The National Research Council of Canada (NRC), among other governmental bodies, has selected two nanotech-related research projects specifically targeting improvements in photovoltaics that are designed to speed up the technology development for commercialization.
Starting in the first quarter of 2010, Trina Solar will source polysilicon from Italian start-up SILFAB S.p.A to produce approximately 225MW of solar modules in aggregate over six years, the company said.
eSolar has announced that it has closed $130 million in funding from Google.org, Idealab and Oak Investment Partners, among others. The thermal power plant manufacturer aims to begin construction and deployment of pre-fabricated power plants that achieve economies of scale at 33MW.
The Technical University of Berlin has announced the establishment of a new Master’s degree course for executives of the solar industry. Entitled the ‘Global Production Engineering for Solar Technology (GPE Solar)’ international Master’s degree, the course is designed to cover all relevant aspects of the solar technology market.
Departing the role of Vice President of sales, Steve Daniel’s (pictured) new role as Executive Vice President of sales and marketing for Akeena Solar will see him drive the company’s expansion in the U.S. with the promotion of the company’s Andalay solar panel system.
JA Solar Holdings Co., Ltd. has signed a long-term silicon wafer supply agreement with Jiangsu Zhongneng Polysilicon Technology Development Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of GCL Silicon Technology Holdings Ltd. The agreement will see GCL supply JA Solar with 6,000MW of silicon wafers from April 2008 until December 2015 at fixed prices, with delivery of the wafers already in progress.
WACKER SCHOTT Solar GmbH, a joint venture of Wacker Chemie AG and SCHOTT Solar GmbH, has said that its new silicon solar wafer plant in Jena, Germany is expected to reach 50MW in capacity by fall 2008. The new facility took six months to build at a cost of €50 million.
Voltaix has hired two industry veterans from the materials sector of the semiconductor industry to support its growth in both semiconductor and photovoltaics industries. Gregory T. Muhr has been appointed as Global Sales Manager and Jay Song, Ph.D. as Technical Marketing Director.
Accompanying the news that SunPower is increasing solar cell capacity by 150 percent this year was the mention in its first-quarter financial results that it expects to meet its goal of 30 percent gross margins by the end of 2008 on the back of lower polysilicon prices, higher cell efficiency and thinner wafers.
Of the anticipated 51,000 metric tons of global polysilicon production for 2008, THT Research expects 2,000 metric tons of that figure to be contributed by China. The expected increase on the output of 1,000 tons produced by China in 2007 has been pegged as a result of improved polysilicon production processes in the country.
