Despite several start-up firm failures and an over-hyped sector, the concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) market is forecast to grow significantly over the next four years, according to the latest report from IMS Research, part of IHS. Though building from a small base, CPV installations are set to almost double in 2012 to around 90MW with a commercial value of US$325 million. By 2016 the market is expected to reach almost 1.2GW.
Despite record cell efficiencies being announced in recent years, just 0.5% of advanced technologies for cell efficiency have been implemented into volume production on an annual basis. A panel session moderated by PV-Tech’s senior editor Mark Osborne, part of the PV Production Forum 2012 at EU PVSEC, discusses the reasons why migration has been so slow.
Independently verified by the ISE CalLab, SCHMID Group is championing 20.74% efficiency level for a PERC cell using its APCVD tool, which is being showcased at EU PVSEC, in Frankfurt this week. The cells employed a screen printed 3 busbar frontside, using Cz-Si wafers.
Having launched the ‘Vinspec Solar’ inspection system at the beginning of the year, Vitronic is using EU PVSEC this week to reiterate the need to make manual checking a thing of the past.
During EU PVSEC, Meyer Burger’s subsidiary, Roth & Rau will be presenting a new front and rear side c-Si solar cell process that employs nickel within busbar metallisation for electrical contacts, which is claimed to save on silver usage between 50 and 70%, dependent on the contact technology deployed.
Armor Group, a French supplier of coated films for the thermal transfer printing industry, is stepping into the OPV solar cell manufacturing realm by investing €14 million (US$18 million) in a pilot OPV production line in La Chevrolière in western France, Les Echos revealed.
WAAREE Energies, an Indian PV manufacturer and project developer, has been on a roll in the past few months and has been awarded yet another turnkey EPC contract for a 5MW thin-film PV plant from Taxus Infrastructure & Power Projects Pvt. The location of the project has not been disclosed.
PV equipment specialist Despatch Industries is set to launch its new Safire firing furnace and accompanying dryer technology at EU PVSEC in Frankfurt, Germany next week. The company also noted that PV manufacturer, Nice Sun PV Co had completed high-volume production testing of the Safire furnace that demonstrated a 0.1% absolute improvement in overall efficiency on a baseline product and up to 0.13% on some product types.
In keeping with recent years, Taiwan-based solar cell manufacturer Neo Solar Power (NSP) is launching several new cells that follow a different path to high-efficiency, while claiming to be the low-cost option. Being showcased at EU PVSEC in Frankfurt next week is NSP’s polycrystalline Super18 solar cell and its mono-crystalline Black19+ with a maximum efficiency of 19.4%, all accomplished without the use of selective emitters or rear-side passivation technologies.
Bisol advised that it has made a €1.5 million investment for the three-phase automation of its production facility. The process, which it speculates will increase its production capacity by nearly 10%, is expected to be completed by the end of this year. Modernization of its production facility began this past summer. Bisol noted that its project was not financed by any European or governmental subsidies.
