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Dear Subscriber,
There have been a fair number of questions swirling around lately about whether solar will really be the savior for the semiconductor industry that so many people have hoped. There's little doubt that semiconductor manufacturing suppliers would do well to diversify, and photovoltaics is a natural move for many of those players. But can the industry hold up to the economic turmoil? There will certainly be some shakeup in the industry, as some articles note below, but in the long term, PV stands to prosper. In the short term, however, 2009 will likely see a major glut in the PV supply chain that could cause a few headaches for those not prepared.
www.semiconductor.net/solar
Aaron Hand, Executive Editor, Electronic Media
ahand@reedbusiness.com
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| This Week's Top Stories... |
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Most Viewed Articles for the Week of December 8, 2008
Intel's preview of its IEDM presentations, including a new 45 nm SoC process, was the top hit-getter on Semiconductor.net this week. The goals set by Japan's national 3-D R&D project attracted attention, as did ATMI's work with Ovonyx Inc. to develop MOCVD precursors and deposition of GST materials for phase-change memories. Rounding out our Top 5 are two articles about challenges facing the solar industry, in China and the United States. 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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Astronergy Aims at Thin-Film PV Market
Hedy Qian, Managing Editor, SI China -- Semiconductor International, 12/11/2008
In this interview, Yang Liyou, CEO of Astronergy, a Chinese photovoltaics startup, discusses his company and China's PV scene. Crystalline silicon-based PV technology is relatively mature, and much of the future growth will come from improving thin-film PV efficiencies, said Yang, who previously worked at BP Solar. More
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Incentives May Lure Unnamed Solar Company to Oregon
Richard Read, Staff Writer -- The Oregonian, 12/10/2008
Breaks offered by Congress and Multnomah County are part of the lure for the unnamed European firm considering building on the site abandoned by LSI Logic in Gresham, Ore. More
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Kagoshima University Developing Solar Storage Battery
Asia Pulse, 12/10/2008
A research group at Kagoshima University has come up with a device that both generates electricity from sunlight and stores the power for later use. More
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| Webcast: 2009 Semiconductor Industry Forecast |
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In this Dec. 18 webcast, leading analysts throughout the semiconductor and electronics industries will provide their forecasts of the 2009 market, what factors will most impact capital spending by device manufacturers worldwide and how quickly economic turnaround might begin to materialize.
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Sponsored by: SAP
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M+W Zander to Build Thin-Film Solar Factory
Staff -- Semiconductor International, 12/12/2008
Construction engineering firm M+W Zander said it will design and build a solar module factory for an affiliate of Q-Cells AG in Germany. More
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Kopin Receives NASA Award to Develop InGaP Solar Cells
Business Wire, 12/10/2008
Kopin announced that it has been selected for award of a $600,000 NASA contract to produce nanostructured solar cells comprised of InGaP materials. More
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China's Solar PV Sector Faces Uncertainty
Xinhua Economic News Service, 12/8/2008
The growth pace of China's new energy industry is seriously dented by an oil price slump and demand shrinkage due to the global financial crisis, according to analysts. Zhou Tao, an analyst with Greatwall Securities, said that the solar photovoltaic industry is impacted by declining demand from Western countries and currency losses from the depreciation of the euro. More
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Semiconductor International is the leading technical publication covering the global semiconductor industry. It provides focus on the latest research projects, new technology developments and much more!
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Suniva Opens Solar Cell Factory Near Atlanta
Business Wire, 12/11/2008
Suniva Inc. (Atlanta), which manufactures crystalline silicon solar cells, officially opened the first solar factory in the Southeastern United States. More
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IBM and Harvard Launch PV Organic Materials Project
Market News Publishing, 12/8/2008
IBM and Harvard University are launching a new World Community Grid project to discover organic materials to create a more efficient and lower-cost solar cell. More
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Clouds Roll in Over Solar Power Industry
Bob Keefe -- Cox News Service, 12/4/2008
The solar industry, whose future seemed so bright just a few months ago, suddenly looks like it's headed for a shakeout. Falling oil prices, supply issues and the evaporation of financing for solar projects have moved in like clouds over the industry, just as it was poised for unprecedented growth. More
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ReneSola Divests From Henan Polysilicon Joint Venture
PR Newswire, 12/8/2008
ReneSola Ltd. announced that it has sold its 49% equity interest in Linzhou Zhongsheng Semiconductor Silicon Material Co. Ltd. More
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PV Enterprise Sweden AB to Close Solar Plant in Poland
PAP News Wire, 12/5/2008
Swedish solar panel maker PV Enterprise Sweden AB will close its plant in Tarnow, Poland, to concentrate production in its factory in Vilshult, Sweden. The decision was caused by a difficult situation on the European market, growing competition and the need to cut costs, company's director Esbjoern Thordeman said. More
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Japan's Midsize Companies Add Solar Cell Making Equipment
Asia Pulse, 12/5/2008
Midsize producers of industrial machinery are broadening their businesses to include equipment for manufacturing solar cells. More
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China Sunergy Begins Construction of Shanghai Facility
Xinhua Economic News Service, 12/1/2008
China Sunergy Co. held a foundation-laying ceremony for its research, development and production base in Shanghai. China Sunergy plans to build a plant with estimated production capacity of 400 MW. More
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Sencera Demonstrates 7% Efficient Thin-Film Silicon Solar Cells
PR Newswire, 12/3/2008
Sencera deposited single-junction silicon solar cells with 7% efficiencies using its proprietary plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) manufacturing platform. More
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Oerlikon Solar Brings Micromorph to Mass Production
Business Wire, 12/4/2008
Oerlikon Solar announced that Inventux Technologies AG is the first manufacturer to implement Oerlikon's Micromorph technology for the mass-production of thin-film silicon solar modules. More
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Ascent Solar Claims 9.5% Efficiency for CIGS Cell
Business Wire, 12/3/2008
Ascent Solar Technologies Inc. announced that it has achieved >9.5% efficiency for its flexible copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) monolithically integrated modules. More
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Konarka Research Aimed at Organic Solar Cell Lifetimes
Business Wire, 12/2/2008
Konarka Technologies Inc. said Germany's Federal Ministry of Education and Research is supporting an R&D project, called "OPV stability," to increase the lifespan of organic solar cells. More
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Tokuyama to Build Polycrystalline Silicon Plant in Malaysia
Chris Lui, Staff Writer -- Japan Corporate News Network, 11/28/2008
Tokuyama Corp. announced plans to build its second polycrystalline silicon manufacturing base at the Samalaju Industrial Park in Sarawak, Malaysia. More
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New Reflective Layer Boosts Efficiency of Thin-Film Solar Cells
Asia Pulse, 11/26/2008
Japan's Sustainable Titania Technology Inc. (STi) has developed a way to boost the energy conversion efficiency of thin-film solar cells by ~20%. More
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Wacker Expands Polysilicon Production Ahead of Schedule
Staff -- Semiconductor International, 11/20/2008
Probably welcome news to a solar industry in need of more supplies of high-purity polycrystalline silicon, Wacker Chemie is up and running with its latest production expansion. More
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