Markets & Trends

Global photovoltaic (PV) cell production grew last year by 51% from 7.1 gigawatts (GW) in 2008 to 10.7 GW in 2009, according to a research note published by GTM Research.

Prime Sun Power Inc. (PSP) has entered into a Strategic Investment Agreement with Bangkok Solar Power Co., Ltd. (BSP) to acquire up to 6,639,063 shares – worth €40 million (USD$49.5 million) – of PSP Common Stock at a price of €7.73 per share. All shares issued to BSP will be subject to a lock-up period until December 31, 2013.

Germany’s Bundesrat upper house of parliament is unlikely to pass cuts to solar incentives, so a mediation committee would be needed to resolve the matter, government sources have told Reuters.

The photovoltaics (PV) market is expected to rapidly expand in the Asian Pacific region within the next few years, prompting the formation of a new Asian Pacific PV Industry Council (APPIC).

The China Energy Conservation and Environmental Protection Group (CECEP) has announced plans to build a five megawatt (MW) utility-scale PV power plant in Inner Mongolia using silicon-based thin film solar modules.

The number of U.S. solar manufacturing plants is expected to “skyrocket” within the next few years. Cell capacity is also predicted to reach four gigawatts (GWs) by the end of 2012.

The Indian solar photovoltaics (PV) market is predicted to grow five-fold over the next few years and will become a global player by 2022.

Façades with integrated photovoltaics (PV) systems could be cheaper than traditional construction materials, according to the first Bodensee Symposium on Architecture and Solar Technology, which took place in Konstanz, Germany.

SEMI PV Group has announced that the first annual North American Fab Managers Forum will be held at Intersolar North America 2010 in San Francisco, California on July 12.

A U.S. industry consortium is investigating the viability of concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) technology for terrestrial power generation in Hawaii, the U.S.