Japanese electronics materials firm, Shin-Etsu Chemical, is offering to license its production-ready bifacial monocrystalline solar cell technology that is claimed to have the highest conversion efficiency of 21% for conventional screen-printing processes.
Italy’s Enel Green Power has confirmed it is to take full ownership of the 3Sun thin-film joint venture it originally created with Sharp and STMicroelectronics.
R&D centre, Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore (SERIS) has officially opened its module development and testing laboratory the CleanTech Park in Singapore.
Work continues apace on the new factory that will serve as a “blueprint” for the future plans of Japanese thin-film module manufacturer Solar Frontier, with the company confirming to PV Tech that it will target a cell efficiency of 15% on its production lines.
Some of the distinctive cylindrical photovoltaic modules produced by bankrupted US thin-film manufacturer Solyndra are being resold in Europe through Photon Energy, PV Tech has learned.
Solar silicon materials producer, Silicor Materials is to establish a 19,000MT plant in Iceland to convert metallurgical-grade silicon (MG-Si) feedstock to purified solar grade silicon that it claims can be produced at US$9/kg.
GCL-Poly subsidiary, Jiangsu Zhongneng Polysilicon Technology Development, is to supply silicon tetrachloride, a byproduct of polysilicon production to a new joint venture between Evonik Industries and GCL-Poly Energy Holdings that will produce fumed silica and ultra-pure silicon tetrachloride.
Major PV energy provider, First Solar, has cancelled long-standing plans to build a 2GW PV power plant near Ordos City, Inner Mongolia, according to reports.
