Following its 2010 acquisition of Singapore-based Novomatrix, Solutia’s performance films unit will be expanding its manufacturing capacity with the purchase of selected assets of Taiwan-based conductive film manufacturer Aimcore Technology. The US$7 million deal will allow Solutia to increase its manufacturing capacity in Asia while also multiplying its Flexvue film component production. The escalation in Solutia’s production capacity is anticipated to be on-line during the second half of 2011.
Malaysian conglomerate Scientex and Japanese materials supplier Mitsui Chemicals Tohcello (MCTI) have signed a joint-venture agreement to manufacture and distribute ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) encapsulating materials for PV modules and other applications. A new company will be formed, MCTI Scientex Solar, in which each party holds a 50% equity interest.
Monocrystalline solar wafer manufacturer Comtec Solar System Group has finalized and released their financial results for the 2010, posting record revenue and wafer shipment totals for the year. The company cites high demand and a better pricing environment led to their improved financial results. Revenue for 2010 was US$155.15 million (RMB1.02 billion), compared to 2009’s US$77.08 million (RMB506.8 million). Comtec’s total shipments, including sales and processing services, were 175.3MW in 2010, representing a year-long sales volume of 165.5MW – the company’s highest shipments in its history.
As Danen works on its second phase of construction for its wafer plant II in Guanyin Shiang, Taoyuan County Taiwan, Bloomberg has reported that the company signed a US$161 million contract with OCI, where Danen will buy polysilicon from the company for seven years.
SunPower has said that after talks with its various Japanese-based suppliers, none have sustained major damage to their facilities, though “certain operations are currently disrupted due to infrastructure issues,” the company stated.
Production of polysilcon continues to expand as major suppliers attempt to keep pace with market demand. Wacker Chemie has updated plans to expand its polysilicon production that includes spending €130 million on debottlenecking measures to add 10,000MT more capacity. Wacker noted that it is essentially sold out under supply contracts through 2014.
PV module encapsulants supplier, STR Holdings posted 2010 sales to the solar sector of US$259.2 million, an increase of 73.4%, compared to sales of US$149.5 million in 2009. Management noted that the increase in sales was due to increased market share gains with its current Tier 1 Chinese customers as well starting to supply a large Asian module manufacturer in the year.
Dow Corning has named Samaro, a French specialty chemical product supplier, as the distributor for its silicon-based solar product solutions in France. The French company will be a technical resource and production base for Dow Corning’s solar division while delivering Dow Corning’s solar silicon products to local customers. Samaro has acted as Dow Corning Electronics’ French distributor and will additionally undertake the delivery of Dow Corning’s Molykote brand lubricant applications in North Africa.
Bridgestone is to add a new ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) production line to its factory in ?arów, Poland. An investment of US$58 million will be used to fund the installation, with manufacturing scheduled to begin during the first half of 2013.
