Dealing with the acute lack of capital spending across the PV supply chain, major equipment supplier Meyer Burger is consolidating its production and technology operations after several years of leading an acquisition trail. The company said it would focus operations at four main production locations and two solar technology centres worldwide.
A new initiative is being launched by micro-inverter pioneer, Enphase Energy to boost the use of its technology in commercial PV projects at SPI 2012. The new program includes cash rewards for installers undertaking commercial-scale PV projects.
Centrosolar Glas has developed a particularly thin solar glass for photovoltaic modules. The ‘CENTROSOL’ thin glass is only 2.3mm or 2.6mm thick, enabling a reduction in the minimum thickness by almost 30 % at the same mechanical resistance thanks to process optimization. The thin glass currently offered exclusively by Centrosolar Glas reduces the total weight of modules, which is claimed to simplify the assembly and transportation and mounting costs.
Start-up, QBotix, has revealed the ‘QBotix Tracking System’ (QTS), a dual-axis tracking system that employs rugged, intelligent and mobile robots to dynamically operate solar power plants and maximize energy output. QTS is claimed to costs as much as existing single axis systems but generates up to 15% more energy. QTS will generate up to 40% more energy than fixed mount systems.
Boosting its presence in the South Korean markets for RF generation and monitoring systems for the solar photovoltaic, semiconductor, flat panel display and AMOLED industry sectors, MKS Instruments has acquired Plasmart, Inc, based in Daejeon, South Korea, in a cash transaction that wasn’t disclosed.
Updated: Response to the European Commission’s anti-dumping investigation of solar modules and products imported into the EU from key Chinese producers was rapid and unanimous in condemnation of the action but also conciliatory in confirming their willingness to co-operate fully with the investigation.
After several years of rapid price declines for conventional crystalline silicon solar modules, CIGS (copper indium gallium selenium) thin-film technology hasn’t been immune from the ‘solar shakout,’ despite its inherent capabilities to provide high conversion efficiency and low-cost production. Solyndra, Odersun, Soltecture, Global Solar Energy, Solibro and MiaSolé are companies that pioneered CIGS adoption but have either failed or now seek new partners to continue operations.
PolyOne has introduced a new technology for PV systems wire and cable called ‘Syncure Solar.’ Available globally, this UV-resistant, cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE) system is claimed to meet UL 4703 and VW 1-compliance in one material, eliminating the need to use two separate insulation and jacketing formulations.
Komax Solar has developed a new, fully automatic stringer for 6-inch back contact cells. The contactless soldering technology as well as the ribbon handling technology was designed to minimize the thermo mechanical stress introduced into the solar cell. In addition, this back contact stringer adds the electrical isolation between the cells and the ribbons.
More losses were reported by Yingli Green, despite module shipment volumes increasing by 13.7%, to a new historical high on sales of US$488.5 million dollars, down from over US$500 million in the prior quarter. Declining ASPs were behind the losses that climbed to US$90.2 million in the second quarter. The company revised down its PV module shipment target to be in the range of 2.1GW-2.2GW, representing an increase of up to 37.2% year over but significantly down from previous guidance of shipments reaching as much as 2.5GW.
