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This year’s modules news saw developments in several elements of the industry sector, from conversion efficiencies to orders, and from module testing to future ramp outlays. Solarfun’s announcement of its ramp schedule for 2009 was a strong story, as all eyes are on the industry given developments in tariffs, credit crunch woes and the hope for potential uptake in the solar industry as a whole. Solarfun’s exciting announcement of an expected 2009 capacity of 580MW will hopefully encourage other companies to plough ahead with production.
IBM Research and TOK joined the efficiency fray in June with its 15%-plus conversion efficiencies claims for CIGS solar cell modules, while U.S.-based SUNRGI introduced its ‘Xtreme Concentrated Photovoltaics’ (XCPV) solar system technology, which, it claims, will lower costs in the industry to 5 cents per kilowatt-hour.
Sputnik Engineering achieved approval from Unisolar for use of its transformerless inverters with all of Unisolar’s products. This official approval bolsters the already strong working relationship between the companies, which have been collaborating since 2005.
India’s PLG Power Limited’s placing an order with Spire also proved to be a much-read story on our site. The purchase of the 25MW turnkey photovoltaic (PV) module production line signals PLG’s first foray into the photovoltaics industry, and we hope to see further developments in the country’s growing market before too long.
