First Solar will build and operate a 100MW plus capacity CdTe thin-film plant in France for EDF Energies Nouvelles, equally sharing the capital and start-up costs, with EDF taking all production volumes for a 10-year period. In essence, First Solar has added ‘contract manufacturing’ or ‘foundry’ operations to its evolving business model. According to the new partners, the new 100MW plus plant will require an initial capital investment of more than €90 million. Full production is planned for the second half of 2011. The location of the site is expected to be announced in the next few months and will also include a facility for recycling solar panels, France’s first such facility and Europe’s only solar panel recycling plant outside of Germany.
Canadian Solar has announced that it has become a member of Brussels-based PV Cycle, an organisation that promotes voluntary take-back and recycling of end-of-life PV modules, including seeking to define collection and recycling targets for the PV industry.
Often touted as the next thin-film technology to take on cadmium telluride thin-film leader First Solar, copper-indium-gallium-selenide (CIGS) technology is set to grow and the use of indium, a key absorber material, will grow even faster. In a new report from NanoMarkets entitled ‘Indium Markets for Photovoltaics’, indium consumption is expected to see a rise of 80% by 2016, equating to 228 metric tons (MT) in 2016, up from the 20MT consumed today. However, the market research firm is forecasting that CIGS PV cells would represent only 8% of PV megawatts in that time.
A 10-MW solar photovoltaic power plant near Masdar City, Abu Dhabi--said to be the largest of its kind in the Middle East/North Africa region--has been activated and connected to the grid. The project, which began construction in January, was designed and built by local solar integrator Enviromena Power System. Electricity from the 55-acre installation will help provide energy for the initial construction work at Masdar City.
Suntech Power Holdings has joined the PV CYCLE association which is engaged in establishing a voluntary take-back and recycling program for end-of-life PV modules in Europe. The first large quantities of modules installed in Europe was in the early 1990s, so major recycling is not expected for another 10 to 15 years.
Solar start-up companies accounted for more than half of the $2.5 billion-plus in venture capital investments made in the final quarter of 2008, according to the latest Venture Power Report issued by Greentech Media. Twenty-nine VC rounds in the solar sector were completed during the quarter, for a total of almost $1.336 billion, outpacing the next busiest sector--ethanol/biofuels/gasification--by a wide margin. The report says that investment numbers should stay strong through 2009, with smart grid, energy storage, and energy efficiency applications as areas of likely focus.
A new analysis from iSuppli forecasts that the price of polysilicon will begin a "precipitous plunge in 2009 after peaking this year," as the supply of the raw material exceeds demand. At fault, according to the research firm, are "fundamental imbalances in the solar supply chain." After peaking at as high as $500 per kilogram this year and suppliers largely dictating terms to customers during a three-year price rise, the report sees the average spot market price for poly dropping next year to as low as $200 per kilogram.
The EPIA will host the first International Conference on Thin Films in the Solar Photovoltaic sector in November 2008 in Munich, Germany. The event is being held due to the significant ramp in thin-film technologies that is expected through 2010, which could see the technology represent 20 percent of the overall PV module production capacity.
SiC Processing AG, a specialist in the recycling and supply of solarwafer slurries, has completed a new round of funding lead by zoukventures to the tune of €53 million. The deal is being touted as one ofthe largest Cleantech growth deals in Europe in 2007.
