First Solar has reached an agreement regarding the DoE loan funded AV Solar Ranch One in Antelope Valley, the company has announced. The company has resumed the installation of its PV modules at the PV plant after being forced to cease construction in order to deal with module code certification issues. First Solar and the Los Angeles Country Department of Public Works have now reached an agreement about the PV module installation and First Solar is able to continue constructing the 230MW project. Construction of the PV plant began in August 2011 and the project is expected to be completed in 2013.
First Solar and enXco, a subsidiary of EDF Energies Nouvelles, signed a solar module supply agreement, which will see First Solar deliver 61MWp of its thin-film modules. Delivery is set to start in September and will supply enXco’s Catalina Solar Project in Kern County, California.
Thin-film manufacturer NovaSolar has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. That’s not unusual, a number of companies have gone bankrupt in the last months. NovaSolar, though, is the US arm of Chinese NovaStar, a company that was created with the remaining assets from bankrupt OptiSolar three years ago.
Under intense pressure to remain the low-cost leader, First Solar is taking a leaf from the semiconductor industry by teaming up with materials specialists Intermolecular to fast-track R&D research in materials and processes to shorten the time-to-market for higher efficiency CdTe-based, thin-film PV modules. Taking record cell and module efficiencies from the lab to the fab has proved to be a perennial problem for all types of PV technology.
Thin-film manufacturer Masdar PV has reached 10% efficiency with its micromorph technology thin-film modules, the company has announced. Masdar’s research and development department collaborated with the Helmholtz Zentrum in Berlin, focusing on the optimization of materials used for the production of the modules.
Thin-film manufacturer DuPont Apollo has singed contracts to supply PV projects in Thailand with a total of 22.75MW of modules, the company has announced. The PV modules will equip two projects, one located in the Chaiyaphum province, owned by Smart Green Energy and a second one located in the Saraburi province, owned by Inifinite Green. DuPont Apollo is already involved in an 8.7MW ground mounted PV project in the Prachin Buri province, in collaboration with L Solar 1.
Molybdenum, commonly used as the back-contact material in CIGS solar cells, has been the subject of an in-depth study by sputtering target manufacturer Plansee, working in collaboration with TU Bergakademie Freiberg. Plansee’s results, presented at the ICMCTF Conference, identified the process errors and defect types present in molybdenum thin films that can have a detrimental effect on electrical conductivity.
Taiyo Pacific Partners has upped its stake in Japan-based Ulvac to 18%, following its purchase of a 5% shares stake in September 2009. Taiyo is now Ulvac’s largest shareholder Pacific Partners and has, since its initial investment in 2009, acted as a “long-term friendly investor providing valuable advice and support”, according to Ulvac’s president Hidenori Suwa.
Flexible CIGS module manufacturer Global Solar Energy has initiated the steps to attract new investment, enlisting the services of FTI Capital Advisors to investigate new investor participation that could see the partial or complete takeover of the company.
Thin-film CIGS manufacturer AQT Solar has announced its completion of a significant phase of its CZTS prototype module development, producing a 60-watt module in collaboration with its manufacturing partners. Earlier this year, the company revealed that it had achieved high efficiencies with its sputter-deposited CZTS thin-film solar cell.
