Spark Solar Australia, a solar cell manufacturer, has announced that it has completed its first round of funding for the development of a new, $70 million solar cell manufacturing facility in the Canberra region. The factory, which will produce approximately 19 million solar cells per annum, the majority of which will be exported to Germany, will also see the creation of close to 115 jobs for the region.
SonnenEnergy Corp. has announced the resignation of its CFO John Ross. The reason for the resignation was not disclosed; however the company is already in the process of finding a suitable replacement for Mr. Ross.
centrotherm photovoltaics AG has been awarded a follow-on contract with a customer, located in Asia to undertake the complete turnkey contract for the second stage of a polysilicon plant (4,000MT) expansion plan. The initial project for 1,000MT facility had been handled by a consortium of suppliers and contractors.
Yingli Green Energy is to increase production of polysilicon ingots and wafers, PV cells and PV modules to its capacity target of 600MW in 2009, as previously stated but said that it doesn’t currently have plans to add any further capacity passed this projected level. Yingli Green also said that it would be focusing on maximizing utilization of its existing capacity and cost reduction strategies.
Constellation Wines U.S. has announced its plan to power its Gonzales Winery in Monterey County, California with the help of a 1.2MW solar power installation. The project will see the installation of 6,358 Mitsubishi Electric 185W solar panels on approximately 170,000 square feet of the winery’s warehouse roof.
Dyesol, the Australian owned company that makes Dye Solar Cells (DSC), has officially opened its new manufacturing facilities in Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia. This facility will enable Dyesol to fast track its commercialisation strategy.
Solar cell, module, and system manufacturer SunPower has selected Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide as its newPR agency of record. The account will be based in San Francisco, withsupport from team members in Denver, Washington, DC, Sacramento, Milan,Madrid, London, Seoul, Manila, Sydney, and other international offices.
Canadian Solar said it has completed and commissioned Phase I of its ingot and wafer plant on schedule. The new production capacity gives the company an annualized ingot and wafer capacity of 60 MW. CSI has also reiterated its 2009 guidance figures.
The U.S. Congress' passage of theEmergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 and the subsequent signing into law of the bill by President Bush not onlyprovides government bailout options for the country's troubledfinancial sector but includes a strong package of investment taxcredits for solar and other renewable energy developers. But thelegislation doesn't stop there. Because of the removal of a prohibition that prevented regulated utility companies from taking advantage of the credit, the Solar Electric Power Association predicts a major increase inlarge-scale solar photovoltaic and thermal projects by thosefirms.
Demand for SC GaAs bulk substrates from the photovoltaic industry has the potential to grow at a rate of 79% by 2013, representing over 20% of demand, according to the latest analysis from Strategy Analytics. LEDs currently represent the largest section of the market, with 39% of demand.
