In a multi-year collaboration agreement, SunPower Corp. has committed to working with Jabil Circuit, Inc. on the manufacture of solar panels. Jabil will begin manufacturing solar panels in Mexico for North America’s solar market in the second half of 2009.
Asola Advanced and Automotive Solar Systems has opened a new crystalline-silicon solar module factory in Erfurt, central Germany. The plant will have an initial annual production rate of 32 MW, with a 45 MW capacity achieved by year's end, according to the company.
A report from the United Nations has revealed that despite the credit crunch, global investment in wind and solar power is on the rise. Over $140 billion out of $250 billion was utilised for renewable electricity production in 2008.
Oerlikon Solar maintained a comfortable lead in 2008 among among solar turnkey manufacturing line providers in rankings released by VLSI Research. Centrotherm took over the second-place slot from Roth & Rau, which dropped to the third position, while Applied Materials and Schmid Gruppe rounded out the top five.
Phoenix Solar’s wholly-owned subsidiary Phoenix Solar Energy Investments has extended its project development agreement with Trier-based Bürgerservice GmbH for a further two years. The agreement, which was finalised at Intersolar in Munich at the end of May, will see the construction of PV power plants with a volume worth approximately €100 million in 2010 and 2011.
Israel-based Sunday Energy said this week it had closed a deal to build the largest rooftop solar installation in the Middle East, according to a report from Cleantech Group. Though the plant’s capacity is just 1MW, for Israel it is the beginning of a new solar market, according to Sunday Energy founder and CEO Kobi Dinar. By 2020, the country hopes to reach 20% of energy supplied by renewable sources.
U.S.-headquartered Worldwide Energy and Manufacturing USA, Inc., via its Shanghai-based wholly-owned subsidiary Shanghai Intech Electro-Mechanical Products Co., Ltd., has announced that it has dispatched its first PV module shipment in the U.S. The company has also received UL certification for its solar module products, which was required in order for the company to sell modules in the U.S. market.
EDF EN Canada, a company of the EDF Energies Nouvelles family, announced its intention to start construction of a 23.4MW (DC) photovoltaic power plant near Arnprior, Ontario.
Ubbink Solar Modules B.V., a 100% subsidiary of Centrosolar, will close down its solar module plant located in Doesburg (NL), though it will remain as a legal entity and will fulfil any financial obligations. The closure is a direct result of the financial crisis of Ecostream Switzerland GmbH.
Oerlikon Solar's KAI 1200 PECVD (Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition) tool, used for the deposition of silicon absorber layers on thin film glass substrates, was acknowledged by expert solar industry judges and online voting as "the best technical product for thin film manufacturing" during the first annual Cell Award ceremonies, which were held during Intersolar in Munich last week.
