Feds playing catch-up; the art of wafer cutting; Intersolar videos

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June 11, 2009

Feds playing catch-up; the art of wafer cutting; Intersolar videos Welcome to PV Times, the authoritative weekly e-newsletter covering the solar photovoltaic manufacturing industry, brought to you by the editors of PV World, Solid State Technology, and Renewable Energy World. FEATURES Feds playing catch-up as states take renewable energy lead Some 27 US states and Washington DC have renewable energy portfolios and mandates, but not the federal government; meanwhile, Germany, Spain, Japan, and others have spurred far more alternate energy installations. That may soon change, based on reports from an array of speakers at this week's PV America, held in Philadelphia in association with the 34th IEEE PV Specialists conference. The art of wafer cutting in the PV industry There is significant activity in the wafer generation segment of the PV industry reflecting the focus on the two key ingredients for solar PV: technology improvement and cost reduction. Recent developments raise the possibility of achieving optimization of key parameters such as thin wafers, low-kerf, and high yield. Video: Global connections at Intersolar Editors from RenewableEnergyWorld.com walked around the Intersolar halls, asking well-established and up-and-coming companies how they are faring in the current environment. SEE ALSO: Intersolar wrap-up: Roadmaps, PV techs on parade Advertisement Attend the June 17th Terrestrial Solar Array Simulation Webcast for Inverter Testing Designers, manufacturers and installers of inverters must ensure their products extract and deliver all available power from the solar panels. Agilent’s Solar Array Simulators reproduce real life power conditions experienced by inverters installed in residential/commercial solar power systems. Learn more and register for the seminar. INDUSTRY NEWS Spire's Little sees huge opportunity for c-Si in the US In a presentation at last week's Intertech-Pira Photovoltaics Summit in San Francisco, Spire Corp. chairman/CEO Roger Little made his case for what he called a huge opportunity for investors to make money by investing in crystalline silicon plants in the US. SunPower subcons solar panel manufacturing to Jabil SunPower has signed a multiyear deal to subcontract North American solar panel manufacturing to Jabil Circuit in Mexico's Chihuahua state; they also will participate in the US DoE's Solar America Initiative to accelerate development of solar technologies. PV printing startup Semprius raises $6.4M funding The newest funding from existing investors (including Applied Material's VC arm) will be put toward completing development and initial field deployment of solar modules to some customers of the company's utility-scale module technology. Czech 13MW PV plant to use Yingli Green Energy modules European solar integrator SAG Solarstrom AG is building the Czech Republic's largest PV project (a 13MW plant) using PV modules from Yingli Green Energy. SEE ALSO: - Yingli, Recurrent Energy ink c-Si module supply deal - US firm opens c-Si PV module plant in Germany TECHNOLOGY NEWS Bond testing of solar cell interconnections Bond testing, which measures the force required to destroy mechanical connections, is poised to play an important role in evaluating the mechanical integrity of interconnects in back-contact solar cells. Ascent Solar eyeing DoE funds for CIGS improvements The company is angling for a $315K project to explore replacing the standard window layer (and eventually all top layers) of a CIGS device with ZnMgO, to improve performance and lower costs. Report: Japan firms boosting solar-cell tech Sanyo and Panasonic are leading the charge to help Japan wrestle the top spot for solar-cell technology from Europe, according to a local press report. Home Articles Contact Us Events Advertise Resource Guide

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