As developments to the company’s SunFab thin-film module manufacturing line continue, Applied Materials has managed to cut the cost of materials on the line by 22%. The company’s next-generation module technology was applied to establish some process efficiency updates, coupled with new lower pricing arrangements with materials suppliers.
A strategic alliance has been signed for Shanghai Guangdian Electric Group (SGEG) to market Advanced Energy's (AE) line of Solaron grid-tie PV inverters in China.
Frost & Sullivan has released findings that a sunroof panel with solar cells can generate sufficient power to ventilate a vehicle interior. Currently, the auto industry is undergoing a move from the traditional internal combustion engines to battery powered motors. A combination of a more “green” thinking population, zero-emission vehicles, increased government spending on electric vehicles and the numerous vehicle prototypes are signs that electric vehicles could very well be dominate in the future.
Sunways has sold all its shares in MHH Solartechnik to BayWa Green Energy under a purchase contract, which will become effective as of December 31. The completion of the transaction will be contingent upon several conditions, including clearance by the competent cartel authorities under the merger control regulations. Following a performance-related component of the contract, the purchase price for the MHH shares will be around €15 to 20 million ($22 to 29 million).
President Barack Obama was one of the attendees of the commissioning of Florida Power & Light’s 25MW solar array – the largest in North America. The DeSoto, Florida plant is equipped with more than 90,000 SunPower c-Si modules and will provide energy for more than 3,000 homes.
BTU International has announced its financial results for the third quarter, ending September 27, 2009. Similarly to other companies' results for this quarter, figures were up from second quarter, yet down fairly significantly from the same quarter last year.
BP Solar saw a recovery in sales in the third quarter, reflecting a recovery in business BP reported in its latest quarterly results statement. Module sales in the quarter reached the equivalent of 73MW, compared with 47MW in the same period of last year.
Nitol Solar, whose current and future product groups include the value chain from trichlorosilane to polycrystalline silicon and monocrystalline and multicrystalline silicon wafers, joined SEMI as a corporate member and a member of the PV Group.
Veeco Instruments has returned a small profit (US$1.3 million) for the first time in over a year, boosted by record quarterly bookings of US$226 million, which was dominated by LED and solar sectors, making up approximately 80% (US$179 million) of the bookings. Veeco noted that its equipment backlog now stood at US$287 million, with US$239M in LED & Solar.
Camstar Systems has extended its global reach with the acquisition of Singapore-based Technology Resources Group, a systems integrator for the solar and semiconductor industries. The company, which has offices in China and Malaysia, provides manufacturing execution equipment automation, manufacturing applications development and program management for enterprise solution deployments.
