Photovoltaics/Business 040517

Photovoltaics/Business

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(April 2004) TrueSolar Solutions and Global Solar Energy plan world’s largest photovoltaic central generating station near Barstow, California. Southern California Edison (SCE) has contracted to buy five megaWatts of power from the plant to be built on a 40-acre site. Construction of the plant is expected to begin in the first half of 2004, with commercial operation planned by the year’s end. Annual energy production is expected to be approximately 11 million kiloWatt-hours (kWh).

Solacix, a start-up in Los Gatos, CA targets methods to produce higher efficiency PV cells at dramatically decreased manufacturing costs by using thinner wafers, reducing sawing process loss and increasing minority carrier lifetimes. The target is to produce 21% efficient cells which will have costs in the $1.50 per peak Watt range by the end of 2006.

(March 2004) Sanyo electric Company will double its solar cell production at its plant in Osaka Prefucture in Japan by January 2005. The expansion will make it the second largest solar cell manufacturer in Japan. With Shimane Sanyo Industrial Co., a Sanyo subsidiary, capable of producing 63 megaWatts, the Sanyo Group will be able to increase its annual capacity to 133 megaWatts. Sanyo says it will manufacture the industry’s highest cell conversion efficiency 19.5% in mass production.

(March 2004) Astropower files for bankruptcy in early February 2003. The company has also reached an agreement to sell “certain” of its U.S. business assets to GE Energy (formerly GE Power Systems). The transaction with GE Energy will be subject to competitive bidding and Bankruptcy Court approval. The Company said filing for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy code of the U.S. is at least partially designed to facilitate the sale of assets of GE Energy.

(Oct. 2003) Sharp inaugurates its first U.S. solar module assembly plant. This is the first such plant outside Japan; the plant will be located in Memphis, Tennessee. The factory, based at Sharp Manufacturing Company of America, is assembling 165 Watt, 167 Watt and 185 Watt solar panels for residential and commercial installations. Initial production capacity of the plant is 20 megaWatts. Production will be expanded as demand is increased.

(Oct. 2003) Shanghai, China reports a $1.21 billion budget for solar energy projects over the next five years. The National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Science & Technology are jointly launching this five year “Lightning Project.” Upon completion of this project, expectations are to have an additional 300 Megawatts of installed of solar capacity.

(Sept. 2003) MSK Corporation of Tokyo opens world’s largest solar panel factory in Nagano, Japan. The 100 megaWatt peak-capacity facility can produce up to 45,000 solar modules per month. It has the capability to handle solar cells down to 0.2 mm in thickness. Typical solar cells are 0.3 mm thick. Reducing thickness helps to bring down the cost of solar energy.

(Sept. 2003) Sharp Corporation launches a pair of off-grid Small Home System photovoltaic power generating systems.These systems are aimed at regions of Asia, the Middle East and Africa where grid-supplied electricity is unavailable. Initial monthly production of 25,000 units is planned; both 80 Watt and 123 Watt module based systems will be manufactured.

(August 2003) PowerLight will install a 675 kiloWatt photovoltaic system atop of the Moscone Center in San Francisco. The Company won the bid at a cost of $7.4 million. San Francisco will be the largest municipal deployer of solar energy in the United States. President Dan Shugar of PowerLight stated that cost for the panels and accompanying components are about half of what they were give years ago. The California Public Utilities Commission also “brightened the spotlight” for solar in 2001 when it agreed to subsidize roughly half the cost of such an installation as the one being done at the Moscone Center.

(July 2003) Nanosys, Inc. sets goal to commercialize nanocomposite solar cell technology. The Company has signed exclusive licensing agreements for world-wide rights to intellectual properties covering the materials and technologies of nanocomposite solar cells developed by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Columbia University. Since high costs of traditional inorganic semiconductor solar cells make solar energy substantially more expensive, Nanosys believes that the nanocomposite solar cell technology can offer high efficiency, low cost and conformal solar cells modules that can easily be integrated into any location where energy is desired. By incorporating inorganic semiconductor nanomaterials into a flexible hot-matrix and using roll-to-roll processing to fabricate the final solar cell, nanocomposite solar technology marries the high efficiency of inorganic semiconductor crystals with the processability of plastics.

