Standardization within the PV equipment supply chain remains a challenge, but production trends over the next few years may provide some salvation. Coherent's Finlay Colville presents three scenarios for PV cell production that impact differently on equipment and process standardization, and how the supply chain can play a proactive role.
Heinz Kundert from SEMI Europe explains why PV manufacturing equipment should remain excluded from proposed changes to European regulations on the Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS), and calls for industry and government collaboration to fully understand those changes' intended and unintended consequences.
Advanced chemicals and materials used to make PV solar cells and modules continue to establish a foothold, poised to grow to about $14B by 2015, according to an industry analyst.
Coherent's Finlay Colville examines cell makers' decisions to expand capacity or retrofit production lines through turn-key vs. custom-built line, and how this evolution offers different levels of opportunity and engagement for the PV equipment supply chain.
Solar PV cell production output for 2009 reveals an ongoing segmentation in both crystalline silicon (c-Si) and thin-film manufacturing approaches, with clear distinctions emerging regarding low cost and high efficiency. Coherent's Finlay Colville explains these trends and the direct implications for production-line tooling down through the supply chain.
Q-Cells CEO Anton Milner has resigned from both his leading executive role and as board member, apparently as a "consequence" of the company's performance in the wake of a lousy year for the solar industry.
SunEdison has received final approval from the Italian government to build a 72MW PV solar power plant in northeastern Italy near Rovigo, what will be the largest PV solar plant in Europe, surpassing a 60MW farm in Spain and a 50MW plant in Germany (another MEMC project).
Toshiba is setting its sights on the domestic Japanese home solar system market, signing a third-party US panel supplier to help build the cornerstone of a new residential solar offering.
PV solar installations are expected to soar in 2010, but erosion in average selling prices (ASP) seen in 2009 will continue to squeeze profits and intensify industry competition, according to an industry analyst's report.
In a slump year that still managed 13% growth, the PV industry witnessed a key regional shift in supply that will cause a rethinking of how PV shipments should be analyzed -- thanks to China/Taiwan, where price points for both cells and modules give a distinct advantage, writes Paula Mints from Navigant Consulting.
