Manufacturing

Panansonic has produced an advanced version of its hybrid HIT solar cell with a record conversion efficiency of 24.7%, 0.8% higher than before.

An unidentified top tier solar company based in Asia has placed a US$5.3 million order with Tempress Systems, a subsidiary of Amtech for its solar cell diffusion processing tools.

Less than six-months after Ferro put its conductive paste business up for grabs, major materials supplier, Heraeus has purchased the business for an undisclosed sum.

Sharp Corporation reported PV product sales of 55.9 billion yen for its FYQ3 2012, up 9.4% compared to the previous quarter.

CIGS thin-film module manufacturer, TSMC Solar has boosted its champion module efficiencies to 15.1%, a 0.9% increase barely five-months after reporting efficiencies of 14.2% in September, 2012.

Thin-film manufacturer First Solar has announced the acquisition of the 50MW Macho Springs Solar project from developer Element Power in Luna County.

Arizona-based Solar Bankers and its German affiliate Apollon have developed a new CPV module which, the companies claim, has low production costs and a 28% conversion rate.

Yingli Green, the world's largest vertically PV manufacturer, has entered a strategic partnership agreement with German software company, SAP.

US-based module manufacturer, Suniva is planning to ramp its module production to a 24/7 operation

Specialist PV equipment manufacturer, Intevac has won its first production tool order for its continuous flux ion source ‘ENERGi’ system from an unidentified Asia-based solar cell manufacturer.