Arise Technologies' solar PV silicon division has met the fourth major milestone for its polysilicon feedstock pilot plant project. The Canadian company said that it has finished the initial construction phase of the plant and that the pilot plant-scale silicon refining furnace, manufactured by Ebner Industrieofenbau, has also been completed and is operational.
Suntech Power Holdings said that there has been an accident at its solar photovoltaic module production facilities in Wuxi, China. Seven Suntech employees were injured on Nov. 28 as a result of a malfunctioning piece of module lamination equipment at the company's plant. The injured employees are receiving further medical treatment and are recovering in hospital, the company added.
Southern California Edison has completed the first of its proposed 150 solar photovoltaic installations on Southern California commercial rooftops. The company says the project could eventually cover two square miles of existing commercial roofs with 250 MW of peak-generating capacity. First Solar engineered the rooftop system, manufactured the solar thin-film modules, and supplied the balance-of-system equipment for the initial project and has also been chosen by SCE to supply panels for the second installation.
German company Johanna Solar Technology has started production on its copper-indium-gallium-sulphur-selenium (CIGSSe) thin-film solar photovoltaic glass-module manufacturing line. The panels made at the 30-MW factory will be distributed by aleo solar starting in summer 2009.
Tokuyama Corp. plans to build a polycrystalline silicon manufacturing facility in Malaysia and expand capacity at its original factory in Japan. The chemical company awarded the front-end engineering design contract for the Malaysian plant to Japanese construction firm, Chiyoda Corp.
SEMI has named a long-time employee as its new president of SEMI North America, appointing Jonathan Davis to succeed Victoria Hadfield, effective Jan. 1, 2009. Davis will assume responsibility for the group's North American programs, products, and services and will be responsible for relationships with SEMI members as well as industry, government, and academia in the region. Hadfield moves on to pursue personal interests but will remain with the trade association in an advisory role.
Hoku Materials said it has signed a supply agreement for hydrochloric acid with BHS Acquisitions. The deal is Hoku's second trichlorosilane primary materials agreement in a week, following the announcement of its metallurgical-grade silicon contract with Polymet.
Solyndra has signed a long-term sales contract with Carlisle Energy Services, a newly formed division of Carlisle Construction Materials, to supply its proprietary cylindrical-tube-based copper-indium-gallium-(di)selenide (CIGS) solar panels for rooftop applications. The multiyear sales contract--said to be worth up to $320 million-- brings Solyndra's total announced order backlog to more than $1.5 billion.
Centrotherm photovoltaics said it is buying Michael Glatt Maschinenbau, a 74-year-old Bavarian manufacturer of industrial pressure containers and apparatus, from previous owner Büechl Handels-und Beteiligungs for a purchase price said to be in the single-digit millions of euro.
Concentrator photovoltaics company SolFocus has introduced a CPV system targeting the medium- and utility-scale markets. The SolFocus 1100S can achieve panel efficiencies of 25%, resulting in systems which the company says produce the highest energy density and energy yield of any PV systems on the market.
