Your daily dose of Photovoltaic Technology Developments and Solar News

Loss making EMCORE Corporation, said in an SEC filing that its is planning a sweeping range of cost cutting measures and refinancing moves to improve the company’s financial liquidity. A workforce reduction will be made to lower operating costs, though how deep the cuts will be was not disclosed.

Following the company’s recent receipt of IEC certification for its solar modules by VDE Laboratories, Solar Power, Inc. has completed a sale to a prominent German solar integrator. The first supply of 200W solar panels associated with this deal took place in early December 2008, and the panels are expected to be used in the unnamed integrator’s Germany-based installation projects.

German industrial PV systems integrator, GOLDBECK Solar has signed a 15MW module supply contract with Yingli Green Energy for 2009. Yingli said that GOLDBECK Solar could purchase a further 58MW of modules in 2009.

China Sunergy has signed a one-year agreement to supply multicrystalline solar cells to privately owned Indian module manufacturer Ajit Solar. The deal calls for the PV manufacturer to deliver 12 MW of cells to Ajit next year.

This year’s modules news saw developments in several elements of the industry sector, from conversion efficiencies to orders, and from module testing to future ramp outlays. Solarfun’s announcement of its ramp schedule for 2009 was a strong story, as all eyes are on the industry given developments in tariffs, credit crunch woes and the hope for potential uptake in the solar industry as a whole. Solarfun’s exciting announcement of an expected 2009 capacity of 580MW will hopefully encourage other companies to plough ahead with production.

Yingli Green Energy has signed separate solar module sales agreements with two leading German PV system integrators, City Solar and Wirsol. The City Solar deal calls for the supply of 20 MW of  modules in 2009, while the Wirsol contract commits the Chinese company to provide 15 MW of panels.

German manufacturer aleo solar has already signed 25 MW worth of solar PV module contracts with a number of European customers for 2009. The company says it has deals with specialist dealers, installers, and solar technology specialists in core markets throughout the continent.

China Sunergy will supply 22 MW of solar photovoltaic cells to German module manufacturer Solarwatt under the terms of a deal signed by the two companies. Sunergy says it will provide the cells consistently over the course of 2009.

SolarWorld and South Korean joint-venture partner SolarPark Engineering have commissioned their first solar photovoltaic module-manufacturing factory in Asia. The plant, located in Jeonju, has a 150-MW capacity and can be expanded to 1 GW, the companies said. The companies also announced a new joint venture, SolarPark Manufacturing Equipment.

Open Energy Corp. and Suntech Power Holdings have signed an exclusive agreement licensing the worldwide manufacture, distribution, and marketing of Open Energy's building-integrated solar roof-tile product to Suntech. Open Energy has granted Suntech an exclusive license of the intellectual property incorporated into its SolarSave line of 50-W, 4-foot solar roof tile and any similar or new-generation tile roof products.