news digest ♦ Solar and Ireland represented by PowerIT-2-Channel Ltd.
Founded in 1984 West Coast has become one of the leading distributors recently eclipsing €1 billion in annual revenue. West Coast also distributes Hewlett Packard, Samsung and Toshiba prducts.
Nick Amer, Business Development Director at West Coast, says, “Alternative power has become ever more popular, especially with the huge growth in portable devices like smartphones & tablets, but in the past many solutions have been very bulky and ineffective. Therefore we are very excited to be partnering with Ascent Solar to bring their superb products to the UK market, and helping to make depleted batteries a thing of the past.”
John Maslanik, Ascent’s Manager of Business Development, continues, “This agreement enables Ascent to leverage West Coast’s considerable distribution capabilities to reach nearly every consumer in the United Kingdom and Ireland via both e-commerce, retail and direct channels, bringing Ascent’s EnerPlex products to market in force in an incredibly short period of time. Consumers in the UK and Ireland have shown great interest in renewable energy products, a trend which the EnerPlex series of products is perfectly situated to immediately benefit from. Furthermore, this agreement represents a blueprint for Ascent’s expansion into new international markets, taking advantage of entrenched distribution channels and relationships which enable rapid deployment of EnerPlex products to an attractive target market.”
Ascent says the EnerPlex Product line has quickly changed the paradigm of solar-integrated consumer electronics, providing consumers with lightweight, powerful and extremely durable charging solutions for all their portable electronics.
Surfr, a line of solar and battery integrated phone cases, allows users to charge their phone anywhere and in cases of emergency. Kickr, a line of portable solar chargers, provides a charging solution for most USB enabled devices enabling power to be generated almost anywhere and in nearly every situation, suited for emergencies.
With the addition of the Jumpr line of portable batteries, consumers now have a complete, integrated, solar charging and storage solution for life on the go.
CIGS manufacturer SoloPower slashes work force
In a restructuring move, the firm is moving its head office to Oregon
SoloPower announced that an agreement in principle has been reached with its major secured creditors on a comprehensive restructuring plan as it continues to seek new strategic financing for future expansion.
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www.compoundsemiconductor.net August/September 2013
SoloPower CEO, Rob Campbell, stated that, “This agreement will enable SoloPower to seek new strategic partners to enable continued production at the Portland, Oregon facility and advance our innovative light weight PV technology. We are confident that we are on the right path and appreciate the support of our secured creditors.”
SoloPower also confirms reports that it is planning to move its head office location to Portland, Oregon, in order to further optimise operations.
The company’s proprietary lightweight, flexible CIGS solar modules serve a unique and underserved market - commercial and industrial rooftops on which traditional solar panels cannot be installed due to their weight and rigidity.
RSI’s CdTe solar modules have the power
The company claims its cadmium telluride 1.5 square metre cells add high power and lower installation cost to improve efficiency, reliability, sustainability and profitability
achieving a 1.5 square metre module.
The availability of low cost large-area CdTe panels coupled with localised manufacturing partners hastens the widespread achievement of grid parity for utility scale solar.
Image showing RSI solar module
Conventional CdTe measure 0.72 square metres, a limitation that stems from the use of high temperature CdTe deposition processes.
RSI has developed a proprietary tool and low temperature process, known as Rapid Efficient Electroplating on Large- areas (REEL), that both speeds the plating step and eliminates constraints on panel area. The company projects a manufacturing cost of less than 40 cents per peak watt in 2014.
The availability of low-cost, large-area CdTe panels coupled with a business model that leverages regional manufacturing partners promises the widespread acceleration of grid parity for utility scale solar.
“The math is simple for large-area modules,” says RSI Co- founder and President Kurt Weiner, “At each step in the
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