UK-based Romag and Chinese LDK Solar have formed a research and development alliance to share their knowledge and expertise in the progress of solar technologies. This collaboration is the first of its kind for a UK PV module manufacturer.
Having posted record revenue of CHF 1.32 billion in 2011, major PV equipment supplier, Meyer Burger acknowledge that 2012 would be a lean year due to overcapacity and significant cuts to capital spending from PV manufacturers. The company guided revenue to be down significantly in 2012 and in the range of CHF 600–800 million and an EBITDA margin between 4–8%. Management noted that it didn’t expect a recovery in demand for equipment until 2013 and had started a restructuring plan to reduce operating costs with a 15% workforce reduction.
Dow Chemical announced that it had officially opened its Dow Seoul Technology Centre in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi-do. The R&D centre will focus on technological advances in display technologies and semiconductor-related applications including lithography, organic light-emitting diodes (OLED), display materials and advanced chip packaging.
Renewable Energy Corporation said that operating its 300MW monocrystalline wafer plant in Glomfjord, Norway would continue to lose money despite cost reduction efforts and that it will therefore be closed permanently. The plant closure will affect 200 employees.
The difficult solar market in the last quarter of 2011, led Elkem Solar to suspend operations at its plant in Kristiansand, Norway. However, the company has advised that full production has been restored due to an increase in orders for Elkem Solar Silicon.
Citing further pricing pressures in the fourth quarter of 2011, LDK Solar has revised down fourth quarter financial guidance and warned of further inventory write downs, expected to be from its polysilicon production operations. The company has already made several downward amendments to its expected quarterly results in 2011, resulting in excess of US$1 billion wiped-off expected revenue and over 1GW in expected wafer shipments alone.
Against a backdrop of many peers reporting lower fourth quarter shipments when compared to the previous quarter, ReneSola held its ground, exceeding shipment guidance for solar wafers and modules. The company reported 2011 revenue higher than guided at US$985.3 million but 18.3% below 2010 net revenue of US$1,205.6 million. Total solar wafer and module shipments in 2011 reached a record 1,294.8 MW, exceeding prior guidance and an increase of 9.5% from 1,182.8 MW for the full year 2010. However, management guided a significant increase in solar wafer and module shipments in 2012 to be in the range of 1.8GW to 2.0GW. Emphasis was placed on module shipments increasing as well as doubling capacity to 1GW.
A new research program to bring ‘Black Silicon’ antireflective layer process and materials to commercialization has been signed between Natcore Technology and material inventor, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) with funding of US$150,000.
China-based solar grade silicon producer, JACO has claimed it has achieved several key milestones in its ability to supply SoG for wafer production. Having entered production of its Gen 1 process in 2011, JACO said that it reached a key cost target of US$15/kg that also equated to a CapEx cost of US$15/kg and an electricity consumption cost of 15kwh/kg.
Calisolar is morphing into a polysilicon producer with a name change that better reflects its future ambitions. Renamed, Silicor Materials Inc, the company has bagged a major supply deal for its purified silicon metal material with the PV industries largest module producer, Suntech Power Holdings.
