Analog and mixed-signal semiconductor specialist Micrel Inc has saidthat it has signed a long-term, multimillion dollar contract with anunidentified customer to supply commercial concentrated solar cellsusing its existing semiconductor fab, based in San Jose, California.
China Sunergy is to supply Canadian Solar with a total volume of 25MWof solar cells for 2008. Under the Agreements, China Sunergy willsupply approximately 12MW and 13MW of solar cells to Canadian Solar inthe first and second half of the year respectively.
Family run and privately held Baccini S.p.A, a specialist equipment manufacturer in the field of crystalline silicon (c-Si) photovoltaic (PV) cells, has been acquired by Applied Materials for $330 million in cash. Baccini was founded in 1967 and is regarded as an innovator in automated material handling, especially in respect to ultra-thin solar wafers. The transaction is expected to close in early 2008, according to the companies.
Product Briefing Outline: Veeco Instruments recentlylaunched the Dektak 150 Surface Profiler, which is designed to monitorthin films of advanced PVs as well as critical surface roughness, keyfor optimal absorption of photons. The standard Dektak 150 utilizes anewly designed 4 x 4-inch X-Y stage with manual theta. It can beconfigured with a 4-inch Y auto stage that enables 3D imaging, orequipped with a 6-inch X-Y auto stage that, in addition to 3D mapping,provides automation and programmability of over 200 sample sites. Withthe scan-stitching package, the system can perform even longer scansfor stress measurements on larger wafers. Other stage features includewafer alignment pins for ease of use, three-point suspension forstress, lateral calibration for 99.9% accuracy, and a larger scan blockfor improved baseline stability, according to the company.
Product Briefing Outline: Dow Corning's Solar Solutions Group has extended its product offerings for the global solar energy market with an encapsulant and two potting agents that have been tested and qualified for photovoltaic module applications. The PV 6010 Cell Encapsulant and the PV 7010 and PV 7020 Potting Agents have been developed to eliminate the guesswork when dealing with the potential solutions available today.
Perfectenergy International Limited (OTCBulletinBoard: PFEN) has saidthat it has received significant land and tax concessions from theShanghai government to enable the construction of two new solar cellproduction facilities with 200MW of total new production capacity inthe Shanghai Zizhu Science-Based Industrial district of Shanghai, China.
OC Oerlikon Corporation’s CEO Dr. Uwe Krüger has committed tosignificantly growing its solar business instead of selling thebusiness in the near-term. With a reorganization, headed by recentlyappointed Jeannine Sargent as CEO of Oerlikon Solar, the company willescalate production capacities, increase research and developmentactivities and enter new business areas more quickly, with reportsclaiming that acquisitions would be made where necessary.
New thin-film solar enterprise, China Solar Power (Holdings) Ltd (CSP),in collaboration with Tano China Capital Management, Inc. (TCCMI), andTano China Private Equity Fund II (TCPEF II), has signed an agreementwith ULVAC, Inc. of Japan to establish two thin-film solarmanufacturing lines with an annual capacity of 50MW. ULVAC will supplythe turnkey lines as well as the tandem junction process technology.
Solar modules fabricated by EMMVEE Toughened Glass and Photovoltaics Private Limited of Bangalore, India, utilizing Spire’s turnkey photovoltaic module assembly line factory have qualified for the TUV, IEC 61215-2005 and IEC 61730 certificates.
DayStar Technologies has priced a public offering of 15,000,000 sharesof common stock, all of which are being sold by the company at $4.25per share at an estimated value of $63.8 million.
