Search sponsor
Intelligent Systems Robotics and Automation (ISRA) is expanding its range of production automation and quality inspection technology through the acquisition of PV inspection companies GP Solar and GP Inspect.
Applied Materials reported a surprise GAAP operating loss for its Energy and Environmental Solutions (EES) segment of US$322 million that included impairment charges of US$278 million. Non-GAAP operating loss was US$34 million.
The latest iteration of JA Solar’s ‘Cypress’ solar module was revealed during SNEC in Shanghai this week.
During SunPower’s Analyst Day, the company provided a small glimpse into its technology roadmap, highlighting that the ‘X-Series’ module platform would reach conversion efficiencies of 23% in 2015, up from 21.5% today.
Taiwan-based solar cell producer Neo Solar Power (NSP) has come out of a period of low sales in the second half of 2012, reporting NT$1,023 million in revenue for the month of April, a 9.74% month-over-month increase.
First quarter 2013 new order intake at manufacturing equipment specialist Singulus Technologies may have been at a low level but sales in the quarter increased to €22.8 million.
Amtech Systems is planning a further round of workforce and operating expense (opex) cuts to preserve cash, based on predictions that the next PV equipment buy cycle will not begin until 2014.
Diversified manufacturing equipment specialist Manz reported a 13% increase in first quarter 2013 sales, reaching €49.8 million.
Yingli Solar has been crowned as the top module producer for the first time as well as the top cell manufacturer in 2012, according to rankings compiled by GTM Research.
US-based three-dimensional solar cell start-up Solar3D is in discussions with the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering to facilitate the fabrication of its new cell technology.
Further tweaks of its triple-junction InGaAs InGaAs (indium gallium arsenide) solar cell have led to Sharp reporting a new 37.9% record conversion efficiency.
DuPont’s overall global PV module production is set to decline around 15% in the second quarter, according to Ellen Kullman, the company’s chair of the board and chief executive.
JA Solar has started production of its metal wrap-through (MWT) solar cells in China as a precursor to plans to be announced about its next-generation solar cell technology.
Global industry association SEMI has reported that PV manufacturing equipment bookings in 2012 slumped 74% to only US$1.31 billion, down from US$4.97 billion in 2011.
Having defaulted on a bond due to cash flow problems, struggling PV manufacturer, LDK Solar has sold its major crystalline solar cell production plant to an affiliate of the Hefei City government for a nominal US$19.4 million.
Europe will remain China Sunergy’s (CSUN) single largest market for its PV modules this year, despite a selective exodus from EU countries by a number of other China-based module manufacturers before the completion of an investigation into anti-dumping by the EU Commission.
Plasma etches and deposition systems manufacturer Oxford Instruments has announced two one-day seminars in Beijing and Taiwan which will focus on nanoscale plasma processing.
Leading thin-film and PV project developer First Solar has rocked the solar industry with the acquisition of US-based monocrystalline start-up TetraSun.
Innotech Solar (ITS), a Scandinavian-German module manufacturer, is to ramp up its module production capacity from 60MW to 100MW and could even expand to 170MW.
JA Solar’s strategy of shifting sales from solar cells to modules has been achieved but at the cost of flat-lining business that started in 2011 and is expected to continue in 2013.
Meyer Burger Group net sales in 2012 fell 51% to CHF645.2 million (US$684 million) on the back of overcapacity across its fields served in the PV industry.
US-based three-dimensional solar cell start-up Solar3D is planning to produce a manufacturing prototype of its cell technology in 2013.
Tests conducted by DEK Solar and DuPont Microcircuit Materials (MCM) have resulted in silver paste consumption reductions and possible conversion efficiency gains of 0.5% when using fine line screen printing of conventional crystalline solar cells.
Sales of solar cells in Japan in the fourth quarter of 2012 soared by 146.9% compared with the corresponding period one year earlier, statistics by the Japan Photovoltaic Energy Association reveal.
