated total volume of 20MW for the first year.

Using its 1MW PV power plant integrated module system, ABB has been awarded a US$30 million design, engineering, erection, civil works and commissioning contract for a 13MW power plant in northern Spain from GA Solar, part of the Gestamp Corp. The preassembled modular eBOP (electrical balance of plant) concept is designed to reduce construction times and installation costs and is claimed to generate around 15% more energy than alternative units.

Trina Solar has agreed to increase its yearly shipments of crystalline-silicon photovoltaic modules to Enerqos, an Italian PV system and power plant construction company headquartered in Monza. Under the terms of the deal, the vertically integrated Chinese solar manufacturer will augment its committed quantity of PV modules to Enerqos from 2MW in 2009 to 23MW this year.