Tom Gutierrez was elected as president, chief executive officer and a member of the board of directors for GT Solar. He follows Tom Zarrella who served in the same positions for GT since 2007. The management changes became effective October 28.
Through a joint venture initiative between twelve companies and the Desertec Foundation, solar photovoltaics and sustainability will be promoted in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). The joint venture group signed the articles of association for the Desertec Industrial Initiative (DII) on October 30 in Munich.
In a short press release that gave no clue as to the reason for the executive changes at Oerlikon Solar, Jeannine Sargent has left the company with immediate effect, replaced by Dr. Jürg Henz, Senior Manager of the Oerlikon Group and head of the business unit Oerlikon Solar Thin Film. Dr. Henz now becomes interim CEO.
Energy Focus signed a twelve month $100,000 contract with DuPont-University of Delaware very high efficiency solar cell (VHESC) consortium as part of a defense advanced research projects agency (DARPA)- funded effort for the delivery of advanced solar research for high efficiency, low cost photovoltaics. DARPA is creating the VHESC solar module technology for compact renewable energy power for permanent and mobile bases. It also intends to reduce the logistical conundrum of providing energy, such as batteries and fuel, to the US military in the field.
Working with its local partner, Solenergy, aleo solar will be supplying solar modules for numerous solar power facilities in Israel. This year, the company will have provided more than 200kW of their modules to various projects in the country. One of the more recent aleo solar projects in Israel was a 50kW poultry farm in Moshav Gan HaShomrom. The project was connected to the grid in late October and aleo supplied 227 of its S_18 modules.
SANYO recently announced its intention to enter the energy solutions business with a system proposal to reduce running costs and CO2 emissions for factories, schools, stores and other facilities. SANYO will be combining its solar cell, rechargeable battery and commercial equipment to provide smart energy systems (SES) and rely on its commercial equipment, rechargeable batteries and HIT solar cells to develop the new business.
The Economist’s Energy and Environment Innovation Award this year will go to Richard Swanson, president and CTO of SunPower Corp. The award will be given to him in recognition for his contribution to the development of the high-efficiency solar cells. His past honors include the Becquerel Prize for Outstanding Merits in Photovoltaics in 2006 and the William R. Cherry Award by the IEEE for outstanding contributions to the PV Field in 2002.
Tom Hecht has been chosen as Schott Solar’s new executive vice president of sales and marketing. The company looks forward to Hecht advancing SCHOTT’s PV and concentrating solar power business in the region.
Power conversion company SolarEdge Technologies has been granted certification of its inverter and converter products, gaining the ETL Mark for the North American market. Test and certification organisation company Intertek has completed all necessary safety and grid-connection testing according to the UL 1741 standard, and CSA C22.2 No. 107.1.
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.
