Hemlock Semiconductor’s new polysilicon plant, currently under construction in Clarksville, Tennessee, USA has signed a multi-year contract with Praxair, which will supply hydrogen to the facility. Praxair said it would build and operate an on-site hydrogen generating facility and supply liquid hydrogen by truck. The plant start-up is scheduled for 2012, according to Praxair. Praxair also supplies nitrogen and hydrogen to Hemlock’s polysilicon facility in Hemlock, Michigan.
Just days after announcing the completion of its third research and development center in Singapore, the PV business unit of Heraeus advised that it has tripled the size of its global technical staff so that it can more easily meet the demand for its products and customer timeframes. The Singapore facility joins the company’s US and Germany R&D sites, as well as Heraeus’ Shanghai and Taoyuan application centers.
JDS Uniphase (JDSU) revealed that it bought product design, patented intellectual property and other key assets from UK-based CPV provider QuantaSol. Financial details pertaining to the acquisition were not disclosed, but JDSU did advise that it plans to bring the new assets over from QuantaSol to the JSDU headquarters in Milpitas, California over the next six months.
ENN Mojave Energy, a subsidiary of China’s ENN Group, is planning to build a 720MW solar system and thin-film manufacturing facility in southern Nevada.
Less than four months after being struck by a catastrophic earthquake and tsunami, the T?hoku region of Japan is in line to receive ¥10 billion (US$123.7 million) in solar investment. The funds will be used to build at least 10 solar systems, which are all likely to have capacities ranging from 1-2MW and help to meet the electricity shortfall that has hit the region in the aftermath of March’s disaster.
After being on a temporary hiatus since April 8, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power’s (LADWP) Solar Incentive Program (SIP) is looking to make a comeback as early as this September. LADWP has introduced a proposal to reinstate the SIP program, which will feature double the funding levels for the next three years with incentive levels falling in line with the California Solar Initiative and market pricing in general.
SunBorne Energy is joining forces with the University of South Florida, the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi and IMDEA Energy to develop a 1MW solar power tower. Research and development for the cutting-edge project will draw upon the expertise of Dr Yogi Goswami, Dr Manuel Romero and Dr Aldo Stienfeld, with funding coming primarily from the Indian Government’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and SunBorne.
GT Solar advised that it had received orders from two new customers based in Asia for the company’s polysilicon production equipment. Together the two customers’, who remain anonymous, orders amounted to US$81.7 million and called for GT Solar’s hydrochlorination equipment for TCS production and other polysilicon production equipment. The orders will be included in the company’s backlog for its first quarter of the 2012 fiscal year, which ended July 2.
Power-One and Solar Topps recently signed a supply deal, which will see Power-One provide 2MW of its solar PV inverters to Solar Topps. In addition to Schott’s American-made panels, Power-One’s Phoenix, Arizona manufactured inverters will allow Solar Topps to offer its customers a “made in America” solar power array.
The photovoltaics division of Heraeus Materials Technology has completed construction on its new Singapore facility, which will produce the company’s silver metallization paste for use in crystalline solar cells. The site will also house the unit’s R&D, sales and technical service operations, all of which began operation in June. The R&D lab was the facility’s most recent completion, having been finalized in July. It plans to have qualification samples ready for customers in the coming weeks. The site’s official opening ceremony will be held in November.
