Most Viewed Articles for the Week of November 10, 2008

The poor business climate led this week’s hit list. Applied Materials had a decent quarter, but executives said recent order cancellations would cause them to lay off 12% of its workforce. Readers also were drawn to a potpourri of more technical stories, including a detailed look at the latest AMD vs. Intel duel, and IBM’s 45 nm SOI foundry move. Stories about quantum computing and touch panel displays rounded out the list. More

Applied Sees Sharp Order Reductions, Plans Layoff of 1800 Workers
David Lammers, News Editor -- Semiconductor International, 11/12/2008

Applied Materials will lay off ~1800 employees as demand for equipment continues to drop. Although fiscal fourth quarter performance exceeded expectations, Applied saw a 30% reduction in orders during the quarter ending Oct. 26. Although Applied is shipping its thin-film solar equipment to seven SunFab customers that have secured financing, the situation is less clear for future customers. More

PV Raw Material Prices to Shrink in 2009
Suzanne Deffree, Managing Editor, News -- Electronic News, 11/14/2008

More than 60 companies have announced plans to produce polysilicon by 2009, up from just seven in 2007. On that, pricing for polysilicon used to create photovoltaic cells is expected to drop starting in 2009 because of imbalances in the solar supply chain, iSuppli reports. More

Obama Plans Could Boost U.S. Solar Development, Demand
Suzanne Deffree, Managing Editor, News -- Electronic News, 11/10/2008

President-Elect Barack Obama's New Energy for America plan could have a significant impact on the U.S. solar industry, according to Gartner Research Director James Hines. More

Large Solar Companies to Weather Solar Industry Shakeout
Michael V. Copeland -- Fortune, 11/10/2008

The solar industry has taken a beating in the market lately, but a few standouts may shine in the long run. More

Hoku Secures Silicon Metal Supplies for Polysilicon Production
Marketwire, 11/13/2008

Hoku Materials signed a silicon metal supply agreement with Polymet Alloys Inc. Hoku plans to use the metallurgical-grade silicon for the manufacture of trichlorosilane, a key raw material in the production of solar-grade polysilicon using the Siemens process. More

Semiconductor Industry Helps to Green Solar
Sia Abbaszadeh, Edwards, Crawley, UK -- Semiconductor International, 11/1/2008

Not only must the photovoltaics industry work to reach grid parity, but it must also maintain an environmentally sound manufacturing profile so as not to negate the benefits of solar's clean energy. More

Scaling PECVD for Large-Area Solar Cells
Shuran Sheng, Yong Kee Chae, Liwei Li, Jeff Su and Xiesen Yang, Applied Materials, Santa Clara, Calif. -- Semiconductor International, 11/1/2008

Thin-film solar modules based on amorphous and microcrystalline silicon are emerging as leading solutions for low-cost, large-scale photovoltaic (PV) applications. Gigawatt-scale production of these modules requires large-area uniformity and high deposition rates of the absorber layers. More

Racing to Excellence in PV Manufacturing
Bettina Weiss, Director of SEMI International Standards -- Semiconductor International, 11/1/2008

The global photovoltaics (PV) manufacturing value chain is complex and diverse. Understanding the various factors -- governments, markets, regulations, technologies, grid cost, etc. -- as well as providing solutions that contribute to better value chain management and sustainability of the overall system are significant tasks that need to be addressed. More

Kyocera Plans New Solar Cell Plant
Business Wire, 11/14/2008

Kyocera announced plans to build a large-scale solar cell manufacturing facility in Yasu City, Japan. Combined with its existing Yohkaichi plant, the new facility will permit the company to more than double its annual production of solar cells -- from this year's projected output of 300 MW to 650 MW by March 2012. The new plant will manufacture Kyocera's new back-contact cell, which yields 18.5% energy conversion efficiency. More

Japan Releases Action Plan for Solar Power Promotion
Jiji Press Ticker Service, 11/11/2008

Japan's government unveiled an action plan that promotes the use of solar power cells at private homes and public facilities such as schools and expressways. The plan is aimed at combating global warming and stimulating economic growth at the same time, officials said. More

Applied Materials Building Solar R&D center in Xi'an
Xinhua Economic News Service, 11/11/2008

Applied Materials Inc. kicked off the construction of its global solar energy R&D center in Xi'an, capital of Northwest China's Shaanxi Province. More

NanoGram and TEL Enter Thin-Film Photovoltaics JDA
Business Wire, 11/11/2008

NanoGram Corp. has extended its relationship with Tokyo Electron Ltd. from strategic investor to technology and market development partner. The joint development agreement will focus on developing advanced thin-film deposition tools based on NanoGram's laser reactive deposition (LRD) process for silicon. More

Thin-Film Solar Cells May Squeeze Indium and Gallium Markets
Kieran Leahy -- Metal Bulletin Daily Alerts, 11/6/2008

Demand for indium for use in third-generation thin-film solar cells by 2010 is set to reach 150 tons per year, >25% of the current primary indium supply, and enough to drive the market into deficit. More

LG Electronics Drops Solar Cell JV Plan With Conergy
Asia Pulse, 11/7/2008

LG Electronics Inc. said it has scrapped a plan to set up a solar cell joint venture with Germany's Conergy AG due to the current global financial crisis. More

RPI Researchers Develop Near-Perfect Solar Antireflective Coating
States News Service, 11/3/2008

Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed an antireflective coating that boosts the amount of sunlight captured by solar panels and allows those panels to absorb the entire solar spectrum from nearly any angle. More

REC CEO Says Singapore Project Financing a Concern
Ronnie Lim -- The Business Times Singapore, 11/1/2008

Norway's Renewable Energy Corporation (REC), which has started building in Singapore what will be the world's largest solar cell manufacturing complex, is watching closely the gathering dark clouds from the financial crisis. More

Intel Invests $20M in China-Based Cleantech Start-up
Suzanne Deffree, Managing Editor, News -- Electronic News, 10/29/2008

Making its first two cleantech investments in China, Intel Capital will devote $20M to Trony Solar Holdings and announces plans to invest in electricity storage systems company NP Holdings. More

Austin Hasn't Seen Much of Solar Venture Boom
Robert Elder -- Austin American-Statesman (Texas), 10/23/2008

HelioVolt Corp. opened its first full-scale factory in late October, giving Central Texas a small foothold in solar energy manufacturing. The company's high-volume manufacturing process bypasses silicon in favor of a CIGS approach. More

IMEC Method Extends Lifetime of Organic Solar Cells
Staff -- Semiconductor International, 10/14/2008

IMEC and its associated laboratory Institute for Materials Research in MicroElectronics reported they have improved the composition of organic solar cells. Researchers developed conjugated polymers to stabilize the nanomorphology of the active layer. More

Wacker to Invest in Billion-Dollar Polysilicon Plant in Saxony
News Aktuell Switzerland, 10/17/2008

Wacker Chemie AG plans to construct a new polysilicon production plant at its Nuenchritz site (Saxony, Germany) with a nominal annual capacity of 10,000 metric tons. The company will invest 760 million euros in the expansion. More