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.

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 Holst Centre research organization has built a new proprietary roll-to-roll (R2R) sintering platform for fast, low-temperature curing of printed conductive structures. The group says this tool is a next step in the creation of a complete equipment set for R2R manufacturing, which will enable the center and its industrial partners to further advance such technologies for the manufacturing of organic PV, flexible OLEDs, and smart packaging.

Filmetrics has opened two film thickness measurement application labs in Tainan, Taiwan and Munich, Germany. Each lab is tied into the Filmetrics support network, which provides immediate internet and voice response to Filmetrics customers.

Mitsubishi Chemical has selected and successfully installed a sun simulator from Pasan, a division of Meyer Berger. This is the first sale to a Japanese customer for the company, which will use the equipment for testing of very large a-Si thin film solar modules and is part of MCC’s move into the BIPV market.

The grand plan of the Desertec Industrial Initiative has a new member in the form of First Solar, the first solar photovoltaic manufacturer to join. First Solar said that it had become an ‘Associated Partner’ of Desertec for an initial period of three years and would contribute utility-scale PV expertise in working groups and prepare the ground for reference projects and a roll-out plan.

Compound semiconductor manufacturer RF Micro Devices (RFMD) has claimed its first milestone toward entering volume production of III-V-based multijunction PV cells on six-inch gallium arsenide (GaAs) wafers with the successful fabrication of solar cells using its standard semiconductor fab equipment.

First Solar’s Cimarron I Solar Project, which is adjacent to the Vermejo Park Ranch in northern New Mexico, has been sold to Southern Company and Turner Renewable Energy for an undisclosed sum. Construction of the 30MW power plant is expected to begin this month, with commercial operations starting by year end. First Solar is providing the thin-film modules as well as engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services and maintenance services under a 25-year contract.