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Dear Subscriber,
Even the solar industry -- where everyone seems to be running to get the funds they can't find in semiconductors -- is not immune to the current financial crisis, as you'll see from several of the recent articles highlighted below. In the United States, Congress has not only finally extended a much needed energy tax credit, but we've also recently elected a new president as well as a Democratic majority in Congress, which could be an additional boon for renewable energies. Find more on these topics and technical developments below, as well as on our Photovoltaics Technology Channel:
www.semiconductor.net/photovoltaics
Aaron Hand, Executive Editor, Electronic Media
ahand@reedbusiness.com
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| Solar Industry Webinar: Reduce Your Cost Per Watt– Rapidly and Reliably |
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Attend this webinar to learn how to Solar manufacturers deliver maximum output and profit per line with closed-loop manufacturing and quality. Hosted by Camstar Systems. Guest Speaker from Emcore Photovoltaics. Register now at the link below.
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| This Week's Top Stories... |
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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
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| Air Products' Xenon Recovery System |
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Air Products' XeCovery™, On-Site Xenon Recovery System, is a new onsite service that provides a lower cost-of-ownership for customers using xenon within their manufacturing processes. The process extracts xenon from an effluent stream, compresses and stores the material in vessels, and transports the containers for distillation and certification as research grade xenon.
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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
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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
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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
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| RSS Feeds – Bring The Headlines To You |
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Subscribe to SI's RSS Feeds to automatically receive the latest news headlines, technical features, blog postings, etc. as soon as they are posted. The power of RSS lies in its ability to bring all of the news and content that interests you into one place.
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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
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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
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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
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| SIA Annual Semiconductor Industry Global Sales Forecast |
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On Wednesday, November 19, the SIA will release its annual forecast for global semiconductor sales. Tune in to this webcast for a discussion and analysis of what may lie ahead for the global chip industry with SIA President George Scalise.
Register now!
Sponsored by: TSMC & Accenture
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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