Modules & Upstream Manufacturing

Following negotiations, Spain-based Isofoton and Hong Kong company HKSilicon are to build what they say is one of the world’s biggest polysilicon factories.

GCL-Poly (Suzhou) New Energy Limited and Goldpoly New Energy Holdings Limited will build a 300 megawatt (MW) photovoltaic wafer plant in Quanzhou, China.

Q-Cells SE has achieved a polycrystalline solar cell efficiency of 19.5 percent. The results have been confirmed by the Fraunhofer ISE Institute for Solar Energy Systems, based in Freiburg, Germany.

Canadian Solar Inc and GCL-Poly subsidiary Suzhou GCL Photovoltaic Technology Co., Ltd. are to build a 600 megawatt (MW) photovoltaic wafer manufacturing plant in China. The ability to expand capacity to 1.2 gigawatts (GW) will exist.

Morgan Solar Inc. has secured USD$16.5 million in the first tranche of its Series B funding round. It aims to use the funds to make its Sun Simba concentrated photovoltaic modules commercially viable.

United Solar will open its new USD$12 million, 15 megawatt (MW) thin film facility in LaSalle, Ontario today. Up to 80 new jobs are expected to be created.

SolarWorld AG has opened Germany’s largest photovoltaic module manufacturing facility. The capacity expansion takes the company’s annual production from 170 megawatts (MW) to 600. Over 250 extra jobs are also expected to be created.

GT Solar International, Inc. has received a $228 million order from OCI Company, Ltd. for its polysilicon production equipment and technology. It is said to be the company’s largest to date.

Marking its entry into the North American market, Schmid has sold a 60 megawatt photovoltaic module line to Ontario-based Magnum Pv.

Tianwei New Energy (Yangzhou) is to supply Germany-based Pairan with 280 megawatts (MW) of photovoltaic modules over the next two years. The company also announced its factory expansion plans.