The Italian photovoltaics market has just heated-up with news that SunPower is to supply solar modules, trackers and project management services at a 100MW power plant to built in Montalto di Castro, Italy with completion of a 24MW first phase expected by the end of the year. The project is planned to be a 100MW development that is expected to be fully operational in 2010. This would make the new solar power plant, easily the largest in Italy and a major project in Europe. The project is being financed by a consortium of both international and Italian banks, according to SunPower. The project is being built in collaboration with SunRay Renewable Energy, which will own the plant.
Since 2005, SolarWorld has been awarding the SolarWorld Einstein-Award to individuals of outstanding merit who have contributed in a special way to the use of solar energy. The award was born from the explanation of the photoelectric effect by Albert Einstein who laid the foundation for understanding PV solar energy. This year's award goes to Dr. Rupert Neudeck, the founder of "Cap Anamour" and the head of the aid organization "Grünhelme" (green helmets).
India is the latest country to release details on its solar plans, involving rebates, incentives and tariffs. The country hopes that the Indian state of Gujarat will become a hub for solar power. The National Solar Mission aims for 100GW of renewable power by 2030 and 200GW by 2050.
The international engineering company M+W Zander has handed over a new solar module factory to Q-Cells subsidiary, Solibro. The final acceptance took place at the Thalheim factory in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany.
Bekaert Specialty Films a subsidiary of the Bekaert group and well known for its sputtering targets has entered the PV module backsheet lamination market with a new range of materials under its Solar Gard PV T series. Bekaert said that it has capacity to produce more than 4 million square meters per year (400MW) at its San Diego, U.S.A facility
IMEC has presented a large-area cell (125cm2) at the European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference that incorporates a shallow emitter and advanced front metallization using copper plating instead of silver, which has a conversion efficiency of 18.4%. IMEC plans to develop the technology to efficiencies above 20% and wafer thickness of 40µm.
DuPont and Applied Materials have teamed to boost the performance of c-Si solar cells. Applied is focusing on reduce the shadowing effect of wide grid lines on solar cells employing its Baccini ‘Esatto’ technology and customized formulations of DuPont’s ‘Solamet’ metallization paste.
Air Liquide is to build a large thin-film production unit to serve customers in the world's largest Solar Valley in Thalheim near Leipzig, Germany. The unit will be built to accommodate the increasing demand for thin-film technology in the area. The company will produce more than 38,000 tons of nitrogen per year, representing an investment of around €10 million.
German-based c-Si PV module manufacturer, Solar-Fabrik has said that its production lines are at full capacity as its struggles to meet demand for its modules after a successful marketing campaign in Europe and the U.S. promoting “made in Germany”. Solar-Fabrik has recruited a further 100 workers at its Freiburg facility and added additional shifts to meet demand.
