News

Thin-film silicon solar photovoltaic module manufacturer Signet Solar has announced plans to ultimately produce 1 gigawatt (GW) in annual production of solar modules over the next ten years at a new plant to be built in India at an estimated final cost of approximately $2 billion U.S. dollars.

Ex-Nanometrics Vice President of advanced technology Dr. Steven G.Hummel has been enlisted to the PV Powered team as vice president ofengineering.  His new role will see him focus specifically on productdevelopment for the solar solutions company.

Roth & Rau has won a follow-on order for a turnkey 60 MWp solar cell line for Grupo Pevafersa based in Toro, Spain. The line is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2008 and is being valued at €20 million.

HelioVolt Corporation CEO Dr. B.J. Stanbery (pictured) has announcedthe appointment of two new vice presidents in preparation for thecompany’s expansion plans. Ex-Applied Materials managing director ofmaterials Larry Peruffo is set to take up the role of VP of HelioVolt’ssupply chain, while Essilor Laboratories’ former VP of operations andtechnology, David Bowen, has been named as VP of manufacturingoperations.

NexTech Solutions and FAS Technologies have said that they plan tomerge in the current quarter in an effort to pool resources and expandtheir customer base via current diverse sales channels.

BP Solar has started construction of a 300MW solar cell plant in TresCantos, Madrid, Spain. Phase 1 of the new plant will have an annualcell capacity of 55MW with a total planned capacity of 300MW. The firstline expected to be fully operational in 3Q07.

As part of its attempt to become a shining light in the fast emerging solar energy manufacturing market, Applied Materials wants to lead by example and so has announced that it will be installing over 1.9 megawatts of solar power generation capability at its research campus in Sunnyvale, California.

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) scientists have produced anoptical coating with almost the same refractive index as air (NaturePhotonics, March 2007). This means that its light reflection propertiesare practically zero. RPI claims a world record by decreasing thereflectivity compared to conventional anti-reflection coatings by anorder of magnitude.

Hoku Materials, a division of Hoku Scientific, plans to build a $220million polysilicon production plant in Pocatello, Idaho. CH2M HILLLockwood Greene will build the facility, according to Hoku, and willcreate 200 jobs.

Applied Materials, Inc., via its venture capital fund, Applied Ventures, LLC has invested $3.0 million US dollars in Solaicx, a privately owned manufacturer of single-crystal silicon wafers specifically designed for the solar photovoltaic (PV) industry.