Several large sapphire furnace orders have helped GT Solar to almost double its equipment order backlog guidance from approximately US$1 billion to US$1.6 billion. However, technical upgrades offered to existing customers of DSS650 furnaces are tracking ahead of schedule, enabling GT Solar to raise revenue guidance for the current quarter to approximately, US$225 million, up from previous guidance of between US$140 million - US$150 million.
Yamaichi Electronics has developed a new photovoltaic junction box for crystalline solar modules for the ‘Y-Sol’ product family. The new, cost-effective ‘Eco-Si’ junction box uses hermetic sealed over-molding technology to provide greater sealing and long-life, even in extreme conditions. Yamaichi is presenting the technology at Intersolar Europe 2011, in Hall C3, Booth 533.
Despite changes expected to the UK feed-in tariff that would make large-scale projects uneconomical, while retaining incentives for the residential rooftop market, First Solar has gained Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) certification for its CdTe thin-film modules.The MCS accreditation applies to First Solar’s Series 3 modules FS-370 to FS-385.
SolarEdge Technologies is presenting its next generation of module power optimizers and a unique string monitoring combiner box with ground fault detection and interruption (GFDI) per string, at Intersolar Europe 2011, in Hall B4, Booth 310. Smart modules optimized by SolarEdge will be presented at the show by some of the world’s leading module manufacturers. The company will also present its extended line of single-phase and three-phase solar inverters.
MBJ Solutions has expanded its product portfolio to complete its line-up of electroluminescence inspection systems. Two new products have been launched, which include the SolarModule EL-quickline LEL and the SolarModule EL-inline SEL. The high performance product family SolarModule EL-inline and the mid performance product family SolarModule EL-quickline are now both available for short-edge and long-edge leading production lines.
Recent reports that indicated PV inverters are responsible for 59% of total PV project failure costs - a startling statistic – underscore the relevancy of a new in-depth assessment of the PV inverter market and technologies by GTM Research. However, the good news is that GTM’s analysis suggests that a new wave of next-generation inverter technologies (both for large-scale and residential markets) are expected to offer significant improvements and, importantly, provide for greater adoption of utility-scale PV as well as better returns for the residential customer as feed-in tariffs decline.
Solland Solar is planning to start commercial sales of its ‘Sunweb’ modules, using ‘metal wrap through’ (MWT) solar cells in the fourth quarter of 2011. The company noted that it had already delivered and had installed modules to reference projects in both the UK and the Netherlands, with further projects in the pipeline for the target markets of Italy, France, Belgium and Germany.
Microinverter firm, SPARQ, headquartered in Kingston, Ontario is to have its new microinverters and communications hubs for PV systems manufactured by Sanmina-SCI at its Ottawa facility, which is certified for Ontario's Feed-in Tariff (FIT) program, and at Sanmina-SCI's worldwide regional facilities for global distribution.
Already in evaluation as a substrate for thin film amorphous silicon (a-Si) modules and copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) applications, DuPont’s colourless polyimide film, ‘Kapton’ is also being developed for cadmium telluride (CdTe) applications that open-up new markets for the technology in the fields of lightweight, flexible and high-efficiency applications. Currently, the flexible thin-film market is dominated by a-Si and CIGS-based technologies.
A period of equipment digestion or what's known as a reset could be at play after aggressive capacity expansions across the PV supply chain in 2010, according to the PV book-to-bill analysis featured in the forthcoming "Solarbuzz PV Equipment Quarterly" report. According to Finlay Colville, senior analyst at Solarbuzz, the PV book-to-bill is forecast to dip sharply below parity before rebounding in Q4’11.
