Dow Corning has signed a long-term contract to supply Air Products with its electronic-grade silane. Air Products will distribute the gas to its clients in the PV and electronics industries.
An attempt to regain lost revenue has led to MEMC Electronic Materials’ decision to cut its global workforce by 20%, or over 1,300 employees. Among other activities, the company will also idle its 6,000MT Merano, Italy polysilicon facility, which it says it will close unless “dramatic feedstock, power and other cost reductions are achieved” in the near future.
Targray Technology International was selected by Giga Solar Materials as the global distributor for its back surface aluminum paste. The long-term agreement will see Targray distributed the solar cell aluminum paste throughout Europe, North America and India for mono- and multicrystalline silicon solar cells. The paste is said to be designed to for high efficiency, low-bowing, high material compatibility.
As part of its long-term cost reduction goals for its turnkey Micromorph thin film silicon ‘ThinFab’ production lines, Oerlikon Solar has teamed with gas suppliers Air Liquide and Linde to provide more than a 20% reduction in total cost of all gases and precursors. As a result, its ThinFab (120MWp) lines going into full production by end of 2012 can reduce module production costs by up to 5%. The total gas budget was said to be less than €8.50 per panel.
Semiconductor equipment supplier, Novellus Systems is developing what it describes as conformal film deposition (CFD) technology, an atomic layer deposition process to grow conformal metal oxide and metal nitride dipole layers in the PV cells. Collaboration is being undertaken with the University of South Florida (USF), to study the precise engineering of solar cell interfaces via a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant.
Pushing the boundaries of conventional silicon solar cell technology, while offering a low-cost production approach, took another step forward, according to R&D organisation, imec. In conjunction with its industrial affiliates, researchers have developed a small-area (2x2 cm2) - interdigitated back-contact (IBC) silicon solar cells that has demonstrated a conversion efficiency of 23.3%. Work will now focus on developing a large-area and production viable cell and process steps.
At Suntech Power Holdings’ recent Global Supplier Conference, the company recognized 19 companies with its award ceremony, one of them being DuPont, which was honored for its supply and technical service as well as its product innovation and collaboration. DuPont provides Suntech with its Solamet PV metallization pastes for its solar cells and also supplies Suntech’s backsheets with the DuPont Tedlar polyvinyl fluoride film.
AMG Advanced Metallurgical Group’s acquisition of the Mono 2 casting technology last year has paid off. The monocrystalline growth method has been granted a US patent. The patent was granted to AMG IdealCast Solar Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of AMG's Engineering Systems Division. There are four additional core patents still pending.
Hoku Materials has moved a step closer to completing its polysilicon production plant in Pocatello, Idaho by connecting it to Idaho Power's substation.
Just a handful of days after the US Department of Commerce and the International Trade Commission agreed to open an investigation into SolarWorld’s claims that China is dumping solar panels in the US far below US costs, the China Photovoltaic Industry Alliance (CPIA) is launching its own counteroffensive with the claim that the US is dumping polysilicon at below cost prices in China.
