Day4Energy’s 1.8MW turnkey ground-mounted PV power plant has entered its construction phase. The Niedereschach-Fischbach, Germany plant is being specifically built for an unnamed private investor group, which happens to be a continuous customer for Day4. Construction completion is expected by the end of this month.
Ontario, Canada, will be home to Silfab’s newest PV module production site. Ramp-up of the 120MW capacity site, capable of producing around 500,000 PV modules, will be conducted in two stages, with the first 60MW to be completed by the second quarter of 2011 and the second 60MW the following year. The plant’s location has yet to be determined, but will be controlled by Silfab International.
Total’s subsidiary Total Gas & Power USA (SAS) has completed their acquisition of 25.4% interest in AE Polysilicon through a reserved capital increase. In addition, Total signed a long-term agreement to buy AEP high purity granular polysilicon.
Avancis, a subsidiary of Saint-Gobain, will be constructing a 100MW capacity plant in Torgau, Germany. The new factory, which has an undisclosed cost at this point, will be built close to the first Avancis industrial site and feature the manufacturing of copper-indium-gallium-(di) selenide thin-film PV panels. Completion and commencement of operation is expected by the first quarter of 2012.
International Medical Corps received a $216,000 gift from Google.org, a part of internet mogul Google. Three thousand solar chargers were donated for the IMC medical and community health teams, which find themselves working in countries with cell phone coverage, but little to no electricity to enable use or ample charging of the cellular devices.
Prime Sun Power and Bangkok Solar Power have signed a strategic investment agreement where Bangkok Solar Power will attain up to 6,639,063 shares of PSP common stock at €7.73 per share. All shares issued to BSP are subject to a lock-up period through December 31, 2013. The purchase price was valued off of PSP’s current business plan, projected growth and the company’s ability to help BSP access the European solar market.
According to Greentech Media Research, 2009 was the most challenging year to date for the PV industry. Although, global PV cell production grew by 51% from 7.1GW in 2008 to 10.7GW in 2009 and PV panel production increased 41% to 8.9GW, many of the solar panels were produced in Germany during the third and fourth quarters of 2009.
Solon has brought together locations in Tucson, Arizona, San Pietro, Italy and Berlin, Germany, for their Global Test Site (GTS) network. The three identical outdoor proving grounds will test and provide data for Solon to better understand regional affects on PV modules and related technologies for the best module and system design.
Abound Solar released the signing of an open-ended sales contract with EME Energy Management Eberlein. EME is located in Kitzingen, Germany and specializes in technical planning, sizing PV systems and logistics activities in solar PV components and turnkey systems.
Solar Thin Films has completed its acquisition of 100% of the issued and outstanding share of Atlantis Solar and will retain Atlantis as a wholly owned subsidiary. Atlantis is led by James Molinaro, who is the former head of Akrion Systems.
