Overcapacity in the c-Si ingot/wafer supply chain has forced materials specialist, Cookson to close one of its two ingot crucible production plants in China, with immediate effect. The company had closed a similar plant in the Czech Republic in July 2012, which has supplied crucibles, primarily to the European market. Major European-based ingot/wafer producers such as PV Crystalox are down below 30% capacity utilization on the back of weak demand.
3M and Ceradyne revealed that they have entered a definitive agreement, which will see 3M buy Ceradyne for US$35 per share. The transaction holds an aggregate value of nearly US$860 million, or US$670 million net of cash, cash equivalents, short-term investments and debt acquired. Ceradyne, a major producer of crucibles used in the production of polysilicon chunks for multicrystalline ingots and then wafers, will join the 3M Energy Advanced Materials Division.
In releasing its latest Polysilicon and Wafer Supply chain Quarterly Report for Q3 2012, NPD Solarbuzz is predicting that polysilicon capacity will grow 22% in 2012 and another 18% in 2013. According to the report, the industry’s polysilicon processes for PV applications are anticipated to drop 52% this year while plant utilization will decline from to 63%, from 77% in 2011. Total polysilicon capacity will be in excess of 385,000 tons this year, of which 70% will be held by a small group of tier 1 producers.
Financially constrained PV manufacturers are advised to look at alternative ways other than relinquishing hard-to-find cash to end wafer supply deals with suppliers after a long-standing dispute between Conergy and MEMC was partially resolved via old-fashioned bartering.
Although heavily hyped as a low-cost alternative to conventional oil-based PV backsheet materials, start-up BioSolar said that it was to develop a new bio-based backsheet material that would aim to be of even lower cost in order to capture more customers. Back in March, 2011 the company had said it was supplying sample material for PV module manufacturers based in Asia for evaluation.
DuPont PV Solutions and Distributed Sun announced a new collaboration that will focus on increasing the adoption of solar energy through the D-SUN Distributed Solar Network. The companies aim to promote data transparency and provide access to a comprehensive suite of analytical tools for the solar industry.
Higher module shipments on the back of increasing focus on expanding its solar module business and building sales channels supported ReneSola producing better than expected second-quarter 2012 financial results. The company posted US$233 million in sales, up 10.2% from US$211.5 million in the prior quarter.
Daqo New Energy Corporation, a Chinese manufacturer of polysilicon, has received a notification from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) claiming that the company does not meet its price criteria.
Daqo New Energy released its second quarter 2012 financial earnings, which saw the company post revenues of US$30.6 million, down from US$34 million in Q1 2012. Additionally, Daqo’s Q2 2012 polysilicon shipments were approximately 1,028MT, while its PV module shipments amounted to 3.6MW. Wafer shipments for the second quarter were 11.2MW.
Management at Applied Materials spent little time discussing the performance of its Energy and Environmental Solutions (EES) division results, which houses the majority of its solar sector equipment and services to the PV industry. The company reported EES sales in its financial third quarter that were almost flat with the previous quarter at US$77 million. However, new orders decreased significantly to only US$35 million, compared to US$62 million in the prior quarter.
