Tag Archives: silicon
Suntech, Calisolar Constructing Solar Silicon Fab In Ontario $STP
Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd and Calisolar Inc., an integratedmanufacturer of solar silicon, wafers and cells, have signed a letter of intent to construct a solar silicon manufacturing facility in Vaughan,Ontario. Once completed, the manufacturing facility will add newoperators and engineers and will significantly expand the existingmanufacturing operations in Vaughan, doubling total employment atCalisolar’s wholly [...]
The X-Change Corp. announces acquisition of 21-Century Silicon
The X-Change Corp. announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire 21-Century Silicon, Inc., based in Richardson, TX. The terms of the acquisition will involve a change in control of theCompany and the appointment of new directors. X-Change will issue20,000,000 shares of restricted stock to the shareholders of 21-CenturySilicon in exchange for 100 percent [...]
The Bankability of Thin Film Silicon
A curious thing happened in the solar market in 2010. Relativelyexpensive modules from well-established manufacturers sold well, whileless expensive modules from startup firms did not sell as well. Why diddevelopers pay more? Modules from the established firms had demonstrated excellent, predictable energy production over many years. In contrast,startups had not built this data set for [...]
When Solyndra is Cheaper Than Silicon
To most solar installers and manufacturers, the roof on a building is generally an obstacle. For Solyndra and its small number of installers, it has become the secret sauce. The way the roof interacts with Solyndra’s unusual tubular solarmodule — and the legal and technical implications that flow from thatinteraction — has created an opportunity [...]
Imec reports large-area silicon solar cells with high efficiency
At the 25th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference (Valencia,Spain), imec presents several large-area silicon solar cells with aconversion efficiency above 19 percent. Two types of cells wererealized namely with Ag-screenprinted contacts and plated Cu-contacts.Efficiencies of cells with screenprinted contacts were up to 19.1percent, whereas 19.4 percent was obtained with Cu-plated contacts. These high efficiencies were [...]
Black Silicon is Back, and Ready to Rage
Black silicon has been around so long, it’s hard to remember it hasn’t come out yet. Black silicon in short refers to silicon wafers rutted with billionsof tiny, nano-scale pits. The irregular surface effectively traps alarger percentage of photons by preventing light from reflecting,similar to how holes in ceiling tiles absorb sound. In theory, thisgives [...]
The Fate of Amorphous Silicon Solar
Greentech Media and GTM Research have led the packin questioning the viability of amorphous silicon in photovoltaicapplications — especially in chronicling the spectacular faceplant of Silicon Valley semiconductor giant, Applied Materials, their customers, and their a-Si photovoltaic efforts. We’ve been less dismissive concerning Oerlikon’s efforts in a-Si because in our many conversations with Chris O’Brien, [...]
Crystalline Silicon PV Efficiency Leaders
So much attention gets focused on thin film aroundthese here parts that it’s easy to forget that crystalline silicon(c-Si) PV still makes up more than three-fourths of the module market(for more details on this, you can find our free research note on 2009cell and module production here). To some extent, this is understandable: the obvious [...]
Korean Delegation Visits Silicon Valley
Applied Materials, in partnership with the Korean UniversityCouncil for Social Service, hosted 20 engineering students from variousuniversities in Korea as part of a Global Leadership Program. Thestudents traveled to the U.S. to learn about the high-tech industry, new technologies and corporate social responsibility. While at Applied, the students learned about the business, met with executives, [...]
Ron Kenedi of Sharp Solar Discusses Amorphous Silicon
Reporting from the Intersolar Solar show in SanFrancisco, California — I spoke with Ron Kenedi, Vice President of Sharp’s Solar Energy Solutions Group. Kenedi has been in the solarbusiness for a while. Prior to Sharp, he worked at Kyocera, and heremembers the bad old days when solar was "a pre-niche market — a gleam in [...]
Innovalight to Double Silicon Ink Efficiency
Innovalight boasts that it will be able to double the solar potency of itsnanocrystalline silicon ink as soon as next year. By 2012, additional improvements should push the efficiency of amainstream crystalline solar cell using the ink to above 20 percent. Conrad Burke, chief executive of the Sunnyvale, CA company, said thecompany’s silicon ink today [...]
California’s Silicon Valley: A Center for Greentech Growth!
In the not so distant past it was the silicon valley that was one ofthe best examples of American ingenuity and progress in technology, andour drive to usher change to the rest of the world. But now that manyother countries outcompete silicon valley in making simple electronicsand computers there has been a need to get [...]