Natcore Technology scientists working at Ohio State University have continued to make progress on the development of the company's liquid-phase deposition (LPD) process, demonstrating how it can be used to apply an antireflective coating to textured solar cells as well as standard planar cells. The company said this could help open the door for the industry to achieve even further wafer thickness reductions by eliminating the thermal vacuum AR coating process.
Later this year, DuPont Microcircuit Materials (MCM) is expecting to commercially launch a new version of its Solamet brand of PV metallization pastes that are claimed to significantly reduce the silver (Ag) content. MCM plans a new product that will reduce the silver content by 10%, having accelerated development efforts that should at a later time see a 20% reduction in silver content, all designed to be near drop-in replacements for current products.
Ion implant market leader Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates will be acquired by Applied Materials for approximately US$4.9 billion. The deal is said to enhance Applied’s product offerings for transistor formation for front-end semiconductor processing as IC process complexity, transistor scaling and 3-D design implementation require complete and integrated product and process offerings. The deal also offers Applied new market opportunities in solar, display and light emitting diodes, where Varian has made significant investments in recent years to broaden implant technologies market opportunities. Varian reported last week second-quarter 2011 revenue of US$330 million.
A major Asian solar cell manufacturer has placed an order for multiple hydrogen annealing furnaces from BTU International after the customer experienced a significant increase in absolute cell efficiency using the technology especially on Class B cells during an evaluation period.
Solaria has officially unveiled its new manufacturing plant and solar array at the company headquarters in Fremont, California. The opening ceremony was attended by Lieutenant Governor of California Gavin Newsom, EPA Regional Administrator Jared Blumenfeld and several other state dignitaries.
Fraunhofer ISE is reveling in the afterglow of the first SiliconPV-International Conference on Silicon Photovoltaics. The even took place April 17 through 20th in Freiburg, Germany and brought 540 scientists from 21 countries together to discuss and focus on silicon technology. The theme for the three-day long event was “Advanced Cell and Module Concepts” and included over 130 presentations that were designed to promote communication between all the participants.
Another day, another cell efficiency record as selective emitter technology from Schmid has been used to support a claimed new cell efficiency record by customer, Sunrise Global Solar of 19.2%. The cells were verified by the University of Konstanz and the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems.
Despatch Industries patent-pending VOC Thermal Oxidizers have already been making an impact at the company. Despatch reports that in the past six months it has collected orders to upgrade over 1.2GW of its installed base of CF series firing and drying services with its VOC technology.
Solar cell manufacturers are undertaking aggressive expansion plans at present in an attempt to meet ambitious 2011 shipment forecasts, according to Solarbuzz’s latest quarterly report. This ramping up of production has the potential to create US$15.2 billion in revenue for manufacturing firms – a year-on-year rise of 41%.
Continuing its PV equipment company consolidation attempts, Meyer Burger will acquire Roth & Rau in a friendly takeover. Meyer Burger said it had already acquired a total of 11.3% of the share capital of Roth & Rau AG from the founders and key shareholders. Meyer Burger is offering bearer shares in Roth & Rau at €22 per share in cash, a premium of around 41% compared with the volume-weighted average share price of the past three months. The total deal is worth approximately €356.6 million.
