Updated: Sharp has revealed that it is set to increase annual production capacity at its UK-based manufacturing base (SUKM) in Wrexham, Wales, by 100%, doubling up from the current 250MW of crystalline solar cell modules per year to 500MW. The increase will begin in December 2010, with the aim of completion by February 2011. SUKM, which is Sharp's second international production base (the first located in the U.S.), began producing solar cell modules in the spring of 2004. The Japanese manufacturer must now expand its production capacity to meet the ever-growing global demand for solar cells.
IMS Research has reported that from Q4'10, module shipments are due to take a downturn, declining by almost 10% quarter-on-quarter in Q1'11. This contradicts the shipment increases which have been apparent for six consecutive quarters since Q1'09.
Borrego Solar Systems has received US$20 million in financing from the U.S. Bank and East West Bank for the realization of the company’s San Diego Community College District (SDCCD) solar project, which consists of a 2.8MW system in nine solar arrays over six locations at the SDCCD campuses. This is the first solar energy project to be financed under Borrego’s power purchase agreement.
PowerFin Partners announced that it has reached capacity to fund over $100 million in commercial and utility-scale solar projects in the U.S. and Canada. PowerFin provides the PPA, EPC, O&M and site lease contracts along with engineering for the full operation of a solar generation facility.
Power measurements of PV reference modules can, at standard testing conditions (STC), show tolerance deviations of up to ±3%, greatly affecting the maximum power output and thereby lowering the overall energy yield of the installation. Despite some existing technical problems, there is an urgent need on the part of the photovoltaic community to achieve more accuracy in power measurements in respect to the ever-growing production volumes. Some approaches being undertaken to carry out high-quality power measurements are addressed in this paper. The deviation from an ideal simulator performance are shown and discussed for two types of simulators, with reference to the most relevant parameters: irradiance level, deviation from homogeneity, spectral mismatch and temporal stability.
According to updated figures from GSE, PV installations in Italy for 2009 have risen to 720.3MW, up from revised figures released in January, 2010 of 374MW. Installations connected to the grid in 2008 were 338MW. Recently, Barclays Capital had forecasted that PV installations in Italy could reach 2GW in 2010 as grid parity had been reached.
The latest slew of announcements from various sectors of the solar manufacturing supply chain to establish partial or complete production outsourcing is no accident and a trend that will continue grow, according to iSuppli. The market research firm noted that the latest SunPower news of a contract manufacturing deal with major electronics manufacturing services firm Flextronics is only representative of the early stages of a boom, especially in module assembly outsourcing.
Equity Solar has appointed Greg Knight, formerly of GT Solar, as its chief technology officer. Knight was brought on board to assist in the commercialization of the room temperature wet chemical growth (RTWCG) technology licensed by Equity Solar.
Start-up energy company Green2V has announced that it will spend US$500 million over the next five years to build a 1 million-square-foot plant in Rio Rancho that will potentially provide 1,500 jobs in the area. The company will use the facility to manufacture solar cells and modular glass frames and will design, install, operate and finance the systems.
The U.S. Navy's Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) has awarded a $200 million contract to build up as much as 40MW of solar photovoltaic power plants at Navy and Marine Corps installations throughout the southwestern United States. Five solar developers/integrators--SunEdison, AECOM Energy/Solar Power Partners, SunPower, SunDurance Energy, and Chevron Energy Solutions--will compete for individual projects ranging in size from 1MW to 15MW.
