NEWS I ROUNDUP
Solar Development for Chile
SOLAR CHILE, a subsidiary of Fundación Chile and First Solar, have announced an alliance to develop solar projects in Chile. First Solar will provide PV modules and engineering and procurement services to future development projects, subject to execution of project agreements.
“Solar Chile is pleased to work with First Solar,” said Cristián Sjögren, CEO of Solar Chile. “Together we will transform Chile into the first country in Latin America to generate solar energy at competitive prices.”
“With strong growth projections, significant energy demand and abundant solar resource, Chile represents a tremendous opportunity to generate clean, renewable solar electricity cost effectively,” said Kim Oster, Director of Business Development, Latin America for First Solar. “We are delighted to collaborate with Solar Chile and Fundación Chile to accelerate the adoption of PV technology and meet the growing demand for clean, renewable solar energy.”
TSMC Solar completes Phase I at its CIGS fab
Northern Chile has an abundant solar resource and Fundación Chile has been exploring its potential by implementing measurement and pilot projects and by initiatives such as the Atacama Solar Platform, which has the goal to convert the solar resource in the Atacama Desert into a competitive energy.
Fundación Chile works to support this and several other initiatives, including Solar Chile, related to developing the solar cluster, an industry ecosystem that will bring together technology and service companies, promote research and development, and support human capital development related to the broader solar energy sector.
The positive energy building in France
AS of 2020, all new buildings in France will be positive energy buildings. This represents a fantastic opportunity for the photovoltaic industry players.
“The positive energy building is the global
future.” Jean-Louis Estèves, CEO of TCE Solar, can barely contain his enthusiasm.
For him, there is no doubt: the positive energy building, a building that produces more electricity than it consumes, is one of the saviours of the photovoltaic industry. The Grenelle has declared, on the basis of the European Directive on Energy Performance of Buildings: As of 2020, in France, all new buildings will be positive energy buildings. This obligation will enter into force for local authorities as of 2018.
And where there is positive energy, there is electricity generation, and therefore integrated solar pv. According to Jean-Louis Estèves, all of the players in this industry have their part to play. “The green building requires mastery of technologies,” he
explains. “There is still much progress to be made with regard to, firstly, solutions for integrated production of solar photovoltaic electricity. The industry must address this topic: improving what already exists, and inventing what does not yet exist.” In his opinion, it will then be possible to export this specific “French-style” know-how worldwide for decades to come. Not to mention all the buildings that will require renovation and rehabilitation! “It’s a challenge which we could look at as saving the planet,” says Jean-Louis Estèves.
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www.solar-pv-management.com I Issue IX 2011
are headed for UL and IEC certification and testing this quarter with first commercial products expected to be shipped the first quarter of 2012. California Energy Commission (CEC) listing is slated for mid Q1 2012.
“It really is an automation marvel,” said Dr. Rick Tsai, Chairman and CEO, TSMC Solar. “We handle every step of transforming raw materials into finished CIGS modules. That means start-to-finish optimization of the manufacturing process for productivity, performance and quality.”
In building the new plant, TSMC Solar leveraged its parent’s heritage of delivering technology innovation and manufacturing excellence. TSMC CIGS panels are targeted for large commercial and utility-scale projects in the North American, European and worldwide markets.
TSMC Solar Ltd. has completed equipment move-in in preparation for commercial production ramp at its new CIGS fab in Taichung, Taiwan. The new highly automated manufacturing facility, dubbed the S- Fab, is a state-of-the-art six story 700,000 square foot LEED certified facility. Initial Phase 1 investment totalled US$258 million with manufacturing capacity of 100 megawatts per year (MW) in 2012, ramping to 300MW at Phase 1 completion. TSMC Solar’s planned addition of a 300MW Phase II, when coupled with productivity improvements, will take total facility capacity to 1 Gigawatt by 2015. First panels from the production line
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