Manufacturing

Thin-film PV manufacturer First Solar is selling its unused manufacturing plant in Mesa, Arizona, built at a cost of around US$300 million, for over US$100 million.

Professor Stuart Wenham of the University of New South Wales (UNSW) is leading a new PV cell processing initiative with many of the largest Asia-based cell manufacturers in a programme that is expected to improve silicon quality and cell performance.

Indianapolis International Airport is to house what is said to be the largest solar farm at any US airport.

Canadian Solar Solutions, subsidiary of module manufacturer Canadian Solar has completed and sold two solar plants to TransCanada.

Peter Fath has been appointed as the new managing director of the solar division of German equipment supplier RENA.

IKEA has confirmed that all UK IKEA stores will stock, sell and install solar PV modules.

System manufacturer and developer, Conergy, has received offers for its production subsidiaries, Mounting Systems and Conergy SolarModule, as insolvency negotiations continue.

First Solar has acquired K Road Power’s planned 250MW ‘Moapa Solar Project’ in Nevada, US, the latest development in a recent flurry of activity by the thin-film manufacturer and project developer to replenish its PV project pipeline.

The Silver State South project has been issued an environmental statement released from the US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to downsize by 100MW due to environmental concerns.

A solar cell with 50% efficiency is no longer a pipe dream after researchers at at Fraunhofer ISE, CEA-Leti, Helmholtz Center Berlin and commercial CPV firm, Soitec reached a world record 44.7% conversion efficiency for a novel III-V-based solar cell.