Your daily dose of Photovoltaic Technology Developments and Solar News

Canadian Solar Vice President of corporate development, Robert Patterson, caught up with our very own Mark Osborne a little while ago. Together they cover the challenges of CSI's new metalurgical grade silicon product line which Robert says should account for 150MW - 200MW of production next year. They also discuss cost reduction strategies beyond silicon savings.

Prof. Eicke R. Weber, Director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE & co-founder of CaliSolar, interviewed by Mark Osborne, Editor-in-Chief, Photovoltaics International.

Noel Leeson, head of Linde Electronics, the global electronic gases business of The Linde Group, discusses the current growth in the photovoltaics industry on global basis and the challenges facing the industry in scaling production of both crystalline and thin film. Leeson also talks about supply chain issues and how Linde, is best positioned to support the continued rapid growth of the industry.

Spire Corporation founder and Chief Executive, Roger Little discusses with Photovoltaics International, the latest trends and opportunities in the fast growing turnkey PV module assembly market. Spire’s CEO notes the developments in the industry in Russia, India and North America that reveals contrasting needs and requirements within these countries. Little also discusses the need to offer turnkey module assembly solutions from 10MW start-up lines through to the gigawatt scale.

The increasing cost of conventional energy and the rising carbon levels in the atmosphere have re-focused the energy agenda on to alternative energy sources. We make no secret at Photovoltaics International that we believe that PV offers the best opportunity to mitigate climate change and increase global renewable energy production dramatically over the next five years. If the PV manufacturing industry can achieve scale production, then the effect on system and operating costs will substantially lower the cost of energy.

Evergeen Solar is an integrated manufacturer of wafers, cells and panels. Their unique string ribbon technology for making wafers has created quite a stir in the industry. This exclusive video interview with CEO, Richard Feldt, describes this string ribbon processes. The process is continuous, silent and clean: long wires unwind from spools, run through the molten silicon and pull a long “ribbon” of silicon out of the melt. The ribbon is harvested periodically and cut into smaller pieces for further processing into solar cells.

In 2007, Q-Cells AG became the world’s largest independent producer of solar cells, surpassing Sharp Corporation for the first time. Photovoltaics International recently interviewed Anton Milner, Chief Executive Officer of Q-Cells, to discuss the company’s current and future manufacturing expansion plans, following announcements of further investments in Germany as well as in Malaysia and their recently announced $3.5 billion investment in Mexico.