Peter Schwartz has joined Solaicx as the vice president of productengineering for the solar silicon ingot and wafer manufacturer. Hecomes to Solaicx from Nanoconduction, where he served as VP of processand equipment. His more than a decade of production and engineeringexperience includes a stint as a director at Applied Materials, whichhe joined after the capital equipment giant purchased Torrex, where heled a manufacturing team.
Solar-cell manufacturer Suniva says that the U.S. National RenewableEnergy Laboratory (NREL) has verified 20+% conversion efficiencies onseveral screen-printed silicon cells developed by the company's R&Dteam in its lab.
In its bid to meet targeted capacity expansion plans, Solar-Fabrik has secured a new long-term 156mm monocrystalline wafer supply deal from Korean based Smart Applications Co. Ltd. The $120.7 million worth deal starts in January 2009 and runs for 6 years.
Solar Monkey and Portuguese company, WS Energia, today announced an agreement to establish a new generation of high precision, reliable and affordable solar tracking systems in North America based on WS Energia's patented award winning tracker design.
A new NanoMarkets report covering the manufacturing of thin film and organic photovoltaics, projects that sales of equipment in this sector will reach annual revenues of $4.8 billion in 2015, compared to $450 million being projected for 2008.
At the recently held Global PV Demand Conference, hosted by SolarPlaza, attendees raised concern over the potential overcapacity in the photovoltaics industry having a significant impact, starting in 2009.
Sputtering Materials has released new analytical results showing improvements in high density (99 %+) CIG planar targets for thin film solar manufacturers. In particular the results are aimed at improving the deposition of CIG based films and assisting companies into volume production.
Two existing customers based in Asia have placed follow-on orders worth $9 million with Amtech Systems, Inc. The orders are for its subsidiary, Tempress Systems, diffusion processing tools.
Trina Solar has secured the sale of 70 percent of its targeted 450MW production levels for 2009, with approximately 40 percent of the target secured at predetermined prices. The 70 percent figure was reached with the signing of a new contract with Invictus NV, which will see the company purchase 20MW in 2009 and 30MW in 2010. The deal includes an option for an extra 10MW per annum.
Photovoltech is to build a new crystalline solar cell manufacturing plant in Tienen, Belgium, where its current production facility is located. Dutch engineering company DHV is to design and build the 26,500 m² facility, which will be divided into 3 floors and will have a 400MW capacity. The new facility will generate 100 new jobs.