(September,02) ATS Automation Tooling Systems of Canada develops solar cells that will slash cost of solar power. The company says it plans to start production of the new cells in 2003 and make enough within a year to supply electricity for the equivalent of 6,000 homes. ATS’s photovoltaic technology, called Spheral Solar Technology, will use tiny beads bonded in an aluminum foil. The cells will use a fraction of the silicon in current solar cells, thus at least halving the cost of power generation. ATS Chief Executive Klaus Woerner says the cells can be put into roofing tiles or shingles or into factory walls and cars. Canada’s government is funding ATS with C$29.5 million to help start production. (09-02BD78-11)

Global Environment Facility (GEF) says market for photovoltaic solar energy is growing by 14 percent a year. The GEF is the largest source of international financial assistance for renewable energy development in emerging countries. GEF has provided more than US$200 million for projects; its goals are to provide new energy services to one billion of the world’s poor by 2015. At this time, Japan, Germany and the U.S. account for 71 percent usage of the world’s solar energy; when reviewing energy figures for the entire world, solar power holds only a 0.1 percent share. The U.N. World Summit on Sustainable Development convened in Johannesburg on August 26th. The summit agenda included proposals to develop and disseminate renewable energy technologies and thereby increase the renewable market share to between five and ten percent by 2010.

The U.S.- based Solar Energy Industries Association says that solar research has cut pricing so that their expectations for the world to see photovoltaic panels competing with natural gas-fired generation are within five to eight years.

(September,2002) Global Environment Facility (GEF) says market for photovoltaic solar energy is growing by 14 percent a year. The GEF is the largest source of international financial assistance for renewable energy development in emerging countries. GEF has provided more than US$200 million for projects; its goals are to provide new energy services to one billion of the world’s poor by 2015. At this time, Japan, Germany and the U.S. account for 71 percent usage of the world’s solar energy; when reviewing energy figures for the entire world, solar power holds only a 0.1 percent share. The U.N. World Summit on Sustainable Development convened in Johannesburg on August 26th. The summit agenda included proposals to develop and disseminate renewable energy technologies and thereby increase the renewable market share to between five and ten percent by 2010.

(December 2001) Potential Energy:The costs of renewable technologies will be reduced, making them much more prevalent in the total mix. World demand for energy is projected to grow from 400+ GWhours now to over 700 GWhours in 2010. Photovoltaic energy costs per kWh are projected to decrease by 40-50%. Ten to 15 trillion dollars are expected to be invested in renewable energy in the next 20 years.

(December 2001) San Francisco voters OK solar power expansion: Voters approved a $100 million bond issue, allowing the city to fund solar projects for the city and county owned buildings. They also endorsed a measure to allows issuance of bonds for renewable projects without further voter approval. The resultant demand is projected to show significant growth which may double from the 25% annual growth in the last 10 years. Installed solar costs are about 12 cents per kWh while wind is only 4.5 cents per kWh, but solar is far less expensive than the California grid rates which have been as high as $3/kWh experienced in the past.

(June 2001) ‘Solar Generation’:A blueprint for growing the PV market.Worldwide installed capacity of photovoltaic systems has surpassed 1,000 MWp (peak). Projections place the European installed base at over 3,000 MWp by 2010. As an industry, PV will then provide over 2 million jobs in production, installation and maintenance.

(December 2001) AstroPower acquires Spain’s PV supplier Atersa which has a 50% stake in AstraSolar. AstraSolar is supplying APex solar cells for a 13 MW electric power plant in Murcia, Spain. The solar power plant will be able to generate up to 4% of the total peak load for its region. This PV Power plant should be four times larger than any photovoltaic plant currently operating.

The market for portable power supplies in the US is projected to increase 7.2 percent per year through 2005 to $10.7 billion. Among the major established products, secondary batteries hold the best prospects going forward, given their leadership position in growth markets such as high-end IT devices. Demand for primary batteries, exposed to more mature product markets and less potential for technological upgrade, will grow at a below-average pace. Portable and micro fuel cells are expected to be sold in commercially significant volumes by mid-decade. On the downside, portable power supply markets will be adversely impacted by slower economic growth than prevailed during the latter 1990s. (Data is from ‘Portable Power Supplies’ by The Freedonia Group, Inc., Tel: 440-684-9600.) + (12-01 BD69-12)

Banc of America reports a strong 2002 outlook for the solar power industry. This outlook was corroborated by numerous industry players at the Munich Solar Energy Trade Show. The report states, “Solar power is one of the few end markets currently experiencing rapid growth and with healthy visibility.” “The Power of Growth: Energy Technology Weekly”, the Banc of America Securities Energy Technology industry weekly, 10-29-01