Manufacturing

According to Polyera, the Newport Corporation’s PV cell lab has confirmed that Polyera’s polymer/fullerene OPV cell has achieved a 9.1% power conversion efficiency with an inverted bulk heterojunction architecture using ActivInk PV 2000 semiconductor material. The company said its active layer materials are able to be deposited using a wider range of film thickness without lower cell efficiency, which is said to improve yields and simplify manufacturing.

Instituto de Energía Solar at the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid has certified that Semprius’ HCPV modules have set a new world record with an efficiency level of 33.9%. The module was tested indoors at Standard Test Conditions (850 W/m2, 25°C cell temperature, and a spectrum matched to AM1.5D) and corroborated by outdoor measurements made at the Institute of Concentration Photovoltaic Systems (ISFOC) in Puertollano, Spain. The HCPV modules significantly exceed the previous claim of 32.0%.

Hyderabad, India-based Surana Ventures has completed construction of its 5MW solar module manufacturing facility in the Fab City, approximately 40km from Hyderabad. The company has also announced that it is seeking the necessary permission to commission a second 5MW module manufacturing plant in Gujarat.

AQT Solar advised that using a low cost and production friendly sputter deposited copper-zinc-tin-sulfide (CZTS) thin-film solar cell, it had achieved high efficiencies. The company noted that the same manufacturing-ready processes and platforms used for its CIGS 2.0 solar cells was dually acceptable for CZTS and dubbed the term CIGS 3.0 for its future CZTS products.

According to Algerian newspaper El Watan, Edielec is to open a 12MW manufacturing facility producing about 54,000 solar modules annually. The plant is to become operational in March.

With any emerging technology it is to be expected that there will be both winners and losers. According to a new report from Lux Research, few of the CIGS (copper indium gallium diselenide) thin-film manufacturers stand out, while others will find partners or wither away. According to the market research firm, 2011 was a breakout year for CIGS module shipments and installations, generating 1.2GW of demand. Lux is forecasting the CIGS market to reach 2.3GW in 2015, generating US$2.35 billion in revenue.

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.

Industrial wastewater treatment (IWT) system manufacturer Saita srl has successfully installed an IWT for an unnamed Belgian solar cell manufacturer. This installation, which claims to recycle 97% of the wastewater used in the multicrystalline cell manufacturing process, marks the second such system installed by Saita, and the Italian company has set its sights on expanding the uptake of such systems across the PV manufacturing industry.

Solar distributor Donauer Solartechnik is, like several others in the industry, aiming to capitalize on emerging markets by opening a branch in Muscat, Oman. This branch will be the first step in the establishment of a sales and service network and will be directed by investor Saleh Ahmed Al Badi, chairman and president at NAS Oman international LLC, with whom Donauer has a joint-venture agreement.

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%.