Already incorrectly type-cast by the mainstream media as the illegitimate love child of failed copper indium gallium di selenide (CIGS) thin-film manufacturer, Solyndra, flexible CIGS thin-film start-up SoloPower has officially opened its first volume production plant in Portland, Oregon. Unlike other CIGS start-ups, SoloPower uses proprietary roll-to-roll processes via electro-deposition processing as its differentiator.
Despite several start-up firm failures and an over-hyped sector, the concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) market is forecast to grow significantly over the next four years, according to the latest report from IMS Research, part of IHS. Though building from a small base, CPV installations are set to almost double in 2012 to around 90MW with a commercial value of US$325 million. By 2016 the market is expected to reach almost 1.2GW.
Efforts by the Chinese government to provide support to its struggling PV manufacturing sector have surfaced in Kenya, Africa, in the form of a government-approved business. Known for its municipal public works, Jiangxi Corporation for International Economic & Technical Co, Ltd. (CJIC), is planning to build a 50MW solar power project near the country’s northwest-located city of Garissa.
Financially constrained PV manufacturers are advised to look at alternative ways other than relinquishing hard-to-find cash to end wafer supply deals with suppliers after a long-standing dispute between Conergy and MEMC was partially resolved via old-fashioned bartering.
Isofoton recently revealed that as of August 15, it had signed a joint venture agreement with Saudi Arabian company Industrial Systems (INDSYS) for the installation of 300MW of PV plant facilities throughout the Middle East, North Africa and India region. The agreement will see both companies develop and construct the projects, which include installations in Saudi Arabia, a country which aims to install about 14GW of solar PV facilities by 2030.
JinkoSolar Holdings advised that it had won a 40MW contract from China Power International New Energy Holding. JinkoSolar will be supplying its modules for two PV power plants in Baiyin and Wuwei cities in Gansu Province, China. The company will deliver 163,200 of its solar panels for the two projects.
Yingli Green Energy Holding’s held up a defensive front today as it issued a statement rejecting any accusations that it had illegally subsidized its products. The statement is in response to accusations in an anti-subsidy complaint filed by EuProsun, which was submitted to the European Commission yesterday.
Despite record cell efficiencies being announced in recent years, just 0.5% of advanced technologies for cell efficiency have been implemented into volume production on an annual basis. A panel session moderated by PV-Tech’s senior editor Mark Osborne, part of the PV Production Forum 2012 at EU PVSEC, discusses the reasons why migration has been so slow.
On September 4, Thai oil company Bangchak Public Petroleum Co. (BPP) connected its 44MW PV plant in Thailand — the largest silicon PV power plant in South East Asia, it claims. It is located in Bang Pa-In, Ayutthaya, which is around 40km from the country’s capital Bangkok.
IBC Solar has upped its corporate social responsibility profile by donating a 14.4kW solar power system to the Lewa Children’s Home in Eldoret, Kenya. A total of 120 solar panes and six inverters have been supplied to the orphanage, which house approximately 120 children aged between a few months to 18 years.
