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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.
_First_Solar-80x80.jpg "The company has announced to reduce production as declining subsidies reduce European demand.")
Last November, First Solar celebrated the production of its one millionth module at its Frankfurt (Oder) plant. This year, the company has announced plans to reduce production as declining subsidies reduce European demand.
The Italian subsidiary of Solon, SpA, has announced it has suspended module production at its plant in Carmignano del Brenta, in the northern Italian region of Veneto.
According to German publication Frankfurter Allegemeine Wirtschaft, Bosch has delayed plans to build its €520 million integrated solar module manufacturing plant in Penang, Malaysia. Construction was due to commence at the end of last year, with completion scheduled for 2013. Bosch has attributed this to the current market of overcapacity, falling module prices and government subsidy cuts.
IDEA Polysilicon Company has selected centrotherm SiTec to provide basic engineering and the technology concepts for its first 10,000MT capacity polysilicon plant to be built in the city of Yanbu, Saudi Arabia. Actual construction timelines were not disclosed.
Falling solar panels and raw materials prices will be claiming 140 jobs at Sanyo Electric’s solar wafer factory in Carson, California, as it prepares to start up operations at a plant in Malaysia. The plant, opened in 2003, makes the equivalent of 30MW of silicon ingots and wafers for solar cells each year and is expected to close in October.
Struggling to complete and start polysilicon production at its first facility in Pocatello, Idaho, Hoku has received another financial life-line with major investor, Tianwei New Energy agreeing to extend loan payment terms of US$50 million to potentially to the first quarter of 2014. Two loans, totalling US$50 million were due to be repaid to Tianwei this quarter as polysilicon production would have already been started but delays, often financial-based have dogged the project from the start.
Schneider Electric has signed on to provide construction services for Hevel Solar’s 130MW factory in Novocheboksarsk, Russia. The company will design and install the in-plant electric power, supply medium and low-voltage equipment and training of the technical personnel in the plant. The plant is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2012.
PPG Industries advised that its flat glass business in Fresno will be expanding its production capability in order to better allow the manufacturing of the company’s Solarphire PV glass. The move aims to serve solar customers throughout California, the West Coast and even Asia with a faster shipping timeframe.
Continued overcapacity and weak demand in the wafering sector has forced Bekaert to reduce wire saw manufacturing capacity with the loss of 1,250 jobs. Restructuring started in December 2011, which included reducing production in China.
