Thin-film PV module manufacturer Signet Solar has chosen inline metrology systems from Dr. Schenk for its volume production fab. Signet will use the quality and process control gear in its factory near Dresden, which houses the first TFPV manufacturing site to receive factory acceptance for an Applied Materials-supplied SunFab turnkey line.
Five JCPenney stores in New Jersey now benefit from 2 MW worth of solar power systems featuring SunPower modules installed by the PV company and owned and operated by Integrys Energy Services. The initiative is part of the retailer's efforts to deploy 3.7 MW of solar arrays at nine of its stores in New Jersey and California.
Suntech Power Holdings said it is "routinely" using the Pluto technology to produce solar PV cells with conversion efficiencies of approximately 19% on monocrystalline silicon cells and 17% on multicrystalline cells. The company also confirmed that third-party test results from the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE in Germany show conversion efficiencies of 18.8% for monocrystalline cell and 17.2% for the multicrystalline cells manufactured on Suntech's 34MW Pluto production line.
SolarWorld will begin construction soon on a new building adjacent to its Hillsboro, OR, production plant. The 210,000 sq. ft. facility, scheduled for completion in November, will house a combination of logistics and manufacturing activities. The company said that the new structure will allow it to realign production operations to make more efficient space of the main building's full capacity.
While announcing its annual financial results, Timminco said that it will temporarily curtail production of silicon metal because of difficult market conditions and reduced demand for silicon metal in the chemical and aluminum industries. The UMG supplier also said it will reduce its workforce.
Thin-film solar PV manufacturer Energy Conversion Devices announced that it will slow down the pace of its "demand-driven" manufacturing and expansion plans, because of what it calls the "impact of credit availability on project flow in the global pipeline for photovoltaics." The company--known for its Uni-Solar brand flexible TFPV laminates--will enact a series of cost-cutting measures, such as temporary production shutdowns and factory and workforce consolidations, including layoffs. ECD also backed off its previously stated financial guidance estimates.
AVA Solar has a new name--Abound Solar. The cadmium telluride thin-film photovoltaics manufacturer says its new brand reflects the "company's commitment to providing an abundance of low-cost solar panels to solar integrators around the globe." The company says it will begin commercial production at its new module factory in Colorado next month.
Pacific Gas & Electric is looking for suppliers to bid on a 2-MW pilot photovoltaic power plant--the first step in part of its five-year plan to develop 500 MW of solar in its Northern California coverage area. The utility says it wants to use the pilot project, which will be completed by the end of 2009, to help develop its processes for building and operating PV facilities while it seeks regulatory approval for the full proposal with the California Public Utilities Commission.
The most challenging economic conditions in recent memory have taken their toll on a leading semiconductor/solar trade association--the Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International. SEMI North America President Jonathan Davis told PV Tech/Fabtech in an exclusive interview earlier this week that because of what he called a "fairly severe decline in revenues," the organization has taken a "number of cost reduction measures, including layoffs."
Santa Barbara has activated its first large-scale, municipal solar power plant. The system, a 384-KW set of arrays built on six of the Southern California city's Corporate Yard rooftops, was installed by Suntech Energy Solutions during the fall of 2008 and is financed and operated by Tioga Energy.
