Fab & Facilities

MEMC is to join forces with Flextronics to produce PV panels to be used by SunEdison on a range of forthcoming projects. The MEMC-branded panels will be manufactured at Flextronics' production facility in Newmarket, Ontario, with work scheduled to begin during Q2 2011.

MiaSolé has begun the full use of Camstar’s SolarSuite enterprise software in its manufacturing line. The company advised that it looked to use Camstar’s software to help improve its solar operations and increase its product quality and reliability.

Pfeiffer Vacuum Technology has revealed its intention to acquire Alcatel-Lucent's Adixen vacuum technology unit, headquartered in Annecy, France. Negotiations on the purchase of the companies, patents and licenses belonging to this unit have been largely finalized with Pfeiffer Vacuum's supervisory board consenting to the acquisition on November 3.

An ambitious plan, which hasn’t been without implementation issues and which has stretched the financial structure of REC Group, is finally bearing fruit according to key executives of the company. At a lengthy investor and analyst seminar being held in Singapore, coinciding with the grand opening of the company's €1.3 billion plus integrated module production facility, enigmatic CEO Ole Enger claimed REC was on track to deliver a companywide all inclusive cost of €0.97/watt by the fourth quarter 2011. Excluding equipment and building depreciation at the new plant, the cash cost target for next year would be €0.74/watt.

Innotech Solar (ITS) has now begun constructing its new solar cell production site located in the Eastern German city of Halle, laying the first foundation stone on October 27. The facility is expected to initially create 80 new jobs in the region, with plans to increase the number of employees as the site progresses. Innotech Solar was assisted in the investment process by Germany Trade & Invest and the Investment and Marketing Corporation (IMG) Saxony-Anhalt.

SMA Solar Technology has founded a new sales and service subsidiary in Mumbai, India which is aims to open by the end of this year. SMA is currently the only inverter manufacturer offering modern system technology for grid-tied solar power plants in India.

Teamtechnik has inaugurated its new 1,500m2 production facility in Jintan, China. The new location is expected to increase the amount of local contacts for customers in China and to ensure short delivery times as well as efficient response from the service teams.

Suntech and Calisolar have signed a letter of intent to construct a solar silicon manufacturing facility in Ontario, Canada, in order to significantly expand the existing manufacturing operations in Vaughan. The plant will add new operators and engineers, doubling total employment at Calisolar's wholly owned subsidiary, 6N Silicon, to more than 350.

Iosil Energy has leased a 30,700 square foot facility from Meritex in Groveport, Ohio, as the location for its pilot manufacturing of high purity polysilicon.

Update: A significant increase in production capacity of its leading-edge ‘Panda’ technology will help boost Yingli Green’s total PV production capacity pass 1.7GW by mid-2011. Yingli Green is adding 600MW of new capacity in each key area of monocrystalline silicon manufacturing, which includes ingots, wafers, cells and modules at its Baoding, China headquarters. A further 100MW will be added to multicrystalline silicon production, in Haikou, Hainan Province, China. Yingli’s