The dispute over a solar wafer supply agreement between Q-Cells and LDK Solar has been settled out of court with both companies continuing their business partnerships and agreeing to a new tolling arrangement for solar cells and modules. According to Q-Cells both parties have resolved their differences over the interpretation of the disputed wafer supply contract and have ended all legal actions, including Q-Cells attempt to collect on a US$244.5 million bank guarantee.
Solarfun Power Holdings, a manufacturer of silicon ingots, photovoltaic cells and modules in China, has announced the signing of an agreement between their subsidiary Jiangsu Linyang Solarfun and the government of Jiayuguan City, Gansu Province that will see the construction of a 100MW solar power plant. Solarfun will construct a module production facility in Jiayuguan City to accommodate the terms of the agreement.
Although site selection and other details such as costs and actual size of the plant have yet to be decided, Canadian Solar has announced plans to build a ~200MW module factory in Ontario, Canada, which could see ‘Phase 1’ in operational status by the end of 2010. The integrated PV manufacturer noted that Ontario’s attractive FiT (feed-in tariff) had shown considerable customer interest for ‘Made in Ontario’ solar systems. However, the FiT also stipulates that on larger PV installations 50% of the goods and labour need to have been sourced locally. This requirement will rise to 60% in 2011.
Yingli Green Energy has received the Social Accountability System SA 8000 certification for its design, manufacture, selling and supply of PV modules and systems and the manufacture of upstream products, including polysilicon, ingots, wafers and cells. The SA 8000 certification is an international standardized code of conduct designed for improving working conditions around the world.
An agreement between Oerlikon Systems and Meyer Burger to collaborate on the distribution of the recently launched single wafer sputter Solaris system has been signed, which will see the companies market the system on a global scale. This move will see Meyer Burger provide sales and customer support for the system in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and the Americas while also paving the way for the two companies to perform collaborative research into anti-reflective coating developments.
Organic photovoltaics developer Solarmer Energy has achieved the highest conversion efficiency recorded so far for a plastic OPV champion cell—7.9%. The aperture-area test results, recently certified by the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory, represent an improvement over independent exams conducted a few months ago at Newport Corp.’s Technology and Application Center’s PV Lab, where cell efficiencies of 7.6% and module efficiencies of 3.9% were recorded.
Hans-Georg Schweikardt has been announced the new Head of Product Management at Sputnik Engineering's headquarters in Biel. Employed with the Swiss solar inverter manufacturer's German branch since 2004, Schweikardt has worked for the company as both a sales engineer and the head of sales.
The New South Wales legislation for a gross solar feed in tariff has now been officially passed. This move means that the NSW Solar Bonus Scheme's feed-in tariff is now one of the most generous in Australia.
Premier Power Renewable Energy has achieved ISO certification for its Italian subsidiary. This certification is an international quality management standard focused on fulfilling customer requirements, enhancing customer satisfaction and continually improving business performance.
Greek solar manufacturer HelioSphera will build a new photovoltaics module factory in Philadelphia’s historic Navy Yard mixed-use complex. Construction on the 160-MW production plant is scheduled to begin next year, with the factory coming online in 2011 and ramped to full capacity by 2012. Total cost of the project--which will benefit from a variety of state grants, loans, and tax breaks--will be approximately $500 million.
