NanoVoltaix Company Blog (Solar)

Reuters
EE Times Europe

TOKYO - Japan's Sharp Corp, Italy's Enel SpA and a third partner are likely to invest more than $2.6 billion in Italian solar power ventures to tap growing demand for cleaner energy despite a global economic slowdown.

Top solar power firms are hurrying to expand capacity even as the sector smarts from a worsening global economy, which is drying up financing for new ventures, forcing smaller solar power firms to push back capex plans and putting pressure on big players to recoup their investments faster.

Sharp, the world's No.2 maker of solar cells, said on last Thursday it and Italy's largest power company Enel planned to spend about 100 billion yen ($1.05 billion) to set up solar power generating plants in Italy with a total generating capacity of 189 megawatts by the end of 2012.

The two and another manufacturer also plan to build a factory in Italy to produce thin-film solar cells, with an initial investment of at least 72 billion yen, it said. That could grow to more than 150 billion yen when the factory reaches full capacity of about 1 gigawatts.

Sharp is stepping up investment and overhauling its business model in an effort to retake market share from No.1 solar cell maker Q-Cells of Germany, whose aggressive capital spending plans outstrip those of its rivals.

The consumer electronics maker is reinventing itself as a device maker, supplying or planning to supply liquid crystal display panels to Japanese TV makers such as Sony Corp, Pioneer Corp and Toshiba Corp.

It will now sell equipment to the joint venture and charge fees for its technology and solar operations know-how, in a step towards becoming an all-rounder in the solar power industry, its Executive Vice President Toshishige Hamano told a news conference.

Sharp, which cut its annual profit outlook by one-third in October, could boost its sales in the short-term by selling its technology and any equipment it develops in a joint venture with semiconductor equipment maker Tokyo Electron Ltd.

But that could hurt its brand and deplete its technological edge in the long-run, an analyst said.

"With LCD prices sliding, Sharp is under more pressure to recover its initial investment quickly, and the temptation for a quick fix is understandable," said Yoshihisa Toyosaki, President of J-Star Global Inc, an IT consultancy in Japan.

"But this raises the cost performance of rivals with lower personnel costs and government backing. It is not a strategy for a company with decades of experience and an established brand," he said.

In the future, Sharp also plans to step up production of silicon wafers and tie-up with a major U.S. polysilicon supplier to help it secure a steady supply of silicon starting in 2010.

Sharp previously said it would take a 34 percent in the solar power generating venture, with Enel holding the rest, but it later retracted the statement to say that nothing has been decided, other than that Sharp will take a minority stake.

Sharp will also take a minority stake in the solar cell venture, which will have an initial output of 480 megawatts.

Capex at Sharp, which also plans a solar plant in Japan at a cost of 72 billion yen with an initial output of 480 megawatts by March 2010, still lags Q-Cells, which has said it plans to raise capacity to 1,000 megawatts in 2009 and 2,500 megawatts in 2010.

The global downturn is beginning to hurt the industry, though. No.3 solar cell maker Suntech Power Holdings Co of China cut its sales forecast last week.

Shares of Sharp ended up 3.7 percent, outperforming the Tokyo bourse's electrical machinery index, which rose 0.9 percent. ($1=95.20 Yen) (Reporting by Mayumi Negishi, Nathan Layne and Taiga Uranaka; Editing by Hugh Lawson)

Anne-Francoise Pele
EE Times Europe

PARIS — The economic crisis will impact significantly solar panel sales, starting with weakened average selling prices and order delays or cancellations, according to market research group The Information Network (New Tripoli, PA.)

The solar panel market is set to contract in 2009 because of the slowdown in economic growth and the credit crunch, stated Dr. Castellano, president of The Information Network. "Newly installed solar capacity will reach only 7.1 GWatts in 2009, equivalent to a global growth rate of 26 percent, down from our forecast of 49-percent growth earlier this year."

The market research firm said it expects panel prices will fall between 20 to 30 percent in 2009 as global supply of polysilicon doubles. The solar panel market is due to recover in 2010, with a 48-percent growth to 10.5 GWatts of newly-installed PV systems.

According to The Information Network, the thin-film sector, which includes amorphous silicon, CdTe, and CIGS, will account for 17.8 percent of the market in 2009 and for 20.2 percent of the market in 2010.

