Manufacturing

Idea Polysilicon Company (IPC) has selected Germany’s centrotherm SiTec GmbH to supply basic engineering services and the technology concept for its new 10,000 ton polysilicon factory, to be located in Saudi Arabia’s Yanbu.

SunConcept Group, which designs, installs and operates photovoltaic systems, has filed for insolvency with Germany’s Limburg District Court, after seven of its subsidiaries went bankrupt. A total of 100 employees have been affected.

According to one research company, the photovoltaic inverter industry experienced a “record” year in 2011, with shipments increasing by up to 15 percent year-on-year. Meanwhile, a second has reported that growth actually declined by one percent from 2010.

An explanatory statement for the proposed law has now been presented. In it, the German Federal Ministry of Economics explains the planned steps to a new regulation of solar promotion. It remains unclear what the actual construction target of the Federal Government is, i.e. whether its 33.3 or 52 gigawatts (GW) of installed photovoltaic capacity.

In a bid to strengthen its U.S. presence, Taiwan-based AU Optronics Corp. has acquired a nine megawatt (MW) photovoltaic project in the state of Pennsylvania. The company has also officially launched its modules on the U.S. market.

Admitting that its photovoltaic business has been negatively affected by the weak market conditions in 2011, Roth & Rau has said it will close a number of its subsidiaries and “significantly” reduce its workforce by the end of the first half of 2012.

According to media reports, Bosch has delayed its plans to build a photovoltaic manufacturing facility in Penang, Malaysia, due to the turbulent solar market conditions.

U.S.-based Satcon Technology Corporation and Chinese company, Great Wall Computer Company Limited (GWPC) have formed a partnership under which Satcon says it will be able to capitalize on an estimated 14 gigawatts (GW) of utility scale photovoltaic projects in China.

Parabel AG has announced that it will begin preliminary works on its 100 megawatt (MW) photovoltaic project in Germany’s Brandenburg region at the end of the month.

Following months of negotiations, Germany’s solarhybrid AG has acquired Solar Millennium AG’s 2.25 gigawatt (GW) U.S. photovoltaic pipeline.