Having been the managing director and COO at the centrotherm SiTec GmbH subsidiary for the last three years, Frank Stubhan has been appointed CEO of centrotherm photovoltaics AG's thin film module division, effective Sept. 1. 2010. Stubhan will be responsible for the next phase in the growth of its thin-film offerings, the company said.
Further to the company’s recent announcement of partnering with hotel chain BluSerena in Italy, Conergy has completed its fifth and sixth solar parks in the Apulia region of the country, which together have a total capacity of 1.5MW. The Parabita park has a capacity of 1MW and is kitted out with more than 4,600 Conergy PowerPlus modules, while the 500kW Nardo installation features almost 2,200 of the modules.
LDK Solar posted record revenues for the second quarter, resulting in significant increases in gross margin and net income. The PV manufacturer shipped nearly 20% more wafers and 136% more modules compared to the previous quarter, and increased its wafering capacity to 2.3GW in June. The company expects revenues for the third quarter to be slightly above those of the just-completed period and to near the $2 billion mark for the fiscal year.
Nanosys and Samsung have formed a strategic alliance and licensing arrangement to accelerate the development of commercial applications of nano-architected materials for the electronics and thin-film solar markets. Under the terms of the deal, Samsung Electronics will contribute funding and resources to codevelop products using Nanosys technologies. Samsung Venture Investment Corp. will make a $15 million equity investment in the nanotechnology company, along with an additional $10 million to be contributed by venture firms including Arch Venture, Polaris, Venrock, and El Dorado.
Tasked with managing the integration of recently acquired companies as well as being in charge of production, quality management, supply chain amongst other duties, Roth & Rau has appointed former CEO of acquired OTB, Dr. Paul Breddels as its new Chief Operating Officer.
Citing a turnaround in the number of orders, especially for its back-end line technology for manufacturing crystalline solar cells, Manz Automation has posted revenue of €67.5 million in the first-half of 2010. The solar and FPD equipment supplier saw revenue double compared to the same period a year ago when revenue was reported at €28.28 million, a 139% increase. Order backlog as improved to above €100 million, the company said. Revenue guidance for the year was put at €140 million with the potential for upside.
ReneSola has posted record shipments, revenue and profits for its second quarter 2010 financial results. Wafer manufacturing costs fell significantly from the previous quarter due to high utilization rates and material price declines, particularly from polysilicon, which have fallen to market-equivalent prices, while the overall total wafer cost has been reduced to US$0.56/W.
Solarfun is to expand its U.S.-based marketing and customer support team in order to boost its North American presence and supplement current staff. Matt Miller has been appointed as regional manager covering the southwestern U.S. and Graham Landry has been appointed as regional manager in the west.
Astronergy is taking the next-step in its thin-film capacity expansion plans with the placement of a follow-on equipment order with Oerlikon Solar. The expanded capacity will incorporate new module materials and the latest innovations in thin-film technology, boosting Astronergy’s total thin-film module capacity to at least 75MW by early 2011. The China-based firm has a 30MW line in operation and has plans to expand production to 400MW.
DakkS has issued the Japan-based testing facilities of TÜV Rheinland with ANSI/UL 1703 testing accreditation. This compliments the existing JNLA, ASNITE and the CBTL recognition already held by the facility, as well as allowing combined testing sequences with IEC and ANSI.
