In an attempt to close the gap between design and manufacturing new PV inverter technology, SMA Solar Technology is acquiring dtw Sp.z o.o., one of Poland's largest electromagnetic components manufacturers. SMA said that dtw had been a supplier to the inverter firm for 10 years. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed, though dtw was said to have annual revenue of €74 million. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval and scheduled to be completed in July 2011.
In reporting Q1’11 results on May 13, 2011, Roth & Rau highlighted year-on-year revenue growth for group activities (including PV) of 69.1% - from €35.3 million in Q1’10 to €59.7 million in Q1’11. Indeed, analogous to other PV companies recently across the value and supply-chains, emphasis was placed on year-on-year comparisons, not on quarter-on-quarter changes from the preceding reporting period Q4’10...
The initial reports from a key number of PV manufacturers and suppliers highlighted that little damage to manufacturing operations occurred as a result of the massive earthquake last Friday. However, concern is now focused on the shortage of electricity that affects approximately 45 million people in Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) service area covering Tokyo, Tochigi, Gunma, Ibaraki, Chiba, Kanagawa, Saitama and Yamanashi prefectures.
Friday's 8.9-magnitude earthquake off the northeast coast of Japan was said by experts to be the largest to hit the country in over a century. A massive10-metre (33-foot) high tsunami battered coastal towns and cities across the northeast coast with Sendai, north of Tokyo affected the most by the disaster. As for the events' impact on the solar PV supply chain, initial reports indicate the effects have been minimal.
Just when it was safe to say that the severe polysilicon shortages from a few years ago were long-gone and that a era of oversupply boded well for users in the solar industry, issues have emerged within the supply chain that are forcing spot prices higher once again. According to a report from Barclays Capital financial analyst, Visal Shah, checks have shown that spot prices have risen to as high as US$70-80/kg, yet spot prices were at US$55-60/kg range, only a few weeks ago. Bottlenecks were said to have appeared from polysilicon through to wafering, according to the analyst.
Efficient management of the PV supply chain can save a company money, both directly by reducing material and component cost, and indirectly by improving lead time, inventory optimization and quality throughout the entire value chain. So-called static supply chains compare poorly to their dynamic counterparts that see cost reduction and quality as well as material availability improvements. What follows is a proposal of improving the supply chain using methods like integration, data exchange and collaboration that can also help to improve entire E2E flows through re-structuring and outsourcing from one level to another.
Satcon will expand its global photovoltaic inverter and other manufacturing capacity to more than 600MW in 2009 between its production facilities in Burlington, Ontario, and Shenzhen, China, as well as partner with DB Schenker Logistics to provide global logistics and transportation services for Satcon's global supply chain needs.
The PV industry has seen some incredible growth in the last five to eight years. This growth is essential in order to fulfill the challenging targets this industry has set itself to ensure it becomes an economical viable alternative energy source. A negative result of this growth, however, is the inefficient supply chain, where there is a lack of balance between demand and supply. The industry is going from one bottleneck to another. What is the impact of such inefficiencies on the supplier/manufacturer relationship? In this article, we collect information from short interviews of a number of fab managers in the wafer, cell and module domain, and try to answer this question.
The scope of supply chain diligence for PV projects in the US seeking tax credits has expanded, requiring greater vigilance in procurement, writes Intertek CEA's Paul Wormser.
Join us for this free webinar on 20th July as Finlay Colville, Head of Research at Solar Media, provides a detailed update on the UK's solar industry today:
Where is growth coming from, how much deployment is likely over the next 12-18 months?
The large-scale solar farm pipeline at 40 GW and still going up – how much is getting built today?
Commercial rooftops - the big story of UK solar in 2022; but is this just the tip of the iceberg?
Why are PV module prices going up? What will happen in the next couple of years?
The era of PV modules at 500 Watts and above: what is driving this?
