Photon Consulting may have recently projected the PV industry to reach the US$1 per watt manufacturing cost threshold in 2012, but First Solar has ignored such projections and reached this important milestone in the 4Q08, with a cost per watt of US$0.98. Not prepared to sit back and wait for competitors to catch-up, First Solar expects further reductions in the coming years that could see a cost per watt below US$0.65 by 2012 or earlier.
Mitsubishi Electric Corporation has improved its highest conversion efficiency rate for a 150 x 150 millimeter practical-size multicrystalline silicon photovoltaic (PV) cell by 0.3 points from 18.6 percent to achieve a claimed new world record of 18.9%.
Illies Renewables GmbH of Hamburg, has ordered a 50MW production line for thin-film modules based on CIGS technology for a new facility in Magdeburg-Rothensee, Germany, from centrotherm photovoltaics AG.
Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd has officially announced the construction of a new solar cell manufacturing plant at its Nishikinohama Factory, Kaizuka City, Osaka, Japan. Groundbreaking took place on February 17th, 2009 with the new facility expected to be completed in October 2009. The new facility will be dedicated to the production of Sanyo’s Heterojunction with Intrinsic Thin layer (HIT) solar cells. The company also announced that HIT production at its Shimane Plant in Unnan City, Shimane Prefecture, Japan will also be expanded to meet demand for its HIT solar cells in Japan and Europe.
Preliminary financial results published by PV module manufacturer, Centrosolar Group AG, reveal a new revenue record of €331.8 million in 2008, more than a 50% increase in revenue of €220.3 million for 2007. According to the company, sales actually exceeded the revenue target of €310 million set at the beginning of 2008.
Yingli Green Energy has not altered its 2009 module shipment guidance, despite the global economic downturn and module oversupply in the solar industry. Yingli Green expects module shipments to be between 550MW-600MW in 2009. This represents an increase of 96.1% to 113.9% compared to fiscal year 2008.
Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. has reiterated plans to reach 1GW of nominal production capacity of its flexible a-Si thin-film photovoltaics in 2010. Company executives also said in a conference call with financial analysts that they had added 60MW of nominal capacity in the last six months, bringing total capacity to 178MW. A new site had also been chosen to bring capacity up to 420MW in 2010.
GT Solar International, Inc. (NASDAQ: SOLR), noted that its current backlog stood at US$1.3 billion after releasing its third quarter results that saw revenue reach US$205.2 million, a 46% increase over the previous quarter. Billings were boosted in the quarter with revenue recognition of a US$91.5 million contact for polysilicon reactors from major start-up DC Chemical.
Newport Corporation has continued to expand rapidly into the photovoltaics equipment market, now offering c-Si and thin film products that tap into its core technologies of lasers, motion control and optical systems. The company noted in a conference call with financial analysts to discuss fourth quarter and full-year results that orders to PV manufacturers had grown more than 150% in 2008, to reach US$33.6 million compared with orders of US$13.3 million in 2007.
Product Briefing Outline: Reis Robotics has now implemented a newly developed laser soldering procedure for practical use with several customers. Photovoltaics manufacturers are increasingly anxious to fully exploit the automation potential of their production capacity in order to deal with the increasing demands for lower prices. Reis Robotics as system supplier with its subsidiary Reis Lasertec as laser welding specialist have combined skill sets to deliver a laser soldering method for higher quality, shortened cycle times and reductions in manual rework.
