Opening the doors to the new Wuxi, China-based PV module testing facility, Suntech Power Holdings’ state-of-the-art lab is the first of its kind in China to be awarded the Underwriters Laboratories (UL) Witness Testing Data Program (WTDP) Certificate. The 1400m2 (interior) and 7000m2 (exterior testing space) lab features the latest in module testing technology, and, being located at Suntech’s headquarters, is sure to speed up the company’s product marketing.
Trina Solar’s order book has received a boost with the announcement that it has agreed to supply 15MW of modules to PV project developer Enfinity NV. The modules will be delivered to Enfinity within the second quarter of this year, and the deal was signed at Intersolar Munich in May.
Robert Lieberman has joined Spire Corp. as corporate controller, bringing more than 25 years of manufacturing and distribution experience to the role. As corporate controller, he will be shouldered with responsibility for Spire’s financial dealings, and working on improving existing processes and business efficiencies.
Jetion Holdings, a solar-cell manufacturer, dismissed its chief executive and three senior managers for alleged “breaches of their service contracts and fiduciary duties”. The board dismissed the four staff on the grounds that they are operators and shareholders of a solar module producer and exporter that competes with Jetion.
RF and DC power supplier Comdel, Inc. has applied its experience to the photovoltaics industry and has been tapped to supply its CXH 50k 40MHz generator for solar applications to an unnamed Korean solar company. The CXH generator is one of the highest frequency and power generators for solar applications, and will be used in the production of glass-type solar cells.
SoloPower today became the first US ANSI/UL 1703-certified manufacturer of flat-plate, CIGS-based (copper-indium-gallium-selenide) PV modules. The Silicon Valley-based producer of thin-film solar photovoltaic cells and modules is well on the way to its goal of mass-producing PV modules.
South Africa-based solar panel and component provider Solar Vision, a former wholly-owned subsidiary of REC Group, has been sold through a management buyout. Following the decision that Solar Vision was no longer considered to be a core business for the Norway-based company, the Solar Vision was divested through a management buyout.
The Indian Government is set to initiate a three-phase strategy to significantly increase the country’s adoption of solar energy, according to a detailed analysis and exclusive checks made by Barclays Capital Solar Analysts, Vishal Shah and his team. The program, which is part of India’s National Action Plan on Climate Change, also provides customs and excise duty exemptions on capital equipment and other critical materials to help build a sustainable infrastructure that includes between 2-3 dedicated PV industrial parks and polysilicon production plants to meet the targets of 20GW of solar generation capacity by 2020, 100GW by 2030 and 200GW by 2050.
With outline plans for three 242MW solar thermal power plants, the recent signing of power purchase agreements between Solar Millennium, LLC, and Southern California Edison is a boon for California’s solar industry. The agreements detail the construction of two 242MW solar thermal plants, with the option to proceed with the third, subject to approval of the California Public Utilities Commission. Operation of the three parabolic trough solar power projects is expected to begin in 2013-14.
Despatch Industries’ infrared firing furnace has received a patent, bringing the company’s patent portfolio to over 30, both domestic and international. The firing furnace, while used mainly for the solar cell manufacturing process, it can, says the company, be used in a variety of industries for heating/treating applications of any material that can benefit from controlled infrared radiation.
