Product Briefing Outline: RASIRC has made several new improvements to its RASIRC Steamer '02, which handles controlled and purified water vapor that can then be delivered into most carrier gases for film growth in furnaces. Users of the RASIRC Steamer are claimed to have obtained improved oxide growth rate, film quality, and reduced operating costs.
Industry demand checks and recent German PV installation figures have seen Barclays Capital analyst, Vishal Shah raise his forecast for global solar installations for 2010. In a research note to investment clients, Shah expects installations to reach approximately 11GW this year. Shah also noted that PV installations reached 7.2GW in 2009, an increase of 21% over 2008, when installations reached 5.95GW.German installations are now expected to reach approximately 5.8GW in 2010, up from 3.8GW in 2009. However, the Barclays Capital analyst expects that first-half year installations in the country will reach 3.8GW alone and 2GW installed in the second-half of 2010, suggesting that the expected feed-in tariff changes will impact installations but not result in a collapse in the German market.
In releasing monthly sales figures, Taiwan-based Green Energy Technology (GET) noted that it was still at full capacity utilization after further capacity expansions. This is the third consecutive quarter the company has been at 100% utilization. GET said that its annual capacity for ingot growing had reached 410MW, up from 360MW in Febraury, 2010. Wafer slicing capacity had also reason from 300MW in February, to 360MW.
Good news for the c-Si solar cell producers and module manufacturers is that overcapacity in polysilicon production should continue as major producers continue with capacity expansion plans and new entrants, especially in China, ramp initial plants. According to a new report from Bernreuter Research, entitled ‘The Who’s Who of Solar Silicon Production,’ despite strong solar module demand, pressure on the silicon prices rising will likely be limited this year. Bernreuter Research estimates that global polysilicon production will reach 250,000MT in 2012, with approximately 80,000MT produced in China alone, making up about one-third of global production. Johannes Bernreuter, founder of the research firm, told PV-Tech that polysilicon supply/demand dynamics this year would translate into spot pricing in the range of US$45 to US$50/kg.
Having already successfully developed solar parks in Italy and plans within other European countries, Silfab is expanding into the U.S. market by forming a joint venture with REgeneration Finance LLC., a solar project developer with offices in Harrison, NY and San Francisco, California, via Silfab’s U.S. subsidiary. Silfab will invest an unspecified amount into a REgeneration affiliate to support finance requirements for commercial and utility-scale solar projects. The joint venture will ultimately own these projects, according to Silfab.
Product Briefing Outline: Saflex, a business unit of Solutia, has launched the Saflex Radiant White PA27 encapsulant, which was developed in collaboration with Oerlikon Solar to improve conversion efficiencies of its tandem-junction ‘micromorph’ thin-film module technology. Saflex PA27 is manufactured to an ultra-thin thickness of 0.51mm compared to standard PVB encapsulants and is the first ultra-thin reflective PVB encapsulant available for use in the solar market.
Using its bitumen-based roof covering, which is integrated with ECD’s Uni-Solar flexible a-Si thin-film laminates, Derbigum has installed approximately 3MW of BIPV commercial roofing systems at three logistics buildings for the supermarket chain Lidl in France. A 1.1MW system was installed at its Cambrai facility, a 1.1MW system in Vars, and 800kW at Les Arcs.
MCP Group, a specialty chemicals producer of thin-film metals such as indium, gallium, selenium, and tellurium, is combining manufacturing operations into Atlumin Energy to streamline operations and meet growing demand, especially from the thin-film PV industry. Copy-exact processes at its U.K. operations in Wellingborough are to be expanded to its Sunnyvale, CA, facilities.
Continually rising module efficiencies are finally making an impact in demand for Inventux Technologies tandem (a-Si/μc-Si) junction ‘micromorph’ thin-film modules, as the start-up says it is at full capacity in its 33MW plant near Berlin, Germany. Coupled to its professional sales network with direct customer access, Inventux says that it is producing a 132W module with 9.2%-plus stabilized efficiency, up from 8.9% in April 2009, and is currently sold out of modules during the winter months.
Photon Consulting’s forecast figures for German PV installations were virtually right on the mark, and my criticism over its forecasting credibility has been blown out of the water. Preliminary figures from the German Federal Network Agency put PV installations at 3.8GW with the potential for final number crunching to produce a higher figure. Photon Consulting had projected 3.9GW in their September 2009 release of their annual report and could prove to be frighteningly close to final figures, whenever they are issued.
