Veeco Instruments has revealed the completion of the sale of its metrology business unit to Bruker, provider of high-performance solutions and scientific instruments for molecular and materials research. The US$229 million cash transaction has been approved by both companies’ boards, and will involve the transfer of Veeco’s global business – including its atomic force microscope (AFM) business in Santa Barbara, CA and its optical industrial metrology (OIM) business in Tucson, AZ – to Bruker, which will combine the new acquisition with its existing Bruker Nano instruments business.
Taiwan-based c-Si solar cell manufacturer Neo Solar Power has revealed a 96.1% increase in revenues for the first half of 2010 compared to the same period last year, according to a Digitimes report. Second only to Gintech Energy among the Taiwan-based cell manufacturers in terms of revenue for the six months, the company reported an EPS of NT$6.15 (US$0.19) and a first-half revenue figure of NT$7.49 billion (~US$234 million).
LDK Solar has received a welcome ‘invitation’ from the Anhui Provincial Government to invest in the construction of a state-of-the-art solar cell and module facility in Hefei High-Tech Industrial Development Zone. The planned facility will have a capacity of 1GW of crystalline solar cells and 500MW of solar modules. The Hefei High-Tech Construction and Investment Group has committed to bankroll LDK to the tune of RMB2.5 billion for a maximum of three years for the facility’s construction.
Aggressive capacity expansion plans at Asia-based solar cell manufacturers has forced centrotherm photovoltaics to raise its revenue guidance to between €580 million to €600 million for 2010. Centrotherm had previously projected revenue growth of between €550 million and €580 million. Revenue in the first six months of 2010 increased 5.4% to €278.3 million. Its ‘Solar Cell & Module’ segment reported the best operating result in the company's history, with 23.4% EBIT margin for the first six months of 2010 and 27.2% in the second quarter. Revenue in the segment was up by 13.6% to €90.7 million. Total order backlog amounted to €864.0 million, more than one and a half times the 2009 revenue level.
Calisolar has appointed Sandra Beach Lin as its new CEO, replacing the outgoing Roy Johnson. The company, which says it is shipping a megawatt a week, made the move as the latest step in building the executive team to lead it through its rapid scale-up into a high-volume, low-cost manufacturer of UMG silicon PV cells.
What's being called the largest solar power system in Tennessee and the Tennessee Valley Authority region has been inaugurated. The 1MW site, featuring thousands of Sharp crystalline-silicon modules, is located in Knoxville and was developed, designed, and constructed by Natural Energy Group and its integrator unit, Efficient Energy of Tennessee, which will also maintain the facility.
As part of its overall cost reduction strategy, Energy Conversion Devices is realigning solar manufacturing capacity in its United Solar business among its existing facilities. Effective this fall, the company will shift certain final assembly operations for its laminates from the Auburn Hills, MI, campus to the Tijuana, Mexico, facility, while continuing to manufacture its proprietary flexible triple-junction amorphous-silicon thin-film solar cells at the Auburn Hills site.
Canadian Solar will build its first PV module manufacturing facility outside China in Guelph, Ontario. The $24 million facility, which is being developed by the company's Canadian Solar Solutions subsidiary, will have an annualized capacity of 200MW once fully operational and is expected to be ready to begin production in early 2011.
Having been the managing director and COO at the centrotherm SiTec GmbH subsidiary for the last three years, Frank Stubhan has been appointed CEO of centrotherm photovoltaics AG's thin film module division, effective Sept. 1. 2010. Stubhan will be responsible for the next phase in the growth of its thin-film offerings, the company said.
Further to the company’s recent announcement of partnering with hotel chain BluSerena in Italy, Conergy has completed its fifth and sixth solar parks in the Apulia region of the country, which together have a total capacity of 1.5MW. The Parabita park has a capacity of 1MW and is kitted out with more than 4,600 Conergy PowerPlus modules, while the 500kW Nardo installation features almost 2,200 of the modules.
