Manufacturing

China-based monocrystalline wafer producer, Comtec Solar, is constructing a new wafer plant at the Sama Jaya Free Industrial Zone in Malaysia.

Canadian Solar is to build a new PV module assembly plant to support the build-out of Samsung’s PV project pipeline in Ontario, Canada.

The US Energy Department and National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) are to develop a US$135 million test centre in Colorado for new utility-scale clean energy grid integration technologies.

Joining the 300W club, US based PV module manufacturer, Silevo has launched the industry’s first greater than 350 Watt-peak (Wp) solar module made with 72 of Silevo’s proprietary Triex 156mm solar cells.

In a paper presented at the IEEE PVSC (Photovoltaic Specialists Conference) being held this week, an NREL-supervised test showed that US-based start-up, Alta Devices modules lost little efficiency at elevated temperatures, unlike conventional modules.

Photovoltaics and semiconductor specialist materials provider Voltaix is be acquired by Air Liquide for an undisclosed sum.

Soon after its opening ceremony, China Sunergy (CSUN) said that it had started PV module shipments from its joint venture plant in Istanbul, Turkey.

Having established the PV cell performance characterization laboratory at NREL in 1980 and devoted more than three decades to photovoltaic science, Dr. Keith Emery of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) will receive the William R. Cherry Award at IEEE PVSC.

First Solar is to offer 8.5 million shares at US$46.00 per share potentially bringing in US$391 million of new capital to build PV power plants.

Screw foundations manufacturer Krinner Schraubfundamente has opened a facility in Ontario, Canada, expanding its operations into North America.