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IMS Research believes a PV manufacturing equipment replacement cycle could be the only bright spot in the near-term as suppliers face a lean capital investment year due to overcapacity and industry consolidation. The market research firm said that over the next four years it had identified a 20GW sized and US$25 billion sales opportunity for the upgrade or replacement of existing manufacturing capacity to remain competitive.
A significant decline in sales and new orders, coupled to higher annual losses in 2011, compared to 2010 have forced Roth & Rau to implement further company-wide restructuring and reduce its global headcount. Preliminary sales for 2011 reached €208 million, down from €285 million in 2010.
Taiwan-based crystalline solar cell producer, Neo Solar Power (NSP) reported January 2012 monthly sales of approximately US$22 million (NT $850 million), up from NT $663 million in December.
As part of REC Group’s previously announced closure of certain wafer and cell production plants in Norway, a sale of the equipment from three plants is to be organized by surplus asset management firm, GoIndustry Dovebid. All equipment and components were said to available for sale by private negotiation.
Work undertaken on a conventional but advanced solar cell employing ‘Metal Wrap Through (MWT) and ‘Passivated Emitter and Rear Cell (PERC) technology exceeded 20% efficiencies that were supported by a specially developed and formulated metallization paste from Heraeus metallization paste, according to the company. In 2011, Heraeus introduced a new series of pastes for low temperature processing.
Lithuania-based CD and DVD disc manufacturer BOD Group is entering the c-Si solar cell manufacturing market, using a complete line of equipment being provided by Singulus Technologies. Singulus has been a supplier of CD and DVD processing equipment to the Lithuanian firm. The delivery of the line is scheduled to take place in early 2013.
A debt-to-equity swap deal between Q-Cells and its bondholders has been agreed in principle, a situation that will result in the company’s being majority owned (95%) by the bondholders. In return, Q-Cells would be virtually debt-free and retain the €304 million of liquidity the company had at the end of 2011 to continue to restructure and continue operations. Q-Cells will also sell further non-core assets that could raise €200 million, which would be given back to the 2012, 2014 and 2015 bondholders on an equal basis.
According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, the Indian government has decided to establish a new solar company with an initial capital of US$405.6 million, which will go towards the development of federal solar projects in order to reach the country’s 20GW solar energy capacity target by 2022.
Loss-making CPV solar cell manufacturer Emcore has approved a one-for-four reverse stock split. The move, expected to take action February 15, 2012, means that the number of issued and outstanding shares in the company would be reduced by approximately 94 million to approximately 23.5 million. The market value of the total number of shares would remain the same.
Researchers from the University at Buffalo, Army Research Laboratory and Air Force Office of Scientific Research have developed a new, nanomaterials-based technology that has the potential to increase the efficiency of PV cells up to 45%. The researchers have also teamed up to found OPtoElectronic Nanodevices to commercialize this technology and are now seeking funding from private investors and federal programs. Through UB’s office of science, technology transfer and economic outreach (STOR), the team has filed provisional patent applications to protect their technology.
