ISSUE 2 - DEC 2008
INTERNATIONAL PHOTOVOLTAIC EQUIPMENT ASSOCIATION
NEWS BRIEFS Apart from the sale of individual components for solar module production, the group will in future continue the expansion of its Production Line division by, among other things, cooperating with system integrators. 3S Swiss Solar Systems has been operating a first semi-automatic production line since spring of this year at its own technical centre. The centre in Lyss serves not only as a test facility for customers but also as a training line. Here, 3S Swiss Solar Systems AG also produces its own modules for building-integrated solar systems.
MONOCRYSTALLINE SILICON SOLAR CELLS PRODUCTION LINE IN THE U.S. Suniva Inc., a manufacturer of high value monocrystalline silicon solar cells, announced on Nov. 4 that it began production of solar cells on its new 32MWp line in Norcross, Georgia. The company also revealed plans to install a second production line next year with twice the manufacturing capacity of its first, bringing total production capacity of the Norcross facility to 96MWp by the middle of 2009. The first factory will eventually feature a total capacity of about 175 MWp by early 2010, according to the company. The newly completed 32MW line produces Suniva’s ARTisun solar cells, which are then delivered to module manufacturers to be assembled into some of the industry’s most efficient solar modules. Suniva currently sells solar cells produced at the Norcross facility under existing customer contracts with companies including Solon AG and Titan Energy Systems LTD., totaling more than $1 billion. Suniva will continue the partnership with centrotherm photovoltaics AG, international providers of technology and services, for the production of solar cells and solar silicon, to design and integrate a second, larger production line at the Norcross facility.
VC FIRM BULLISH ON SOLAR PV MARKET U.S. venture capital firm Khosla Ventures has invested in more than 70 companies specializing in clean technology. “This year, solar thin film has been very hot, with billion-dollar valuations for low-efficiency PV solutions,” Khosla operating partner Ford Tamer in September told the International Herald Tribune. Though most of his firm’s investments have been in the United States, Tamer said Khosla Ventures, which is based in Menlo Park, California, was now looking to invest internationally. According to Cleantech Group, a research firm that tracks investments in environmental energy, venture capital firms invested $2.6 billion in the sector in the third quarter of this year, an all-time record and a 37 percent increase from a year earlier. U.S. companies received $1.75 billion in the quarter, while the European tally was $742 million and Chinese companies raised $111 million. Khosla Ventures was one of the top five investors for the quarter, according to Brian Fan, senior director of research at Cleantech.
PEOPLE NEWS OERLIKON SOLAR has announced the appointment of Robert Gattereder to the position of senior vice president, new business. Gattereder brings more than 15 years of operational experience with global industrial companies to the newly created position located in Truebbach at Oerlikon Solar’s headquarters. Gattereder has held senior management positions in finance, procurement, marketing and business development in both, the solar industry and industrial infrastructure business and has more than a decade of entrepreneurial experience within the renewable energy market. In his new position, Gattereder will be pursuing business expansion opportunities for Oerlikon Solar. Gattereder’s functional experience spans over 15 years in management positions, including eight years with MW Zander. In the last six years he has focused increasingly on the solar business. Under his leadership MW Zander developed an independent business unit directly focusing on solar technology related infrastructure business.
DIAMOND WIRE TECHNOLOGY (DWT) recently hired two executives and promoted another. Bryan Decker was hired as sales manager, North American territory. Decker comes to DWT with 23 years of sales, management, and ownership expertise in the retail and wholesale marine industry. He has owned and operated several marine retail facilities in the Colorado and Arizona markets. Diamond Wire also appointed Dale Tanner as its materials manager. Tanner comes to DWT with 30 years of experience managing various facets of manufacturing with an emphasis on operations, systems development and implementation, project management, quality, ISO certification, continual improvement processes, materials management, supply chain management, production planning and purchasing, lean manufacturing work flow, business development, forecasting, budgeting and cost containment. Diamond Wire promoted Dick Archer to saw division engineering manager. Archer has been with DWT since 2000 and has provided expertise in the areas of manufacturing and engineering to include: plant management, production management, engineering management, field service engineering, process engineering and project management. Prior to joining DWT, Archer had 20-plus years of experience working with a wide range of start-up and mid-sized manufacturing companies in the Midwest. Archer’s background in slicing technologies, heavy industrial equipment, and custom machine tools will prove instrumental as DWT launches a new line of value-added cropping and slicing tools for the solar industry. Diamond Wire also appointed Brian Larabee as its vice president of sales and marketing. Larabee previously was with Rohm and Haas in Phoenix, AZ. He’s also held various leadership roles for Honeywell Electronic Materials, Koch Industries, Sigma-Aldrich and Baxter Diagnostics, representing more than 18 years of experience serving the semiconductor, (adjacent) electronics, biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. Member companies are encouraged to send in their staff hirings to: news@ipvea.com
FORECAST: THE OVERALL PV MARKET WILL GROW AT A COMPOUND ANNUAL GROWTH RATE OF 73% PERCENT FROM 2007 THROUGH 2011, WITH CRYSTALLINE SILICON GROWING AT 69% AND THIN FILM AT 101%, ACCORDING TO MARKET DATA PRESENTED BY OERLIKON SOLAR. THE THIN FILM EQUIPMENT MARKET WILL OFFER STRONG OPPORTUNITIES OVER THE NEXT FIVE YEARS, GROWING FROM $1.3 BILLION IN 2006 TO A FORECASTED $13 BILLION BY 2011. SOURCE: OERLIKON SOLAR
IPVEA NEWSLETTER - ISSUE 2 - DECEMBER 2008
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