Hoku Materials has signed a silicon metal supply agreement with Polymet Alloys. The wholly owned subsidiary of Hoku Scientific said it plans to use the metallurgical-grade silicon for the production of trichlorosilane, a critical raw material in the manufacture of solar-grade polysilicon.
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.
NanoGram and Tokyo Electron have signed a joint technology agreement focused on the development of thin-film process equipment based on the cleantech company's proprietary laser reactive deposition (LRD) process for thin crystalline silicon films.
Honda Soltec said it will start selling copper-indium-gallium-(di)selenide thin-film-based solar modules for public and industrial use throughout Japan on Friday. The Honda solar subsidiary has sold photovoltaic modules for home use since October 2007, and now the company intends to expand its customer base by manufacturing and selling solar units capable of the high-capacity electrical generation required by public and industrial facilities.
ICP Solar Technologies said today that it has signed a binding letter of intent to buy privately held Ibersolar Energía, a leading European manufacturer and supplier of solar photovoltaic systems, solar thermal systems, and absorption units with annual sales of approximately €120 million.
SolarWorld cut the ribbon Friday on what is being called the largest silicon solar-cellproduction facility in North America. The 480,000 square-foot factory, located in Hillsboro, OR, is part of the Germancompany's $500 million investment in advancedphotovoltaics technology in the U.S.
SAN DIEGO--As blustery Santa Ana winds kicked up on a blue-sky Southern California day, officials from Hewlett-Packard, SunPower, GE Energy Financial Services, and local and state government dedicated a new 1.1-MW solar photovoltaic rooftop power system today at HP's imaging and printing R&D facility in Rancho Bernardo.
Solar cell, module, and system manufacturer SunPower has selected Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide as its newPR agency of record. The account will be based in San Francisco, withsupport from team members in Denver, Washington, DC, Sacramento, Milan,Madrid, London, Seoul, Manila, Sydney, and other international offices.
Canadian Solar said it has completed and commissioned Phase I of its ingot and wafer plant on schedule. The new production capacity gives the company an annualized ingot and wafer capacity of 60 MW. CSI has also reiterated its 2009 guidance figures.
The U.S. Congress' passage of theEmergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 and the subsequent signing into law of the bill by President Bush not onlyprovides government bailout options for the country's troubledfinancial sector but includes a strong package of investment taxcredits for solar and other renewable energy developers. But thelegislation doesn't stop there. Because of the removal of a prohibition that prevented regulated utility companies from taking advantage of the credit, the Solar Electric Power Association predicts a major increase inlarge-scale solar photovoltaic and thermal projects by thosefirms.
