Your daily dose of photovoltaic technology developments and solar news

Energy Conversion Devices has announced plans to build a 30MW amorphous-silicon thin-film solar laminate manufacturing facility in France. The company said it has begun its initial site selection process and is evaluating various sites, particularly in the Alsace region. The move comes amid restucturing, production cutbacks, and layoffs at ECD's U.S. production fabs.

BTU International said that equipment sales into the photovoltaics industry and across the crystalline and thin-film markets continue to grow despite an overall decline in first-quarter revenues of 33% to US$9.8 million. The company noted that solar sales were currently oriented more toward technology buys than capacity expansions.

In a surprise move, Q-Cells' a-Si thin-film subsidiary Sontor will merge with thin-film competitor Sunfilm, a user of Applied Materials ‘SunFab’ turnkey thin-film production technology. Sontor has been one of Q-Cells' most successful thin-film ventures, starting mass production late in 2008 with plans to ramp its 25MW plant in 2009. The decision to absorb Sontor into Sunfilm was said to be due to the ‘increasingly competitive global photovoltaic market,’ enabling Sunfilm to have the scale to compete in an overcrowded market. The Sunfilm name will remain.