MEMC Electronic Materials reported a 31% sequential increase in solar materials sales, primarily from wafers, in its third-quarter results. A 20% increase in shipments and modest improvement in wafer ASPs helped sales for the group reach sales of US$503.1 million, up 12.2% from US$448.3 million in the second quarter of 2010. Its subsidiary, SunEdison, reported sales of US$21.5 million and has 1,023MW in its project pipeline, of which 155MW is under construction.
Tempress Systems, a solar subsidiary of Amtech Systems, has obtained US$33 million in new solar orders from numerous Asian customers. The customers, both new and existing for the company, ordered Tempress’s diffusion processing systems this past October.
Oerlikon Solar's €16.7 million research project "Pepper" will receive a €9.4 million funding grant under the Framework Programme for Research of the European Union, coordinated by the DG Energy of the European Commission. The project, which began on September 1, is aimed at demonstrating high performance processes and equipment for thin-film silicon photovoltaics modules produced with lower costs, reduced material use, and an improved environmental-friendly production process.
German machine supplier 4JET has reported a high order intake in its thin-film photovoltaics business. The company will supply laser equipment, edge deletion systems, glass drilling modules, and busbar stripping equipment to 10 different production lines for CIGS and CdTe manufacturing through mid-2011.
SolarBridge Technologies has chosen Celestica to manufacture its SolarBridge Pantheon microinverter. The companies have been working together for over a year, having completed design for manufacture (DFM), design for test (DFT) and qualification builds at Celestica's facility in Toronto, Canada.
First Reserve has closed its financial facilities agreement for the Rovigo solar plant at €276 million. The private equity firm bought the 70MW PV plant from Sun Edison, with whom they had previously established a joint venture, this past September. Banco Santander, Unicredit Corporate Banking, Credit Agricole, Dexia Crediop, Natixis and Societe Generale were additional lenders with First Reserve for the financing agreement.
RMT will be entering the Canadian renewable energy market as RMT Canada Construction and offer site development support, engineering and construction services for wind and solar energy facilities. RMT has been in the designing and building business for wind energy since 1996 and currently has their engineering, procurement and construction services utilized at over 429MW of wind energy and 340MW of solar energy projects.
Colorado Springs Utilities and SunPower have signed an agreement to design and construct a 6MW solar photovoltaic power system at the U.S. Air Force Academy (USAFA) in Colorado Springs. Construction at the 30-acre site will begin in November 2010 for completion in the summer of 2011.
Regardless of what market research data you rely on, the analysts agree: the photovoltaics market is expected to grow considerably in 2010. Even the most hawkish of forecasts would therefore expect PV installations to almost double from 2009, creating a demand somewhere near 14GW in 2010. According to Bernreuter Research, which specializes in tracking the polysilicon market, polysilicon production in 2010 should be sufficient to produce the equivalent of 17GW of c-Si modules.
Azure Power and SunEdison will develop a 15MW solar photovoltaic power plant in Gujarat, India. The investment, for which Azure will stump up US$40 million, is being led by Overseas Private Investment Corp. (OPIC), an agency of the U.S. government, while World Bank arm IFC, and venture capital firms Helion Advisors and Foundation Capital are among others expected to get involved.
