The former BP Solar module assembly plant, originally closed in 2009 but resurrected by Silex Systems to provide modules in the Australian market has also closed the facility. The company said that it couldn’t operate the facility on a profitable basis as market demand in Australia had waned.
A new 44MWp module assembly plant in the De Vernejoul industrial park in Porcelette, Eastern France will assemble SunPower’s Maxeon solar cells into modules to meet demand in France, Italy, Germany and Belgium. Total and SunPower said that its 3,300-square-metre plant is equipped to produce approximately 150,000 high efficiency (20% conversion efficiency) modules per year. This is the first such plant SunPower will operate in Europe, having the majority of its production in the Asia-Pacific region.
Hoku Corporation released a statement advising of the current state of the company, which included a confirmation that it had stopped all construction activity for its Hoku Materials polysilicon production site, which is not yet in commercial operation. As of March 31, the company estimates that it had nearly US$7.7 million in cash and US$278.8 million in liabilities, including US$74.4 million in accounts payable at Hoku Materials.
eSolar and Sanmina-SCI advised that they had entered a partnership that will combine the companies’ proficiency in solar thermal energy solutions, local content-optimized component design and manufacturing for utility-scale power plants. Sanmina-SCI noted that it plans to work with eSolar to enhance the company’s solar collector system product offering, which is currently being used in operating CSP facilities.
First generation PV thin-film adopters are falling like flies as Berlin-based Inventux files for bankruptcy. Inventux was a customer of Oerlikon Solar and an early adopter of its micromorph silicon turnkey technology. A temporary insolvency administrator has been appointed by the local court in Berlin-Charlottenburg, which is understood to be looking for new investors and secure some of the 200 jobs at risk at the company.
Yingli Green Energy has furthered its reach across Asia with its establishment of a regional headquarters in Tokyo, Japan. In conjunction with this new location, the company has also set up a new wholly owned subsidiary in the form of Yingli Japan, or more formally, Yingli Green Energy Japan Corporation, Ltd. The news is a move on the part of the vertically integrated manufacturer to further its business development in Japan.
As part of plans to increase hyperpure polysilicon production to meet customer demand, Wacker has officially started volume production at its latest plant in Nünchritz, Germany. Wacker said it had invested €900 million in the facilities, creating more than 500 new jobs. The 15,000MT polysilicon plant should reach full capacity within the next few weeks, Wacker said.
Following a continued downturn in operating results, Renewable Energy Corporation (REC) will close its 650MW multicrystalline wafer plant at Herøya, Norway by the second quarter of 2012. The closure of the Herøya plant, in the south of the country, will signal the end of all REC’s wafer operations in Norway after the closure of the Glomfjord monocrystalline plant on March 20, 2012.
Situated in Deagu, Gyeongsangbuk-do Province of South Korea, Jurasolar’s new 60MW module manufacturing facility is nearing completion and will be opened in May, according to the company. Equipped with tools including a fully automated PV module manufacturing line from German company JvG Thoma, the factory will produce the company’s ‘JvG Desert Modules’, named to reflect their ability to perform in extremely high temperatures of over 125°C.
Updated: A severe cost-cutting exercise and manufacturing realignment is underway at First Solar as it plans to axe around 30% of its workforce, permanently close its German manufacturing operations and idle four lines at its facilities in Malaysia. Management blamed the move on the market conditions in Europe and the rapidly changing market demand dynamics within the industry for the restructuring.
