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.
A strategic alliance has been signed for Shanghai Guangdian Electric Group (SGEG) to market Advanced Energy's (AE) line of Solaron grid-tie PV inverters in China.
Frost & Sullivan has released findings that a sunroof panel with solar cells can generate sufficient power to ventilate a vehicle interior. Currently, the auto industry is undergoing a move from the traditional internal combustion engines to battery powered motors. A combination of a more “green” thinking population, zero-emission vehicles, increased government spending on electric vehicles and the numerous vehicle prototypes are signs that electric vehicles could very well be dominate in the future.
Sunways has sold all its shares in MHH Solartechnik to BayWa Green Energy under a purchase contract, which will become effective as of December 31. The completion of the transaction will be contingent upon several conditions, including clearance by the competent cartel authorities under the merger control regulations. Following a performance-related component of the contract, the purchase price for the MHH shares will be around €15 to 20 million ($22 to 29 million).
President Barack Obama was one of the attendees of the commissioning of Florida Power & Light’s 25MW solar array – the largest in North America. The DeSoto, Florida plant is equipped with more than 90,000 SunPower c-Si modules and will provide energy for more than 3,000 homes.
BTU International has announced its financial results for the third quarter, ending September 27, 2009. Similarly to other companies' results for this quarter, figures were up from second quarter, yet down fairly significantly from the same quarter last year.
