Process technology company Despatch Industries has received multiple orders for its metallization firing furnaces from three new China-based customers. The furnaces in question have accounted for 8GW of production capacity worldwide, according to the company, and remain popular among Chinese solar manufacturing companies despite the economic downturn.
ENN Solar Energy Co., Ltd. has produced its first tandem junction thin film modules at its 60MW ‘SunFab’ line, claiming the first Chinese based thin film manufacturer to produce tandem junction cells on a production line. ENN Solar has previously planned production to start in the 1Q09.
Thin-film solar PV manufacturer Energy Conversion Devices announced that it will slow down the pace of its "demand-driven" manufacturing and expansion plans, because of what it calls the "impact of credit availability on project flow in the global pipeline for photovoltaics." The company--known for its Uni-Solar brand flexible TFPV laminates--will enact a series of cost-cutting measures, such as temporary production shutdowns and factory and workforce consolidations, including layoffs. ECD also backed off its previously stated financial guidance estimates.
AVA Solar has a new name--Abound Solar. The cadmium telluride thin-film photovoltaics manufacturer says its new brand reflects the "company's commitment to providing an abundance of low-cost solar panels to solar integrators around the globe." The company says it will begin commercial production at its new module factory in Colorado next month.
BP Solar has entered negotiations and proffered a proposal for the provision a solar power plant of almost 37MW on the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) in Upton, New York.
Pacific Gas & Electric is looking for suppliers to bid on a 2-MW pilot photovoltaic power plant--the first step in part of its five-year plan to develop 500 MW of solar in its Northern California coverage area. The utility says it wants to use the pilot project, which will be completed by the end of 2009, to help develop its processes for building and operating PV facilities while it seeks regulatory approval for the full proposal with the California Public Utilities Commission.
ATERSA, a subsidiary of Elecnor, ended its financial 2008 with commercialised power of 111 MWp, representing the growth of 33.7% compared to 83 MWp in 2007. Sales were 24.8% greater than in 2007, totalling €422 million.
Taiwan-based EMS provider and automation equipment manufacturer Kenmec Mechanical Engineering looks set to roll out its first turnkey production line for amorphous silicon (a-Si) thin-film PV modules in May of this year, according to a report in Digitimes. The annual capacity of the line has yet to be reveealed.
Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd. has established a strategic partnership with San Francisco-based solar project developer 3rd Rock Systems and Technologies, Inc. that will see the companies collaborate on the development of 7.2MW of solar systems in the U.S. The exact location of the planned projects has yet to be disclosed.
Entech Solar’s research has led it to enter into a collaborative agreement with Fraunhofer USA’s Center for Sustainable Energy Systems (CSE) to evaluate the possibility of incorporating high-efficiency back-contact silicon solar cells into Entech’s 20x concentrating solar systems.