As part of its plans to boost production at its main integrated module manufacturing plant in Singapore, REC has placed an order with centrotherm photovoltaics for its high-throughput diffusion furnaces.
The ‘solar winter endures’ at PV equipment supplier BTU International, opined Paul J. van der Wansem, BTU Chairman and CEO, in a conference call that garnered no financial analyst questions.
Over 2.5GW of PV cells and modules were shipped both within Japan and overseas in the first nine months of fiscal year 2012.
Highly-respected within the semiconductor financial analyst community from his years at Varian Semiconductor, Bob Halliday has been quickly appointed as Applied Materials replacement Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.
Despatch Industries has announced it has promoted Dr. Ellen Cheng to General Manager of China and Taiwan.
Germany-based industrial laser specialist InnoLas Systems GmbH said that the company achieved revenue of €40 million (US$52.9 million) in 2012, which was 60% higher than the previous year.
Rear-side passivated solar cells from Taiwan-based Sunrise Global Solar Energy Corporation have been verified by Fraunhofer ISE with conversion efficiencies of 20.3%.
Applied Materials is scaling back spending in its solar business operations beyond those previously planned.
Amtech Systems reported first fiscal quarter 2013 results last week that showed sales within its solar segment rising to US$4.3 million, up from US$2.8 million in the previous quarter.
Panansonic has produced an advanced version of its hybrid HIT solar cell with a record conversion efficiency of 24.7%, 0.8% higher than before.
An unidentified top tier solar company based in Asia has placed a US$5.3 million order with Tempress Systems, a subsidiary of Amtech for its solar cell diffusion processing tools.
Despite reporting its highest quarterly revenue figures for 2012, SunPower continued its loss making ways. SunPower has reported losses in nine consecutive quarters.
Less than six-months after Ferro put its conductive paste business up for grabs, major materials supplier, Heraeus has purchased the business for an undisclosed sum.
Taiwan-based solar cell producer, Neo Solar Power has said that after the merger with DelSolar has been completed the sole remaining entity will be renamed Neo Solar Power Corporation.
Taiwan-based solar cell producers generated record shipments of around 5.5GW in 2012, according to EnergyTrend, a market research division of research firm, TrendForce.
Major PV equipment specialist centrotherm photovoltaics is expected to successfully exit insolvency proceedings after creditors agreed to plans for reorganisation and recapitalisation.
A follow-up US$12 million in funding from the US Energy Department under the SunShot Initiative has been issued with the intention of reducing the time of lab to fab solar cell conversion efficiencies.
Specialist PV equipment manufacturer, Intevac has won its first production tool order for its continuous flux ion source ‘ENERGi’ system from an unidentified Asia-based solar cell manufacturer.
Solar PV equipment spending was down US$3.6 billion in 2012 from US$12.9 billion in 2011, according to new research in the latest NPD Solarbuzz PV Equipment Quarterly report.
The US Energy Department has today announced the availability of US$12 million to accelerate solar energy innovation that could help reduce manufacturing and installation costs for homes, businesses and utilities.
The Anhalt University of Applied Sciences in Köthen, Germany, has purchased Oxford Instruments’ PlasmaPro System100 ICP 65 tool.
Sales of PV equipment and components by German-based suppliers fell 43% in the third quarter of 2012 compared to the same period a year ago, German trade association VDMA has said.
German PV manufacturer centrotherm photovoltaics has announced a plan it says could bring the company out of self-administration and avoid possible financial collapse.
Schott Solar is to transfer to the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems 111 patent families relating to crystalline silicon photovoltaics, it has been announced.
Simulation software specialist Silvaco has won a competitive bid to supply its ATLAS device simulator technology to the Japanese funded FUTURE-PV project.
Coherent, a California-based manufacturer of laser applications including solar cells, has broadened its PV offering following the acquisition of German laser specialist Lumera Laser.
