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Solar News Archive - May 2006
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Equipment Supplier Alliance Receives First Order for
Turnkey Solar Cell Manufacturing Line
After Applied Films (Alzenau, Germany) joined the alliance of Photovoltaic industry equipment suppliers led by Gebr. Schmid GmbH in October 2005, the alliance on May 16th 2006 announced
receipt of its first order for a turnkey PV line. Based upon the environmentally friendly Applied Films sputter technology, the line supports a 40-megawatt (MW) fabrication of
wafer-based solar cells and modules, expandable to 80 MW. Schmid, the general contractor, will guarantee the overall performance of this line, the largest of its kind in India. The main
objective behind this assignment was to set up a turnkey production line for an Indian-based company. The customer plans to manufacture both wafer-based solar cells and modules.
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In a fully integrated horizontal in-line production process, the Applied Films ATON™ system deposits the anti-reflective and passivation layer necessary for the production of
solar cells.
View into sputter chamber.
Picture Source:applied Films
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The main objective behind this assignment was to set up a turnkey production line for an Indian-based company. The customer plans to manufacture both wafer-based solar cells and modules.
In a fully integrated horizontal in-line production process, the Applied Films ATON™ system deposits the anti-reflective and passivation layer necessary for the production of solar
cells.
State-of-the art PV technology for the entire production chain
Even though the official announcement was made only a few months ago, the alliance has already succeeded in obtaining its first order. The alliance’s product portfolio integrates
state-of-the art PV technology for the entire production chain under one umbrella. For each process step, from substrate cleaning through to cell formation processes and the assembly of
wafer-based solar modules, renowned suppliers will provide the alliance with best-of-breed solutions. As the leader of the consortium, Schmid will guarantee the performance and
efficiency of the cells and modules manufactured on this production line.
" With Applied Films, a strong partner has joined our alliance," says Christian Schmid, CEO and Managing Director of Schmid. "Even during the quotation phase, we cooperated smoothly,
and our engineering activities are tightly meshed together. This form of cooperation in combination with the use of best-of-breed systems within the scope of our alliance will allow us
to realize many more joint projects worldwide this year."
"With India added to our installations map, Applied Films has now reached an excellent global coverage of our ATON™ systems. With this achievement, we have demonstrated once again
that sputtering SiN has become a superior technology over PECVD, especially for production-scale solar fabs," added Jo Nell, Executive Vice President of Applied Films and responsible
for Applied Films’ global solar activities since Feb 1, 2006.
Applied Films (05/20/2006)
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3rd Call launched for Sustainable Energy Project Support (SEPS)
WISIONS - an initiative of the Wuppertal Institute - is supporting innovative sustainable energy projects since two years. The aim is to spread knowledge on successful
implemented good-practices (in PREP) as well as direct support to implement ambitious ideas and concepts (in SEPS) worldwide. In 2005 more than 100 applications for SEPS from 36
countries had been submitted. The high-quality project ideas ranged from the use of solar energy for food conservation in Burkina Faso to efficient street lighting systems in
India. What also became clear, however, is that especially in developing and emerging countries the realisation and implementation often fails due to missing expert advice, funds, or
political support.
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In the last two SEPS rounds so far 18 promising projects have been selected and their implementation is currently supported with WISIONS expertise, contacts, knowledge transfer and
specifically by financial support.
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Total SEPS grant amount of 500,000 EUR provided by the Swiss-based foundation ProEvolution
SEPS has the key objective of identifying projects with the real potential to be of strategic importance in renewable and efficient use of energy. Projects supported must be innovative,
sustainable and can be replicated in other parts of the world. They have to be in a state ready for implementation and a well-developed implementation strategy must exist. To make a
contribution to the implementation of even more innovative project ideas WISIONS now starts a third call for SEPS applications. A total grant amount of 500,000 EUR, provided by the
Swiss-based foundation ProEvolution, is to be awarded. Project applications should be submitted until July 17, 2006 by using the application form.
PREP, the other part of WISIONS, primarily focuses on fostering good practice in energy and resource efficiency. PREP collects and promotes good-practice examples on actual changing
topics. So far five PREP- brochures have been published and can be downloaded from the Internet. The brochure on the seminal topic of "Microfinance and Renewable Energy" presents
ambitious projects from Peru, South Africa, China and Nepal that have been successfully implemented. At present five projects with the focus on "Energy in Schools" have been selected
and will soon be released.
Being published on the Internet and in brochures, the projects get the publicity they deserve and also provide certain ideas for more people in other countries to improve the efficient
and sufficient use of resources. Finally, with the combination of supporting not yet realized project ideas and already implemented successful projects, WISIONS enhances chances of
knowledge transfer from practical experience to action. Further Information: http://www.wisions.net/
Wuppertal Institute (05/15/2006)
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Germany: Solar Energy Market Shows Dynamic Growth
The German Solar Industry Association (BSW) is expecting a market growth of 10 - 20% for 2006. One of the reasons for the continuing market growth is the Renewable Energies Act (EEG)
which guarantees attractive pay-back rates to operators of photovoltaic installations. Other important drivers are the export of solar technology and the rocketing prices of
conventional energies.
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This dynamic market environment provides the framework for Intersolar which is expected to attract more than 420 exhibitors from all over the world to Freiburg, Germany from 22nd to
24th of June 2006.
The quality of products at Intersolar 2005 received international recognition. Picture Source © Solar Promotion GmbH
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Sales rising more than eight-fold from 2000 to 2005
The development of the German solar industry is truly impressive: while in 2000, the market volume was € 450m, sales rose more than eight-fold over the subsequent five years. In
2005, the German solar industry generated € 3.7b in sales, 80% of which were due to photovoltaics installations for the production of electricity from the sun. According to surveys
by the German Solar Industry Association (BSW), the German photovoltaics industry invests an annual € 500m into setting up and expanding laboratories and production sites. At the
beginning of this year, there were more than 5.000 solar companies employing around 42,500 people in Germany.
Germany in the leading position of solar heating
In the area of solar thermal technology, the generation of heat for space heating and hot water, Germany also takes a leading position. The total collector surface installed is
approximately 6.7m square metres, and has an output of 4,690 Megawatts (MWth). In 2005, 950,000 square metres with an output capacity of 665 MWth were installed. As a result, Germany
makes up around 50% of the European solar thermal market, followed by Greece, Austria and Spain, with market shares of 12%, 11% and 7% respectively.
More than 420 exhibitors expected for Intersolar 2006
The international market dynamics of the solar industry is reflected by Intersolar 2006. At Europe’s largest trade fair for solar technology, producers from all over the world
present the latest developments and products from the areas of photovoltaics, solar thermal technology and solar architecture. Last year, there were exhibitors from 23 different
nations. "This year, we are expecting more than 420 exhibitors, 30% of them from abroad", say organiser Horst Dufner of Solar Promotion GmbH and Klaus W. Seilnacht, Managing Director of
Freiburg Wirtschaft Touristik und Messe GmbH & Co. KG. The visitors to the fair are specialists and decision makers in the areas of production, wholesale, project development or
fitting. In 2005 visitors from more than 60 countries came to Freiburg.
Further Information: http://www.intersolar.de/
Solar Promotion GmbH (05/02/2006)
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