With an efficiency gain of nearly 1% in just six months, SoloPower has had certified a new, wider flexible CIGS module that is capable of producing up to 260Wp and has 12.1% aperture efficiency, as measured by NREL. The SFX3 module is claimed to be the most powerful flexible CIGS module currently in production. SoloPower says it has the first and only flexible CIGS products certified to both UL 1703 and IEC (61646 and 61730) standards.
Dow Electronic Materials broke ground on its new Eastern China manufacturing facility, located at the company’s Zhangjiagang site in JiangSu Province, approximately 98 kilometers from Shanghai. City government officials and employees took part in the groundbreaking event.
DuPont Apollo, a subsidiary of DuPont, and China Everbright International have put the finishing touches on a 1.3MW rooftop PV installation at DuPont Apollo’s Shenzhen, China, production facility. The two companies assert that this is the largest single structure thin-film PV rooftop installation in China.
Unidym, a subsidiary of Arrowhead Research, and Samsung Electronics have joined forces for an IP cooperation and license agreement. Under the terms of the agreement, Unidym licenses Samsung patents for CNT materials, including fundamental patents on CNT compositions of matter, synthesis of CNTs, processing CNTs, ink formulations, and transparent conductive films.
Currently, the Vénissieux, France location that Bosch Solar Energy plans to set up as a PV module assembly plant is being used as diesel system location where common-rail injection pumps are manufactured. As the demand for such products has declined, Bosch began looking for a new use of the location and eventually, the company decided to bring their assembly plant to the locale.
Columbus, Indiana is set to welcome a new kid in town found in the form of NuSun. The company is a solar panel manufacturer that prides itself in the building and assembling of U.S. made nanocoated crystalline-silicon PV panels. NuSun will be putting US$8.9 million towards the purchase and set-up of their new Indiana facility, which is slated to begin production in mid-2011.
IB Vogt and Sonthalia have renewed their partnership wherein IB Vogt will embark on a concept study and provide engineering services for a PV factory in Falta Solar Hub area of India. The PV factory is expected to be completed between 2011 and 2012 and is part of the Solar Mission that the Indian government approved for the generation of 20MW of solar power in India by 2022. The size of the contract has not been disclosed by either party.
