News

Pending approval from both company Boards, Trina Solar and GT Solar have signed a supply agreement for the latter to supply primary converter and reactor systems to the value of approximately $49 million, payable over a period of 12 to 18 months. 

A new Scientific Advisory Board for Oerlikon has been established, with the aim of keeping the company abreast of all R&D innovations. Leading the Advisory Board is Professor Werner Martienssen from the University of Frankfurt am Main, who will keep Oerlikon’s CEO Dr. Uwe Krüger and Executive Vice President of R&D Dr. Andreas Widl informed of all developments.

NexPower has selected BOC Lien Hwa (BOCLH), a joint venture between The Linde Group and Taiwan’s Lien Hwa Corporation, to supply the main high purity gases for its new large substrate thin-film PV plant that is expected to begin operations by the second quarter of 2008.

A management and manufacturing expert of the hi-tech industry, Johan van Splunter’s (pictured) near-40 years of experience will be brought into play in his new role as non-executive independent Director of Solarfun.

Signet Solar has added three new members to its board, two of whom are seasoned semiconductor industry professionals. Freescale CEO and Chairman Rich Beyer, Spansion EVP of Worldwide Operations Ajit Manocha, and EMCO Chairman and Managing Director Rajesh Jain have all joined Signet’s Board to aid in the thin film PV manufacturer’s global expansion.

SonnenEnergy has announced that Christian Reinert has resigned his place on the company’s Board of Directors to pursue his career in law. Appointed Vice-Chairman and a Director in 2007, Mr. Reinert also assumed the additional role of Director of International Operations of SonnenEnergie, the company’s German division.

Cleantech America has named Mark Stout as Director of its Renewable Technology Planning sector, with responsibility for sourcing and determining the suitability of sites for establishment of further renewable energy projects.

ersol Solar Energy AG has added a new member to its Board, which is currently made up of CEO Dr. Claus Beneking, CFO Ekhard von Dewitz and COO Jürgen Pressl. Joining this senior management is Peter Schneidewind (pictured), who was recently appointed Managing Director of ersol Thin Film GmbH.

BTU International, a maker of thermal processing equipment, has set up a dedicated business unit dubbed the ‘Alternative Energy Group’ to handle business expansion within the photovoltaic industry. As part of the move, the company is to establish two international research and process application laboratories—one in Billerica, Massachusetts and one in Shanghai, China.

Synova and the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE) have started a new research alliance that will see ISE utilize Synova’s Laser MicroJet (LMJ) technology with liquids other than pure water to evaluate the viability of the technology for wafering and micro-structuring applications on PV cells.