GreenWing Energy Managementand SolFocus have announced an agreement for SolFocus to supply high concentration photovoltaic (CPV) systems for GreenWing's large-scale solar power projects in the western United States.
Trina Solar Ltd., integrated manufacturer of solar photovoltaic products from the production of ingots, wafers and cells to the assembly of PV modules, has announced that it has began shipment under a long-term supplier agreement with PROINSO, distributor for solar photovoltaic equipments and a specialist in engineering services in Spain.
First Solar will build and operate a 100MW plus capacity CdTe thin-film plant in France for EDF Energies Nouvelles, equally sharing the capital and start-up costs, with EDF taking all production volumes for a 10-year period. In essence, First Solar has added ‘contract manufacturing’ or ‘foundry’ operations to its evolving business model. According to the new partners, the new 100MW plus plant will require an initial capital investment of more than €90 million. Full production is planned for the second half of 2011. The location of the site is expected to be announced in the next few months and will also include a facility for recycling solar panels, France’s first such facility and Europe’s only solar panel recycling plant outside of Germany.
Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd., has announced that it has entered into a strategic agreement with China Huadian New Energy Development Co., Ltd. (HNE) to develop a total of 500MW of utility-scale and commercial roof top solar projects in China's western provinces, Jiangsu and Shanghai; the project will take place over the next three years.
In an operational update, Timminco said it produced 243 metric tons of solar-grade or upgraded metallurgical silicon (UMSi) from three purification lines out of an available seven lines. The company shipped 34 metric tons in the quarter, at an average selling price of $39 per kg. As a result of continuing economic challenges, the AMG subsidary will reduce production to one line and temporarily lay off up to 60 workers.
Yingli Green Energy Holding's fledgling U.S. business has announced that the U.S. market for solar power has improved dramatically in the last six weeks, according to Reuters.
Canadian Solar has announced that it has become a member of Brussels-based PV Cycle, an organisation that promotes voluntary take-back and recycling of end-of-life PV modules, including seeking to define collection and recycling targets for the PV industry.
In a new report from IC Insights, major solar cell manufacturers from Japan are finding the competition tough from relatively new players from the U.S. (First Solar), Germany (Q-Cells), China (Suntech), and the likes of Taiwan-based Motech. The 2006 number-one supplier, Sharp, was said to have suffered the most, falling to fourth-ranked supplier by revenue in 2008, according to the market research firm.
Intersolar North America has continued to grow with this year’s San Francisco exhibition and conference. Between the Intersolar North America and SEMICON West events, there were 560 solar exhibitors and approximately 17,000 trade visitors—an 111% increase for Intersolar’s exhibitor count. Ninety countries were represented within the trade visitors and 23 within the exhibitors.
Allora Minerals has been busy, acquiring the remaining assets of OptiSolar, receiving preliminary approval to garner millions of Euro in grants for German projects, and getting shareholder approval to change its name to that of another company whose assets it's buying, EPOD Solar (ESI). The OptiSolar deal will bring the once-promising thin-film PV company's intellectual property and its manufacturing and R&D facilities in Northern California into ESI's portfolio.
