In an expansion of its outsourcing strategy, BP Solar has signed a new deal with Jabil Circuit. The contract manufacturer will assemble BP's photovoltaic modules for the North American market in Jabil’s plant in Chihuahua, Mexico. Production will begin on the manufacturing line in the second quarter of this year; initial capacity will be 45MW, with the possibility for expansion as demand increases, the companies said.
Mitsubishi Electric & Electronics USA said that it has confirmed that its UD5 and UJ6 photovoltaic modules can be installed near salt water. After extensive factory testing, the company found that its crystalline-silicon panels maintained a sufficient level of insulation from the corrosive effect of salt air and other aspects of the ocean front environment to maintain the power output specifications included in the warranty.
Energy Conversion Devices said that 1.87MW of its Uni-Solar amorphous-silicon thin-film photovoltaic laminates have been installed on the roof of the Flanders Expo in Ghent, Belgium. The laminates were integrated by Derbigum into a lightweight, building-integrated PV Derbisolar product, a durable roofing membrane that forms a waterproof BIPV solar solution.
Speciality metals refiner 5N Plus has signed an MOU supply agreement with Abound Solar to supply high-purity cadmium telluride and cadmium sulphide materials for the CdTe thin film start-up’s module manufacturing operations. First Solar, the leading thin film producer, is 5N Plus’ largest customer. Abound Solar has also signed a long-term module recycling contract with 5N Plus that includes manufacturing scrap that will also be fully recycled.
Jim Pape has joined SunPower as president of the residential and commercial business group. The company has also established a business group profit and loss (P&L) organizational structure to align its sales, engineering, construction, and customer service teams. Howard Wenger will now serve as president of the utilities and power plants business group.
SMG Indium Resources has closed a private placement for total gross proceeds of US$5,818,000. Rodman & Renshaw acted as placement agent for the offering. SMG plans to use the net proceeds to purchase and stockpile processed and mined indium ingots and for general corporate and working capital purposes.
JA Solar Holdings has appointed Dr. Peng Fang as chief executive officer, effective immediately. Fang will work alongside Baofang Jin who will remain in his role as executive chairman.
Privately held materials supply specialist Targray Technology International said it has seen a 128% increase in sales volume from its solar grade silicon, ingot, and off spec or scrap materials business during 2009. Although a difficult year for the industry, the company cited its global infrastructure and specialist staff for the business increase in 2009. Targray has been involved in the distribution of solar-grade silicon to wafer, cell and module manufacturers in the PV industry, only since 2006.
The U.S.-based National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has confirmed a new conversion efficiency record for CIS (copper indium selenide) thin film modules fabricated by Avancis. Published in the journal ‘Progress in Photovoltaics,’ NREL confirmed a 15.1 % conversion efficiency for a 30 x 30 cm², fully encapsulated CIS solar module, based on the aperture area of 668 cm². Avancis produced the results in its R&D lab in Munich, Germany. The thin film start-up has produced 11% efficiency levels at its 20MWp/pa capacity plant in Torgau, Saxony.
As part of its plans to boost multi-crystalline solar wafer production capacity to as much as 2GW in 2010, Jiangsu GCL Silicon Material Technology Development Co., a wholly-owned subsidiary of GCL-Poly Energy has placed an order with Meyer Burger for wafer slicing equipment worth CHF35 million. Wafer inspection systems from Hennecke Systems, a subsidiary of Meyer Berger, have also been purchased. Delivery is scheduled for completion in the third quarter of 2010.
