The M+W Group, Stuttgart, acquired shares in Schmid Silicon Technology Holdings, effective from January 1, 2010. Through this acquisition, the companies will partner in global activities in the engineering and construction of polysilicon plants based on monosilane technology.
In the latest example of increasing CIGS conversion efficiencies, the Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory has confirmed that Global Solar Energy has achieved 13.2% aperture-area efficiency on a thin-film photovoltaic module integrated with flexible cell-strings from its copper-indium-gallium-(di)selenide production line in Tucson, AZ. CEO Jeff Britt told PV Tech that median efficiencies have risen above 11% on the production line and that the company plans to launch its BIPV product line this year. The latest numbers exceed the company's efficiencies announced in September 2009, when NREL said it had measured 15.45% total area conversion efficiencies for the individual cells, and Global Solar had cited record peak efficiencies at the time of 11.7% on its flexible stainless-steel cell strings and median efficiencies between 10 and 11%.
Colexon Energy has begun the construction of a solar power plant with a total capacity of almost 1MWp in the North Italian community Imola. The plant will benefit from the feed-in tariff in Italy, which is set for 20 years.
Polysilicon, wafers and solar module prices all declined severely in 2009, according to a new report from iSuppli. On average, crystalline module prices dropped 37.8%, solar wafer prices fell by 50%, and polysilicon prices declined by 80%.
Market research firm EuPD Research has warned against using fluctuating solar pricing to calculate the proposed German feed-in tariff cuts. Markus Hoehner, CEO of the market research and consulting institute, claims that cuts should be calculated on the basis of long-term trends and forecasts. He also notes that rising electricity prices were not attributable to the increase in the adoption of solar in Germany, rather the rises are due to electricity production costs rising, higher transport costs and higher tax burdens. According to EuPD Research, the additional cost for the promotion of solar electricity accounted for only €0.24 cents per head per month in 2009.
Citing an industrywide conversion efficiency average of 5-6% for amorphous silicon (a-Si) thin film modules, Anwell Technologies has claimed that it has reached efficiencies of 8.58% at its 40MW thin film plant in Henan, China. The results were said to have verified by the National Laboratory of China and tested according to the IEC61646 standard. The company has not announced if its modules use a tandem cell structure, which has been typically claimed to have efficiencies of between 7 and 9%.
Iberdrola recorded a net profit of €2,824 million in 2009, sustained by the group's success with regulated business and renewables throughout the year, which together counted for two thirds of the company's total operating profit.
Evergreen Solar has named Scott Gish as its VP of sales and marketing. He comes to the solar manufacturer from Photronics, a semiconductor photomask company where he was VP of global sales and business development.
Hitachi High-Technologies and XeroCoat have entered into a strategic partnership for the distribution of XeroCoat’s antireflective coating solutions for solar photovoltaic modules in Japan and China. The agreement gives HHT, through its energy and environmental solutions unit, the right to resell XeroCoat’s equipment systems and materials into the two key Asian markets. XeroCoat also told PV Tech that it has established a demonstration pilot line at an Asian glass manufacturer.
In what the company calls its largest single order to date, Satcon Technology has signed a global master supply deal with Czech private power utility Energy 21 to deliver 30.5MW of its PowerGate Plus photovoltaic inverters. The Satcon units will be used in 15 solar power systems in the Czech Republic.
