A groundbreaking ceremony has taken place for the future manufacturing hub of Panansonic’s HIT modules in Malaysia, Sunday, March 4, 2011. In an attempt to become cost-competitive with Asia-based rivals, the 300MW plant is the company’s first fully integrated facility, which will fabricate solar wafers, cells and modules.
Significant booking reductions from customers in the PV manufacturing sector impacted revenue at Ferro Corporation in 2011. The materials provider reported net sales of US$443 million in the fourth quarter, down 18% from net sales of US$537 million in the fourth quarter of 2010.
Ongoing overcapacity and capital spending constraints within the PV industry continued to impact revenue at BTU International. The equipment supplier reported fourth quarter net sales of US$14.9 million, down 11.8% compared to US$16.9 million in the prior quarter. Net loss for the fourth quarter was US$2.3 million. BTU also posted net sales for 2011 of US$76.1 million, down 6.7% compared to US$81.6 million for the year 2010. Net loss for 2011 was US$2.7 million.
Neo Solar Power is launching a new quasi-mono-based solar cell, said to have a conversion efficiency reaching 18.5% and an average efficiency over 18%. This is the first product NSP has produced using quasi-mono wafers, which is set for rapid adoption across the industry as PV manufacturers focus on efficiency of cells and modules rather than capacity expansions.
Cell efficiencies of higher than 18% using quasi-mono wafers have been claimed by Taiwan-based cell producer, Gintech Energy. To be displayed at PV EXPO 2012 in Japan in March, Gintech also said its optimized pattern design and process recipe has achieved cell efficiencies of 19% for its Douro Series monocrystalline solar cells and more than17% for its multicrystalline solar cells.
Inline with previous guidance, PV equipment supplier, Amtech posted net revenue of US$24.7 million for its financial year first quarter, 2012, a decline of 59% compared to the previous quarter. The company reported minimal order cancellations but noted shipment push-outs as PV manufacturers tackle severe overcapacity. Revenue for FY2Q12 was guided down to be in the range of US$20 - US$22 million.
Financially challenged Q-Cells said it will restructure its finances in 2 key steps to avoid payment defaults to bondholders. The company confirmed 2011 revenue forecast of around €1 billion but said total losses for the year had yet to be concluded. Q-Cells guided a further decline in revenue in 2012 to approximately €865 million. A return to profitability was not expected until 2014, though this would only occur should all three outstanding convertible bond renegotiations prove successful.
Harnessing its R&D into both c-Si and a-Si thin-film technologies, Moser Baer Solar said that it would upgrade its solar cell processes using metal and intrinsic layer semiconductor technology (MIST) to achieve average cell conversion efficiencies of 21% and join the few cell producers at the top table above 20%.
Verified by the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE, Q-Cells said it had set new conversion efficiency records for multicrystalline and quasi-mono solar modules. A module with 60 multicrystalline solar cells, using its ‘Q.ANTUM’ cell concept was reported to have achieved 18.5% efficiency, up from a record Q-Cells claimed it had achieved of 18.1% last year. The market introduction of the Q.ANTUM solar cells and modules is planned for 2012 with pilot production at its advanced facility in Thalheim, Germany already underway.
CVD Equipment advised that its new orders in 2011 totaled over US$36 million, 44% more than the US$25 million received in 2010. New orders in the CVD/FN division of production and research systems was approximately US$30.5 million, an increase, according to CVD, of 45% compared to 2010 order levels. CVD expects high demand to continue in 2012.
