Industry demand checks and recent German PV installation figures have seen Barclays Capital analyst, Vishal Shah raise his forecast for global solar installations for 2010. In a research note to investment clients, Shah expects installations to reach approximately 11GW this year. Shah also noted that PV installations reached 7.2GW in 2009, an increase of 21% over 2008, when installations reached 5.95GW.German installations are now expected to reach approximately 5.8GW in 2010, up from 3.8GW in 2009. However, the Barclays Capital analyst expects that first-half year installations in the country will reach 3.8GW alone and 2GW installed in the second-half of 2010, suggesting that the expected feed-in tariff changes will impact installations but not result in a collapse in the German market.
In releasing monthly sales figures, Taiwan-based Green Energy Technology (GET) noted that it was still at full capacity utilization after further capacity expansions. This is the third consecutive quarter the company has been at 100% utilization. GET said that its annual capacity for ingot growing had reached 410MW, up from 360MW in Febraury, 2010. Wafer slicing capacity had also reason from 300MW in February, to 360MW.
Equity Solar has appointed Greg Knight, formerly of GT Solar, as its chief technology officer. Knight was brought on board to assist in the commercialization of the room temperature wet chemical growth (RTWCG) technology licensed by Equity Solar.
Tigo Energy and Architectural Glass & Aluminum Company (AGA) have come together on a joint venture for the production of solar energy to high-rise occupants. According to Globes Online, the companies received a grant from the US Department of Energy and the Israel-United States Binational Industrial Research and Development Foundation...
Reinhard Bütikofer, the Deputy Floor Leader of the Greens in the European Parliament, was on hand at the opening event of Centrosolar Sonnenstromfabrik’s new production line start-up. The company has now increased its production capacity to 155MWp from its previous 110MWp and will produce an additional 1,000 solar modules per day. The new line also has the potential to build 72-cell high performance modules that will create an output of more than 300W.
India has dveloped The National Solar Mission (NSM) to help increase the country’s solar market development through the use of encouraging policy frameworks that promote solar power throughout the country. With a 20GW target of installed solar power by 2022, the NSM is scheduled to be executed in three phases over a 13-year period with three five-year plans.
Suntech has supplied 240 solar panels for a 48kW rooftop installation on the Town Hall in Sydney, Australia. The installation marks the first use of Suntech's Pluto technology in the country.
Emerson Network Power has announced the availability of its new eBook, "What Smart Grid Means to You." The eBook is designed to help those on the front lines of the Smart Grid transition, addressing challenges and opportunities for CIOs and IT departments, consulting and specifying engineers, facility managers, telecom providers, and solar power system integrators.
Good news for the c-Si solar cell producers and module manufacturers is that overcapacity in polysilicon production should continue as major producers continue with capacity expansion plans and new entrants, especially in China, ramp initial plants. According to a new report from Bernreuter Research, entitled ‘The Who’s Who of Solar Silicon Production,’ despite strong solar module demand, pressure on the silicon prices rising will likely be limited this year. Bernreuter Research estimates that global polysilicon production will reach 250,000MT in 2012, with approximately 80,000MT produced in China alone, making up about one-third of global production. Johannes Bernreuter, founder of the research firm, told PV-Tech that polysilicon supply/demand dynamics this year would translate into spot pricing in the range of US$45 to US$50/kg.
Solar modules incorporating Suniva's high-efficiency monocrystalline-silicon photovoltaic cells have been installed and commissioned on the rooftop of the Thyagaraj Stadium in New Delhi, India. The 1MW system, said to be the largest rooftop PV power plant in the country, was implemented by Reliance Industries (RIL) Solar Group, which also supplied the PV modules. The new "model green" stadium will be one of the primary venues of the upcoming Commonwealth Games.
