Industry News
Biosolar pre-production tests yield
company founder John Quinn, the new grade silicon (UMG-Si) solar cell provider.
positive and consistent test results
panel proved to be as much as 131% more The manufacturing software suite will sup-
BioSolar, Inc., developer of a technology to
efficient than other leading solar panels port PV production ramp in its new facility
produce bio-based materials from renew-
in the morning and evening. The launch in Sunnyvale, California. Eyelit’s solutions
able plant sources that reduce the cost
of the new solar technology is expected to will be used to track, monitor and provide
of photovoltaic solar modules, reported
boost jobs and growth in the Irish energy product visibility of material starting with
that results of testing on BioBacksheet™
market. www.surfacepower.ie raw silicon and including ingot, brick,
samples from the first pre-production runs
wafer and PV solar cell production along
have been consistent and satisfactory,
sierra solar power raises $40M to with control over CaliSolar’s equipment
which gets the company one step closer
market cheaper thin-film and other key assets. www.calisolar.com
to full scale commercial production. The
One of the major barriers standing in the
BioBacksheet™, a protective covering for
way of solar power’s wider adoption is its umoe solar to build $600m solar
photovoltaic solar cells made from renew-
high cost. Sierra Solar plans to address this cell manufacturing plant in n.B.
able plant sources, rather than the expen-
problem by offering cheaper thin-film pho- Umoe Solar AS plans to build a $600-mil-
sive petroleum-based film currently in use,
tovoltaic cells, and just raised $40 million lion solar cell plant on the site of a closed
is expected to cost less than traditional
in a second round of funding to do it. The paper mill in northern New Brunswick.
petroleum-based backsheets. Backsheets are
company says its processes could eventu- The Norwegian company said Wednes-
used in virtually all solar panels.
ally lower the cost of solar by $1 per watt. day it will eventually hire 350 employees.
www.biosolar.com
This is pretty significant considering that it Umoe Solar last month bought the former
expects to generate up to 15 megawatts of UPM-Kymmene mill, which closed in Mira-
ecD’s Dr. subhendu guha wins
energy this year. www.sierrasolarpower.com michi in 2007, throwing hundreds out of
2009 pVsec award
work. Ernst Andersen, the company’s hu-
Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. (ECD),
Japanese manufacturer to invest man resources manager, said Umoe Solar
recently announced that Dr. Subhendu
$2.2M in photovoltaic product base intends to build the plant over the next few
Guha, senior vice president of ECD and
Japan-based electronics manufacturer years. www.umoe.no/umoe_solar.shtml
chairman of United Solar Ovonic, a wholly
Inter Action Corporation agreed to invest
owned subsidiary of ECD, has been named
$2.2 million in a photovoltaic equip- Ja solar announces update on
the winner of the PVSEC Award for R&D
ment research and manufacturing base in strategic alliance/supply agreement
on Solar Photovoltaics. Dr. Guha was
China’s Xi’an Hi-Technology Industries with Bp solar
announced the winner of the award on
Development Zone Committee, reports JA Solar Holdings Co., Ltd., signed a sup-
the opening day of the 18th International
Taiyanggonggong.com. Inter Action plans ply contract with BP Solar International,
Photovoltaic Science and Engineering
to collaborate for technology with local Inc., pursuant to the broader strategic
Conference that took place in Kolkata, In-
companies including Shaanxi Tianhong cooperation agreement signed with BP
dia in January. The award honors individu-
Silicon Material and Xi’an Meiguang Metal Alternative Energy Holdings Limited, an-
als for outstanding contributions to the
Manufacturing, said the report. nounced last November. Under this new
development of science and technology of
www.inter-action.co.jp agreement, JA Solar will supply monocrys-
photovoltaic solar energy conversion.
talline and multicrystalline solar cells to
www.ovonic.com
Ja solar slashes 2009 revenue BP Solar in 2009, with an initial volume of
guidance 175 MW and with the potential to expand
sanyo to build new solar cell plant
Chinese solar cell manufacturer JA Solar to 360 MW. JA Solar is already delivering
Sanyo Electric Co. plans to build a new so-
has announced its updated revenue and product under its existing supply agree-
lar cell plant in Japan as it aims to double
shipment guidance for the year ending ment with BP. www.jasolar.com, www.bp.com
its production of the technology to meet
December 31, 2009. The company cur-
growing demand for clean energy. The
rently expects 2009 revenue to be in the energy recommerce emerges as
Sanyo plant, to be built in Osaka prefec-
range of $830-$952 million, down from leader in solar power monitoring
ture in western Japan, is scheduled to start
guidance of $1.5-1.7 billion announced Energy Recommerce, Inc. (ERI) has
operations by the end of 2010. The facility
in November 2008, due to tightening become the solar energy industry’s market
will produce solar cells with a higher power
credit and falling demand. The company leader in monitoring and performance
generation capacity than those made at
lowered 2009 targets for total production management systems, with revenue growth
another Sanyo plant in central Japan.
output and nameplate production capacity in 2008 exceeding 300%, according to
www.sanyo.com
by year-end to 500-550MW and 875MW a 2008 year-end report released by Peter
respectively, from targets of 800MW and Rexelius, president and CEO of ERI. ERI’s
irish firm unveils most efficient
more than 1GW announced in November. market share is estimated to be over 35
solar panel
www.jasolar.com percent in the state of California and over
A renewable energy technology firm in
25 percent nationwide, with solar monitor-
Ireland has claimed that it has designed
calisolar selects eyelit software ing systems in Hawaii, Colorado, Nevada,
the most efficient solar panel in the world
for new pV cell facility Arizona, New Jersey and Oregon.
to date. Mayo-based company Surface
Eyelit’s award-winning integrated manufac- www.energyrecommerce.com
Power has announced plans to launch the
turing execution (MES), factory automa-
new renewable energy product, which has
tion, quality and asset management suite sintek shipping pV modules
been tested by Independent Certification
has been selected by CaliSolar for use in Sintek Photronic, a Taiwan-based color
and compared to over 50 other collectors
new, low-cost photovoltaic (PV) cell plant. filter (CF) maker, has stepped into produc-
holding the Solar Keymark. According to
CaliSolar is an upgraded metallurgical- tion of polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si)
www.globalsolartechnology.com Global Solar Technology – March/April 2009 – 35
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