• SunPower Gives Its Outlook for 2010, 2011

    The American solar firm boasts record earnings and record efficiencies.

    In a market where some crystalline silicon companies are taking a severe beating (See Shyam's Q-Cells analysis), SunPower held an open house for press and an earnings call which revealed strong earnings and a relatively bright outlook.

    First, the numbers from the earnings call:

    2009 Year End and Fourth Quarter Numbers

    • SunPower reported 4Q09 results with revenues of $548M, gross margin of 21.8%, compared to $465 million in the third quarter of… Read More ›
  • Sources: BrightSource Raising $150M Mezzanine Round

    The solar thermal player, fresh from $1.37B in Fed loans, needs to raise a mezzanine round.  En route to IPO?

    BrightSource Energy, the VC-funded solar thermal hopeful, is looking to raise a $150 million mezzanine round, according to sources. The effort has been going on for a few months -- the firm needs equity to match their DOE loan guarantee.  

    Investors in BrightSource have already put in more than $160 million into the firm. Their investment syndicate includes VantagePoint Venture Partners, Google.org, BP Alternative Energy, StatoilHydro Venture,… Read More ›

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  • Carbon Caps and Job Creation

    The data says they can create jobs, argues the Union of Concerned Scientists.

    A March 4 letter from legislative analyst Mac Taylor to California State Sen. Dave Cogdill (R-Modesto) attempts to cast doubt on the economic benefits of the state’s landmark global warming bill, AB 32. According to Jasmin Ansar, a climate economist with the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), Taylor fails to cite any research to support his claims that the state’s economy would suffer under AB 32.

    The public release of Taylor’s letter… Read More ›

  • SEIA on Utility-Scale Solar

    There are over 100 utility-scale solar projects in the U.S. totaling 17,000 MW now in the planning stage.

    I listened in on a press conference this morning from the solar advocates at SEIA as they reviewed U.S. solar in 2009 and focused on utility-scale solar.

    Rhone Resch, CEO of SEIA, led the call and covered some quick stats:

    In 2009 there was 58 megawatts of utility-scale solar deployed in the U.S. in 5 projects.  The compelling news is that SEIA expects to see more than 200 megawatts of utility-scale solar from concentrated solar power (CSP) and… Read More ›

  • General Electric To Take On First Solar

    A giant awakens in cadmium telluride.

    First Solar won't be the only name in cadmium telluride solar panels soon.

    General Electric today announced it will research and develop thin-film solar panels with PrimeStar Solar, specifically cadmium telluride solar cells, and then start selling them next year. Although Q-Cells and a few startups have launched plans to get into cad tel, First Solar is virtually the only large mass producer of cad tel solar modules.

    GE invested in PrimeStar, a… Read More ›

  • Intermolecular’s PV Development: R&D in Hyper-Drive

    Dozens of photovoltaic process experiments on a single wafer

    Here's a (likely apocryphal) tale told in the thin-film solar manufacturing world:

    An unnamed CIGS solar startup was doing process development and ran out of the de-ionized water used as a cleaning agent in their manufacturing process.  That particular day, they substituted straight California tap water in their process and rather than ruin their experiment - the efficiency of the new PV material jumped a few percentage points. 

    The firm… Read More ›

  • CPV Semi Startup Solar Junction Gets More Funding

    A $13.3M inside round keeps the firm going while they wait for the CPV market to emerge.

    It's quiet in the world of Concentrating Photovoltaics (CPV). 

    While c-Si and CSP are furiously running the race, CPV is still at the starting line.
     
    What little news there has been in CPV has been less than dramatic.  There was December's Concentrix acquisition.  And what amounts to a big CPV deployment by Concentrix -- 1 megawatt in New Mexico, which we covered here -- as well as some other minor personnel developments

    There hasn't been a… Read More ›

  • China to Restrict Polysilicon Production

    Solar demand is growing, but China wants to prevent a bust.

    China will issue detailed entry standards for domestic polysilicon companies, a measure designed to prevent a production boom/bust cycle.

    In 2009, China's estimated polysilicon production output skyrocketed by 300% against 2008 levels to reach 18,000 tons, fulfilling half of domestic demand. These data were reported by Li Baoshan, secretary general at Beijing-based Chinese Renewable Energy Society, on March 16 at Shanghai's 6th China SoG Silicon… Read More ›

  • News Tuesday: First Solar Joins Desertec, Wave Power Returns from Dead, the FCC talks Grid and More!

    Can anyone stop First Solar.

    First Solar will participate in the massive Desertec project, one more stop along their plan toward world domination.

    The Arizona-based manufacturer of cadmium telluride solar modules will provide know-how on how to build large-scale solar power plants. The Desertec initiative will attempt to build renewable power plants in the deserts of North Africa that will supply a significant amount of power to the Europe, the Middle East and North Africa… Read More ›

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  • Solar From an Auto Factory

    Solar From an Auto Factory
  • A New CIGS Entrant: NuvoSun

    A New CIGS Entrant: NuvoSun
  • The Ikea of Solar

    The Ikea of Solar
Event

Greentech Media’s Solar Summit: 2010

March 30 – 31, 2010 Phoenix, AZ

Perspectives ›

Carbon Caps and Job Creation

Carbon Caps and Job Creation

The data says they can create jobs, argues the Union of Concerned Scientists.

Read More ›

Company Profile

Q-Cells Declares 2009 Loss of $1.8 Billion; CEO Resigns Amidst “Huge Loss of Confidence”

Leading German cell producer Q-Cells has gone from weakness after weakness over the last 12 months, and someone had to pay. As things turned out,……Read More ›

Hot Startup

Pythagoras Solar Unstealths at Israel’s Eilat

Israel's Eilat-Eilot Renewable Energy Conference expects thousands of energy experts to gather this week in the town of Eilat.   The long list of……Read More ›

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