Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition (SVTC, San Francisco, California, U.S.) has released results from its annual survey of the health and environmental practices of leading solar photovoltaic (PV) manufacturers, awarding top scores to Trina Solar Ltd. (Changzhou, China), SunPower Corporation (San Jose, California, U.S.) and SolarWorld AG (Bonn, Germany). Trina earned a 94 out of 100 on SVTC's Solar Scorecard, followed closely by SunPower with a 93, and SolarWorld at 91. Yingli Green Energy (Baoding, China), REC ASA (Sandvika, Norway) and Suntech (Wuxi China) also achieved scores between 88 and 86. Read more...

Solar Server: Can you give our readers an overview of how Triex cells achieve higher efficiencies and lower temperature co-efficients, including how the c-Si n-type substrates, thin-film passivation layer and oxide layers work together? Chris Beitel: Triex is the brand name for the product that we are commercializing now. We have developed a new cell device concept that leverages some learnings from various devices that have been studied in the past, as well as leverages the benefits of certain materials that can be incorporated into one single device concept. Read more...

In the face of increased competition on the international solar markets, efficiency and costs count first and foremost. Against the backdrop of changes to and a downward trend in solar funding, the globally competing manufacturers of components are under intense pressure. On the path to the economic competitiveness of photovoltaics in old and new markets, it is essential to further reduce the production costs of solar electricity. The central approaches to achieving this are a higher level of efficiency of the solar modules and lower production costs along the entire value-creation chain. Read more...

2011 is being looked back on in the global solar industry for many negative qualities. Primarily, a collapse in profitability in solar photovoltaic (PV) manufacturing led to companies restructuring, layoffs, plant closures, and even a number of bankruptcies. Late in the year a vicious trade dispute sharply divided the U.S. PV industry, which also saw significant negative press, most notably the fabricated scandal of the Solyndra DOE loan guarantee. However, all of this obscures the fact that global PV, concentrating solar power (CSP) and concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) industries continued to grow in 2011, at some times and in serveral regions dramatically. Read more...

It’s almost one year since the Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) and rumours are beginning to fly around the UK solar industry as to what the upcoming Comprehensive Consultation on the feed-in tariff (FiT) holds. I decided it was time to investigate what people are actually saying, and to find out how much of what is being said matches the facts around budgets, pricing and deployment. Read more...

SAINT-GOBAIN SOLAR SOLUTIONS are intelligent, innovative and instant solutions for solar module manufacturing, offer cost-effectiveness, easy application and durability for perimeter sealing of the PV laminate to the aluminium frame and can be used as a process aid in securing and sealing all module components Read more...