General Electric has laid off 85 workers at its solar panel plant in Newark, New Jersey, a workforce cut of about 30 percent. The plant also reduced production to a single shift. The layoffs were the result of the global economic credit crisis, which has made it more difficult for GE’s customers to get credit for solar projects.
In an article on Delaware Online, GE Energy Spokesman Tom Rumsey commented on the layoffs, saying
"It’s … Read the rest
Canadian Solar just announced that it won a bid on a project to provide solar panels for 80,000 solar home systems in rural China. In total, Canadian Solar will supply 1.6 MW worth of panels. The project is scheduled to be completed by the end of this month.
Dr. Shawn Qu, President and CEO of Canadian Solar, commented on the project in a company press release:
"We were very pleased to win this bid. … Read the rest
Applied Materials just announced that one of its largest clients has reduced the amount of their order for its Sunfab thin-film solar product by 85%. In March of last year, Applied Materials announced that they had received a $1.9 billion order from a nameless company, but as the global crisis has deepened, that order has been reduced to $250 million.
In an article published by Reuters, Gary Hsueh, an analyst for Oppenheimer, commented on the … Read the rest
Suntech just announced a research partnership with Swinburne University in Australia. Suntech’s CEO, Dr. Zhengrong Shi, and Swinburne’s Centre for Micro-Photonics Director, Professor Min Gu, will work together to develop more efficient "next generation" solar cells. To fund the project, the University will contribute 43 million worth of funding and Suntech will contribute another $3 million.
In an article from PV-Tech.org, Professor Gu described the potential benefits of the research:
… Read the restThe project will be based
First Solar just finished gobbling up OptiSolar’s PV project pipeline on Friday. The company plans to take the projects in the pipeline, build them and then sell them.
Renewable-Energy-Sources.com has the details of the deal:
First Solar acquired all of OptiSolar’s project development business in an all-stock transaction valued at approximately $400 million. As a result of the closing today, First Solar will issue approximately 3 million shares of common stock representing a dilution of … Read the rest
MEMC Electronic Materials has laid off 200 employees in Missouri and Texas. The company will pay $2.5 million in severance-related charges in the second quarter as a result of the layoffs.
In a regulatory filing, the company commented on the purpose of the layoffs, saying
“The action was taken to better align the company’s workforce to current manufacturing needs as demand for semiconductors and semiconductor wafers has been significantly impacted by the current global economic … Read the rest
Hoku Materials, Inc just announced that it has entered into a change order agreement with JH Kelly regarding the construction and start-up of Hoku’s polysilicon plant. The change order redistributes the potential bonus awards due JH Kelly for meeting Hoku’s schedule goals. Previously, Hoku had offered JH Kelly the chance to earn up to $5 million in bonus payments for meeting goals related to completions dates, budget and safety goals, but only $1.5 million of … Read the rest
Br Solar International just announced that it will be getting rid of a manufacturing plant in Spain and will reduce production at its Frederick, Maryland plant in the US. This will result in 620 workers being laid off. BP does plan to increase PV production from 159 MW to 320MW, but the increased production will take place in India and China.
Reyad Fezzani, chief executive at BP Solar, advised BusinessGreen.com that his company is still … Read the rest
Applied Materials won an important victory against Oerlikon Corp in European patent court on Tuesday. The court revoked a patent that had been issued to a Swiss university and licensed to Oerlikon. Applied Materials had been accused of violating the patent with its Sun-Fab thin film manufacturing process.
However, according to Reuters, Applied Materials has not seen the last of Oerlikon (or its lawyers):
"This is not a final decision yet," said an Oerlikon … Read the rest
Florida Power and Light is partnering with SunPower to supply selected Florida schools with solar power stations. 6 Florida schools will receive 5 KW solar panels models as part of FPL’s Next Generation Solar Education Station program. The solar modules will reduce the school’s power bills by $800 per year, as well as providing a teaching tool for children to learn about solar energy. The modules will be set up at ground level so that … Read the rest