The acquisition by Amtech Systems of BTU International was pre-planned to be completed and the company assimilated into Amtech ahead of the next capacity expansion phase by major PV manufacturers, according to Paul van der Wansem, chairman and CEO of BTU International.
Potential changes to the scope of the US trade investigation into Chinese modules could create a serious drop in Taiwan-produced cell sales, according to analysts at EnergyTrend.
Despite the lack of current capital expenditure (capex) across the PV industry value chain, market research firm NPD Solarbuzz expects a major shift to higher efficiency cells and modules to finally dominate the sector by the end of 2018.
The largest merchant solar cell producer, Neo Solar Power Corporation (NSP), reported a slight increase in sales for September, after three months of decline.
Taiwan-based solar cell producer, Gintech Energy Corp reported September sales of NT$1,050 million (US$$34.6 million), a rebound of 21.3% from the previous year.
Sharp Corporation's next-generation solar cell technology that enters volume production is expected to be based on its long-term development of both c-Si and a-Si thin-film cells with efficiencies touted to be over 25%.
