Manufacturing

In an attempt to debunk recent reports from Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) and IHS over the timing and location of the next wave of PV equipment capital spending, NPD Solarbuzz expects the upturn to be delayed due to PV module manufacturers adopting ‘fabless’ and ‘virtual manufacturing’ strategies through to the second-half of 2014.

SunEdison's share price surged today on news that the company would spin off its semiconductor business from its PV development business. Shares peaked on the New York Stock Exchange at US$8.34 each.

South Korean polysilicon manufacturer OCI has shelved plans to expand one of its production lines.

Scientists at the Empa Institute in Switzerland claim to have achieved 11.5% conversion efficiency for a CdTe solar cell by doping it with copper.

A renewable energy incentive programme has been launched in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, by the state governor, Alberto Pinto Coelho.

Having gone through a major financial restructuring, SolarWorld is starting to tackle its manufacturing competitive issues with a round of technology upgrades and new product introductions.

Major equipment supplier to the PV industry, Meyer Burger has reported a better than expected order intake in the last six-weeks, citing it as a “turning point in customer behaviour.”

The strategy to diversify its business away from dependence on sectors such as solar is proving to be a significant success for equipment supplier, Manz AG.

The former LDK subsidiary LDK Hefei is to be sold by the local Chinese government affiliate that purchased it earlier this year.

First Solar will start a 100MW manufacturing line for crystalline silicon cells for the residential distributed market from the end of next year with production scaling from 2015, it was revealed yesterday.