Already in evaluation as a substrate for thin film amorphous silicon (a-Si) modules and copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) applications, DuPont’s colourless polyimide film, ‘Kapton’ is also being developed for cadmium telluride (CdTe) applications that open-up new markets for the technology in the fields of lightweight, flexible and high-efficiency applications. Currently, the flexible thin-film market is dominated by a-Si and CIGS-based technologies.
Syncarpha Capital has chosen Siemens Energy to provide engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services for its new 3MW solar plant in Eastampton, New Jersey. Construction work on the ground-based system is set to begin shortly and grid connection is pencilled in for September.
South Korea’s biggest chemicals manufacturer, LG Chem, is planning to spend ? 491 billion (US$455 million) on its first polysilicon plant as it looks to take its first step into the PV industry. The facility, located in Yeosu in southwest Korea, will have the capacity to produce 5,000 metric tonnes of polysilicon per year. LG Chem’s board approved the construction plan on Thursday and it has penciled in a completion date of late 2013.
Martifer Solar has signed an agreement with Louroux Bio Energies, which will see the two companies working together to install 25MW of solar PV projects near Rajkot, Gujarat, India. Working in multiple phases, the project should be delivered by the end of December.
SolarBridge Technologies has appointed Bill Mulligan as its newest board member and Bill Paape as its CFO. Over fifty years of professional experience lies between the two men and the company looks forward to SolarBridge growing under their leadership.
Grupo T-Solar and Astonfield Renewable Resources have signed a long-term strategic partnership deal to develop solar PV power plants in India. Site construction is under way on the first project of the collaboration, a 5MW site in Osiyan, Rajasthan, India, which is expected to be commissioned by October.
A glut of modules and PV inverters are to revitalise the German solar market this year as prices are falling to a degree that the makes investing in solar financially attractive again. However, despite a very weak first quarter, installations are set to show strong growth through the rest of the year, peaking in the fourth quarter and exceeding installation figures of 7GW in 2010, according to the latest forecast from IMS Research.
Despite a swathe of competitors experiencing a significant fall in demand for modules in the first quarter, Canadian Solar would seem to have bucked the trend and guided robust sales in the second quarter resulting in sell-out shipments during its recent first quarter analyst call. In that call, Dr. Shawn Qu, Canadian Solar’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer highlighted plans for a new 600MW solar wafer plant that would that would be run as a joint venture operation to reduce capital outlay.
Switzerland looks set to become the latest country to abolish its nuclear energy programme after its Government announced last week that it would be nuclear free by 2034. The news is a boon to solar, which will look to fill the void left by an industry that currently accounts for 39.9% of the land-locked country’s electricity production.
Module manufacturer Solvis has entered into a long-term cooperation agreement with solar system integrator Relatio, which will see Relatio market half of Solvis’ full annual capacity in Germany during 2011 by installing Solvis modules on its roof and field projects.