"The surge in thin-film panels was a result of a severe shortage of polysilicon wafers used to make high efficiency solar panels," stated Dr. Castellano. "This factor, combined with macroeconomic factors will redirect the revenue stream for the industry in the near term, but its impact will last longer"

First Solar, the market research firm illustrated, produces its CdTe cells at an average cost per watt of $1.12, and sells them at an average price per watt of $2.45. Applied Materials is selling thin-film equipment for amorphous silicon panels with a $1.56 per watt total production cost. Polysilicon panels are selling in the $5 per watt range.

source: http://www.azhttp.com/

TEMPE, Ariz. - A wide range of alternative and renewable energy technologies will be discussed at the Arizona Workshop on Renewable Energy, Nov. 17 to 19, at ASU’s Memorial Union on the Tempe campus.

The meeting will cover a wide range of renewable energy technologies, including solar cells, bioenergy, new materials and new ways to store energy. It also will cover technology commercialization, renewable energy education programs and social acceptance of these new technologies.

“Finding and developing sustainable forms of energy represents one of the greatest challenges we face today,” says Stephen Goodnick, ASU’s associate vice president of research and director of the Arizona Institute for Renewable Energy, one of the conference sponsors. “Energy is vital to our economy and our national security, not to mention the health of our planet.”

The aim of the Arizona Workshop on Renewable Energy is to highlight cutting edge research on new renewable sources of energy, to identify barriers to the deployment of renewable energy, and to address the educational needs of training the next generation workforce for an emerging renewable energy industry, added Goodnick.

Specific topics that will be covered include: biofuels from photosynthetic bacteria; holographic concepts and applications for solar energy systems; bio-inspired approaches to solar energy conversion; modeling and simulation of advanced materials for hydrogen storage; high efficiency multi-junction solar cells; renewable technology challenges from a utility perspective; public trust of novel energy systems; and architectural challenges for renewable energy. The workshop also includes sessions on renewable energy education, and the societal issues and impacts to the development of renewable energy.

In addition to the presentations, the conference will include poster sessions, tutorials and vendor exhibits. The meeting is sponsored by ASU’s Arizona Institute for Renewable Energy, the Global Institute of Sustainability, APS, Arizona Department of Commerce, City of Tempe, Green Fuel Solar, NanoVoltaix Inc. and Sol Equity.

SANTA CLARITA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--BioSolar, Inc. (OTCBB:BSRC), developer of a breakthrough technology to produce bio-based materials from renewable plant sources that reduce the cost of photovoltaic solar cells, today announced that the company expects to begin commercial production of its BioBacksheet™ over the next few months, and is gearing up for pre-production runs.

The announcement follows recent news reports, including a feature in Solar Daily, that BioSolar has filed a comprehensive patent application ensuring BioSolar full protection on its breakthrough BioBacksheet technology.

“The ability to evaluate and remedy real-time issues encountered during multiple pre-production manufacturing runs will prove invaluable as we gear up for full-scale production,” said Dr. David Lee, BioSolar’s CEO.

Lee explained, “Pre-production pilot runs of BioBacksheets are very narrow, approximately one foot wide, while normal manufacturing runs will be five or six feet wide. Once pilot runs are successful, the next step is to transition to commercial production manufacturing runs. Physical properties of the backsheet from each pre-production run are measured, sample PV modules are produced, and tested before repeating the preproduction run.”

“These tests will provide the feedback necessary to move forward into full production of the BioBacksheet,” said Dr. Stanley Levy, BioSolar’s CTO. "We are extremely pleased with the progress so far, and we look forward to the successful transition into full scale production in the near future.”

In a September report, and the October 10 edition of California Energy Circuit, Beacon Equity Research analyst Victor Sula noted that previous attempts to make solar backsheet with bioplastics failed due to the material’s “low melting temperature and fragile molecular structure.” He noted that BioSolar’s material has “overcome these constraints” with “durability characteristics similar to conventional petroleum-based plastics.”

The recent activity reinforces BioSolar’s position at the forefront of providing advanced bio-based alternatives to the expensive petroleum-based backsheets currently in use, which have been actively sought by manufacturers as a component of solar panels.