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Last year saw the gases division of The Linde Group capitalise on the solar industry’s growth by securing supply contracts with over 25 new and pre-existing customers in the thin-film and crystalline silicon manufacturing sectors.
Schmid Silicon Technology has agreed to build two solar manufacturing facilities with Chinese firm Xinjiang Puxing Chengda. Contracts for the turnkey polysilicon and the integrated cell and module factories were signed by the two firms shortly before the start of this week’s SNEC 5th exhibition in Shanghai.
Manz Automation will break ground later this week on a new production, technology, and training facility in Suzhou, China. The factory will manufacture equipment for the photovoltaics, FPD, and PCB industries, with 50% devoted to solar tools, said company executives during a press conference held in conjunction with the SNEC trade show in Shanghai. The building will be finished by the end of this year, with production machinery installed early next year and the initial production ramp planned for February 2012.
This week will see Shanghai play host to the 5th SNEC International Photovoltaic Power Generation Conference & Exhibition at the city’s International Expo Center. With 1,818 exhibitors from over 60 countries, the event is one of the most significant on the solar calendar and you can keep tabs on the goings on right here at PVTech.org or by paying a visit to the PV Tech team at booth 112-115 in hall E2.
CIGS thin-film photovoltaics manufacturer SoloPower has received a conditional commitment for a $197 million loan guarantee from the US. Department of Energy Loan Programs office. The company said the funds will support construction of a flexible thin-film module manufacturing facility in Wilsonville, OR, that, when completed and at full capacity, is expected to have an annual capacity of approximately 400MW.
Preliminary financial results for Pfeiffer Vacuum show the company has increased its sales revenues by 21.1% to €220.5 million, compared to the prior year’s €182 million. A strong fourth quarter in sales led to higher than expected overall business, the company noted.
First Solar has moved a step closer to doubling its production capacity in Germany by completing work on its new factory in Frankfurt, Brandenburg. Construction work on the manufacturing facility cost €173 million, took just 12 months to complete and has boosted First Solar’s overall annual module capacity to 477MW.
Rumours of a tie-up with Samsung have proved true, with the news that MEMC will establish a new joint-venture firm with Samsung Fine Chemicals to produce polysilicon for the PV industry. The agreement between SFC and MEMC’s affiliate, MEMC Singapore, includes building a 10,000MT plant in Ulsan, Korea, close to an SFC chemical plant. Production ramp is targeted for 2013.
Showa Shell Sekiyu subsidiary Solar Frontier has begun the commercial ramp of its new advanced, fully-automated CIS (copper, indium and selenium) thin-film solar module production plant, located in Miyazaki, Japan. Initial production capacity is claimed to be 600MW and is planned to reach a nameplate capacity of 1GW in 2012.
Germany’s PV manufacturing solutions provider Schiller Automation has created a U.S.-based subsidiary, Schiller LLC, to help it service its expanding portfolio of international clients.
