Industry & Suppliers

Centrosolar France, the French subsidiary of Centrosolar Group AG, has completed three sloping-roof solar plant projects, worth a total of a €4 million in the southern French region of Ardeche. The company says it has achieved a new record for sloping-roof plants by installing over 5,000 modules.

SunPower Corp. and Solar Ventures S.r.l., a developer of solar parks in Italy, France and the Mediterranean area, have signed a contract to design and build three solar power plants in the Piedmont region of Italy. Totaling 11.1 megawatts (MW) over 30 hectares, the companies say the development represents one of the largest solar power developments in the region. Construction on the plants is due to start this month and is expected to be completed by the end of the year.

Switzerland-based Meyer Burger Ltd and Hennecke Systems GmbH have successfully concluded a contract of over CHF 60 million (around USD$57 million, €44.3 million) for wire saws, ID-saws and wafer inspection systems with mono- and multi-crystalline solar wafer manufacturer Nexolon in Korea.

Solexant Corp. has announced it is to locate its first commercial-scale 100 megawatt (MW) nanocrystal manufacturing facility in the city of Gresham, Oregon, the U.S. The plant, it says, will be Oregon’s first thin film solar manufacturing plant and the largest nanotechnology manufacturing facility in the world.

Yingli Green Energy Italia Srl has signed a photovoltaics (PV) module sales agreement with Tecno Spot, whereby Tecno Spot will purchase approximately six megawatts (MW) of PV modules from Yingli through the end of this year. Tecno Spot is also committed to purchasing an additional 10-20 MW of PV modules by the end of next year.

China-based Solarfun Power Holdings Co., Ltd. has announced that Jiangsu Linyang Solarfun Co., Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Solarfun, has obtained a credit facility in the amount not exceeding RMB6 billion (around USD$885 million, €691 million), or an equivalent amount of foreign currency, from Bank of Shanghai, Nanjing branch. The contract has a term of five years.

Colexon Energy AG has secured a 7.2 megawatt (MW) solar energy system portfolio in the Czech Republic. EnerCap Power Fund is the investor for the €20 million project.??

Applied Materials, Inc. has announced its plans to restructure its Energy and Environmental Solutions (EES) segment, to put a primary emphasis on opportunities in crystalline silicon (c-Si) solar and advanced energy, including light emitting diode (LED) technology. As part of the restructuring, Applied says it will discontinue sales to new customers of its SunFab fully integrated lines for manufacturing thin film solar panels.

Utility-scale solar is set to be a big new trend, Brad Meikle, senior analyst and managing director of Renewable Analytics has told pv magazine. He also issued pricing advice on how module manufacturers can create a larger market for themselves.

Premier Power Renewable Energy, Inc. is set to build 1.9 megawatts (MW) of solar electric generating capacity in greater Los Angeles, the U.S. at two locations for Puma North America, lessee of Brookvale International, LLC. The two buildings, in Carson and Torrance, are part of Puma North America’s warehouse and distribution facilities.