Tag Archives: semiconductors
LDK Solar Defaults on Convertible Notes
On the heels of Suntech’s bankruptcy last month, LDK Solar Company Ltd. (Xinyu City, China) failed to make full payments of $23.8 million-worth of 4.75% convertible notes due this year. LDK was able to reach a private agreement on some cash payments and payment postponement with two other holders of $16.6M in notes. The company [...]
Japanese Solar Bubble: In The Cards?
It’s been a big year for global renewable energy development as Japan announced its intention to phase on nuclear energy and instead rely heavily on clean energy sources. Recent clean energy subsidies in the county sparked $2 billion in clean energy investments in just two months while the Japanese government predicts a “$640 billion spending boom” [...]
Ascent Solar Lands Pilot Program at Foxconn
Ascent Solar, a thin-film manufacturer based in Thornton, Colo., has penned an agreement to provide solar panels to major electronics manufacturer Foxconn in China. The agreement is for a small pilot project, said Ascent president and CEO Victor Lee. Foxconn’s name will be printed in Ascent Solar’s CIGS thin-film solar photovoltaic panels across its canvas [...]
Making PV Solar from any Semiconducting Material
It’s a new way to think about photovoltaic materials that could lead to less-costly PV. Instead of doping silicon or other materials with semiconductors to create a PV cell, the method, called screening-engineered field-effect photovoltaics (SFPV) relies on the electric field effect. This allows a wider range, and likely a less expensive range of materials [...]
The Evolution of Etch Microcircuits
Etch: A very short word for a hugely important technology, without which there would be no microchips. Etch is the process by which images of circuit features printed on a silicon wafer are engraved into the films below. Put another way, etch makes circuits real. Last week, I blogged about how our latest innovations in [...]
Memories of 300mm Semiconductor Fabs
I ran across an old issue of Future Fab International – Issue 6 – that I have had since it was published in 1998. I helped write an article that was published in this issue titled “Complete System Integration is Crucial to the Success of 300mm Manufacturing.” The article looked at changes that would be [...]
Robots That Build Semiconductors for Solar Cells at NREL
Scientists at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Colorado have installed sixmultitasking robots that can build semiconductors for solar cells onsix-inch-square plates of glass, plastic or flexible metals in just over half an hour. These tireless mechanical workers will also allow private companies to come and test their newest technologies for creatingbetter solar cells. [...]