A Chinese firm has placed an approximately €5 million purchase order with PVA TePla Danmark for float zone-based crystal-growing systems needed for high-purity, monocrystalline silicon rods, used in both the solar and semiconductor industries.
In what would be one of the largest orders for amorphous-silicon thin-film PV modules to date, Anwell Technologies' subsidiary Henan Sungen Solar Fab has received a deposit from an unnamed leading solar panel distributor/developer for a minimum of 180MW of the company's modules to be delivered over the next three years. The deal would result in more than $300 million in projected revenue on completion of the contract, according to Anwell. The first shipment is scheduled for delivery in October.
John E. Bryson, Edison International’s former chairman, president and CEO, will be BrightSource Energy’s new chairman of the board of director’s. Bryon holds over 25 years of industry experience in energy generation, transmission, distribution, infrastructure investment and management of energy assets. BrightSource’s founder, Arnold Goldman, who was the previous chair, will continue with the company as chairman emeritus.
BlueChip Energy revealed that installation and trial runs have been completed for its first production line of PV solar modules, allowing the company to expand its annual module production capacity to 75MW for 2011. The panels will be manufactured under the ASP brand, which already has designated 20MW of production to orders received for delivery at the beginning of next year.
Centrosolar connected its newest solar system installation in Turkey to the grid. Alleged to be the largest thin-film solar power system to date in Istanbul, Turkey, the installation sits on the roof of confection manufacturer, Perfetti Van Melle. The total energy output at peak is 31kW with 38MWh of electricity production expected per year.
Q-Cells reached a deal with LDK Solar allowing the company to repay the remaining amount of, US$224.9 million, which Q-Cells loaned in 2008, in its entirety by the end of 2011. Payments of US$195 million from LDK Solar have been agreed to until the end of this year with an initial payment of US$56.2 million having already been made. Q-Cells has two unpaid convertible bonds with repayment of US$642.3 million for the first bond due in February 2012.
Although not citing confirmed orders from the recent EU PVSEC in Valencia, regarded by many suppliers to the PV manufacturing industry as the most important event each year, centrotherm photovoltaics has confirmed it is in advanced contract negotiations with well-known companies up and down the supply chain. centrotherm photovoltaics is the second largest equipment supplier in the sector, after Applied Materials.
Phoenix Solar Pte created a new subsidiary in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: Phoenix Solar Sdn Bhd. The Malaysian subsidiary will focus on turnkey ground-mounted and rooftop PV plants as well as stand-alone PV systems and building-integrated solar plants. The news comes after July’s announcement by Malaysia’s Ministry of Energy for feed in-tariffs on PV plants beginning in 2011.
Underwriters Laboratories and Atlas Materials Testing Technology released key information for the PV Durability Asia conference. Scheduled to take place December 7th through 8th, 2010, at the Crown Plaza Century Park Shanghai Hotel, China, it will focus on the developments, research and new approaches for environmental durability, performance and service life of materials. Additionally, the conference will center on compliance and certification testing with topics on module manufacturers and suppliers.
Global solar inverter shipments are expected to surpass 23.3 million units by 2014, up by a factor of nine from 2.6 million in 2010, according to a new report from iSuppli Corp. Revenue will subsequently increase to US$8.9 billion in 2014, up from US$5.3 billion in 2010. This would result in solar inverters sales becoming one of the highest-volume ruggedized electronic systems sold, according to report author Greg Sheppard. Despite such soaring demand, the average price per watt for inverters worldwide will decline by 13.5% this year. In particular, Asian suppliers are trying to drive prices down with lower costs, Sheppard noted, even though they have been challenged to deliver bankability.
