JA Solar Holdings has broken ground on its Phase II, ingot, cell and module facility in Yangzhou, China. According to Chinese news reports, the production plant will cost approximately US$100 million and be completed by the end of 2009. The reports suggested the new plant would increase JA Solar’s production capacity by 300MW.
Intertech Pira, organisers of the Photovoltaics Summit Europe 2009, to be held at the Crowne Plaza Rome in St Peter’s, Rome from June 30th to July 2nd, has announced its speaker line-up for the event. The Summit will be focused on the European PV markets and will include a half-day pre-conference workshop led by Daniela Schreiber and Markus Wackerbeck from EuPD Research.
In an expansion of an existing relationship, Opel International will supply more high-concentration photovoltaic systems to Spanish solar integrator Betasol for a 2.375-MW, dual-axis-tracking HCPV project. Betasol has obtained a bank guarantee worth €1,187,500 and has applied for permits to build a new utility-grade solar farm.
Three sales agreements that total approximately 42MW of PV module sales in Germany for delivery in 2009 have been announced by Trina Solar. One deal with Bull Solar GmbH is worth 12MW of modules, Trina said. The sales were all signed in the first quarter of 2009.
Advent Solar has teamed with Arizona State University to develop next-generation Emitter-Wrap Through (EWT) back-contact cell and Monolithic Module Assembly (MMA) technologies, which form the core aspects of Advent Solar’s cell-to-module architecture. Advent Solar is placing engineering staff at SkySong, ASU's Center for Innovation in Scottsdale.
A new 53MW solar power plant near the German city of Cottbus could well be unique and come to represent the explosive growth of thin-film solar leader First Solar in years to come. 700,000 modules will be required for the project, which would become the largest in Germany. The project is being organised by First Solar and Juwi Holding AG, having secured funding from a consortium of banks, with 162 hectares of land leased from the State of Brandenburg on very attractive terms. This was due to the site being a former Soviet Union Army training camp that is ‘littered’ with land mines, grenades and other munitions, according to a joint statement from the project developers.
Just over a month after Pacific Crest financial analyst, Mark Bachman revealed that First Solar had been selected for a massive extension to Sempra Generation’s 10MW solar power plant in Boulder City, Nevada, First Solar has announced the deal. First Solar is to design, engineer and construct a 48MW plant at the same location, with the project expected to be completed sometime in 2010, subject to Sempra obtaining a power purchase agreement (PPA) with a utility.
By the end of May, pvXdatabase, the largest global cross-manufacturer online database, should be launched carrying over 5,000 photovoltaic products. The database will make it easier for software suppliers to access a user-friendly updated database without having to form their own, and for producers, who seek new methods of interactive presentation of their products.
centrotherm photovoltaics AG, a service provider for solar cell and solar silicon manufacturing, named Dr. Frank Faller (pictured) the new Managing Director at the company’s US subsidiary, centrotherm photovoltaics Inc. in Atlanta, Georgia.
Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd., and Soleos Solar GmbH, a PV systems manufacturer and installer, have announced the two companies have agreed that, for the first half of 2009, Suntech will supply Soleos with at least 6MW of modules.
