Product Briefing Outline: Camstar Systems has released ‘SolarSuite’ 4.5 for general availability. Version 4.5 includes advancements developed in collaboration with leading solar manufacturers and new packaging options scale with solar companies from startup to global enterprise. A rapidly growing CIGS module manufacturer was said to have increased asset utilization by 12%. A CPV and multijunction solar cell manufacturer increased conversion efficiency by 38%. A vertically integrated c-Si module manufacturer reduced production scrap by 20% using the new system.
In a significant change of direction, Applied Materials has revealed that it will stop selling its turnkey a-Si thin-film technology under the SunFab name to potential new customers, shifting emphasis away from thin-film altogether and focusing on crystalline silicon (c-Si) and LED manufacturing equipment and technology.
Product Briefing Outline: SunSil of Denmark has launched its SunSil 300 module which is a fully integrated system producing a nominal 300W 240V AC that will increase yields for its owner by up to 30% per annum as well as reducing initial costs, making solar electricity significantly more financially appealing. The company sums it up as ‘Sun in – AC out.’
Product Briefing Outline: Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates (VSEA) has entered the solar cell processing market with a specifically developed ion implanter, dubbed the Varian Solion. The implanter is based on Varian’s dual-magnet ribbon beam implant architecture and VIISta platform, used in the semiconductor industry. The company claims the tool enables the manufacture of high efficiency silicon solar cells through superior P-N junction formation while lowering the cost per watt through process simplification by eliminating PSG clean and edge isolation steps.
According to the latest figures from IMS Research, PV module shipments reached 3.7GW in the second quarter and generated US$7.1 billion in revenues. This was the fifth consecutive quarter for increased module shipments, according to the market research firm. Solar module shipments are forecast to increase again in the third quarter, reaching a forecasted 4.3GW. However, IMS Research noted that module shipment share from First Solar decreased for the fifth consecutive quarter and the gap between it and its crystalline competitors closed further due to limited capacity expansion capability until 2011.
A joint development agreement has been signed between JA Solar and Innovalight to push cell conversion efficiencies past 20% for JA Solar’s recently introduced SECIUM high efficiency solar cells. The cell manufacturer has already achieved conversion efficiency of 18.9% using Innovalight’s nanotechnology-based silicon ink.
Despite only a small improvement in solar inverter component supply expected in the second-half of the year, IMS Research has raised its forecast for global photovoltaics system installations. The market research firm expects installs to reach 14.6 GW, a 95% increase from 2009 and nearly three times size of the market back in 2008. Increased demand from Germany and other European countries is fuelling demand but growth in other regions such as the U.S. is playing a part, IMS Research said.
Hamburg-based Luxcara Asset Management is the owner of a new 18MW solar power plant built by Phoenix Solar in Senftenberg, Brandenburg, Germany on the site of a former opencast mining area. Approximately 240,000 CdTe thin film modules from First Solar will have been used for the project when completed.
Continuing to gain major OEM module supply deals for its high performance, low cost solar modules, JA Solar has signed a multi-year supply agreement with MEMC Electronic Materials. The supply-deal wills see MEMC subsidiary, SunEdison use JA Solars OEM modules for projects starting in the third quarter of 2010 and going through 2012. The move means that JA Solar’s modules will be used in commercial-scale and utility-scale projects in the future.
Product Briefing Outline: Applied Materials has launched its Applied ‘SmartFactory’ MES software that is claimed to be an out-of-the-box factory automation solution. SmartFactory can be deployed in less than 60 days to improve product quality, boost productivity, and cut operational costs, according to the company, and is also the first MES available with integrated advanced process control (APC) capability.
