HelioVolt has made changes to its executive management team and is searching for a permanent CEO. Board member Ron Bernal has been appointed as interim CEO and Sanjeev Kumar, the former chief financial officer of Energy Conversion Devices, has joined the Austin-based thin-film PV company as CFO; founder B.J. "Billy" Stanbery will continue to play a key role as chief strategy officer and chairman of the board.
SEMI's PV Group has issued the "Global Photovoltaic Standards Roadmap Guidance Document," which identifies immediate opportunities for reducing cost and accelerating innovation in thin-film and crystalline silicon cell and module manufacturing through industry standards. The document--developed by a team of industry stakeholders including equipment and materials suppliers, cell and module manufacturers, safety experts, and others--offers a high-level assessment of existing SEMI standards and safety guidelines with respect to their applicability to PV manufacturing.
HelioVolt has made changes to its executive management team and is searching for a permanent CEO. Board member Ron Bernal has been appointed as interim CEO and Sanjeev Kumar, the former chief financial officer of Energy Conversion Devices, has joined the Austin-based thin-film PV company as CFO; founder B.J. "Billy" Stanbery will continue to play a key role as chief strategy officer and chairman of the board.
GT Solar International, Inc. (NASDAQ: SOLR), noted that its current backlog stood at US$1.3 billion after releasing its third quarter results that saw revenue reach US$205.2 million, a 46% increase over the previous quarter. Billings were boosted in the quarter with revenue recognition of a US$91.5 million contact for polysilicon reactors from major start-up DC Chemical.
Solar Energy Initiatives, Inc., which markets solar thermal and photovoltaic technologies, have appointed David W. Fann as CEO and Gregory N. Bakemann as President, who will also continue to serve as Chief Financial Officer.
Newport Corporation has continued to expand rapidly into the photovoltaics equipment market, now offering c-Si and thin film products that tap into its core technologies of lasers, motion control and optical systems. The company noted in a conference call with financial analysts to discuss fourth quarter and full-year results that orders to PV manufacturers had grown more than 150% in 2008, to reach US$33.6 million compared with orders of US$13.3 million in 2007.
Yingli Green Energy, a photovoltaic product manufacturer, has appointed Dr. Dengyuan Song as Chief Technology Officer, replacing Dr. Guoxiao Yao, who resigned to pursue other interests. Dr. Song will lead Yingli Green Energy’s research and development initiatives.
Adept Technology, Inc. has announced its financial results for the fiscal 2009 second quarter, ending December 27, 2008. Revenues were down to US$11 million, compared to US$14.4 million in the same period last year and US$14.3 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2009.
BP Solar has reported a production capacity decline for the fourth quarter of 2008. The reasons for this were a combination of the running down and expected closure of its 50MW photovoltaic cell and module manufacturing plant in Australia, as well as a fire at its joint venture production plant in India, Tata BP Solar. BP detailed the production disruption and decline in MW capacity in its latest quarterly financial filings.
Canadian Solar Inc. has opened its new 1500M2 PV Cell Research Center, which is located in the company’s solar cell Fab II in Suzhou. It consolidates the company’s R&D facilities to a single location and is meant to improve the efficiency and production yield of regular polysilicon cells and proprietary solar grade e-cells.
