thin-film solar

A solar farm in California will be the largest to use an emerging type of thin-film solar technology, another competitive force bringing down the price of solar.

Japan-based Solar Frontier will supply solar panels built with solar cells that use a combination of copper, indium, and selenide. The project, which will produce 150 megawatts at peak times, will be in Kearn County, California and is expected to be completed next June.

Project developer Enxco and Solar Frontier said the thin-film technology has a favorable year-round energy production, not only during its peak output. The technology is "compelling to major … Read more

Solar startup Stion has found deep pockets in Asia.

The Silicon Valley-based company today said it has raised $130 million from Korea-based thin-film solar equipment maker Avaco, Korean private-equity funds, and venture capital firms. Last year, Stion took a $50 million investment from Taiwan Semiconductor as part of a larger series D round.

With today's funding, Avaco and Stion will collaborate to develop next-generation thin-film solar equipment designed to boost cell efficiency and factory output. It will also create a subsidiary in Korea and build a factory to serve Asian markets.

Stion is one of many solar companies founded … Read more

Swiss scientists have broken an energy conversion efficiency record for flexible thin-film CIGS solar cells, Empa, the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, announced last week.

In collaboration with the Swiss solar start-up Flisom, Empa has achieved an 18.7 percent efficiency for CIGS (copper indium gallium selenide) flexible solar cells, which the lab says was made possible by mounting them on a polymer substrate. This breaks Empa's record of 17.6 percent when mounting the CIGS on steel foil substrates, according to the Swiss lab.

Solar efficiency is the amount of electricity per square inch that … Read more

Solar panel maker SoloPower has secured financing to build a manufacturing plant in Oregon, a step toward ramping up production of its thin-film solar technology.

As part of a deal carved out with the state of Oregon, SoloPower said yesterday, it will receive a $20 million loan toward the initial construction phase, which will consist of a 75-megawatt manufacturing line employing 170 people. SoloPower, which is seeking a loan guarantee from the Department of Energy, intends to eventually expand the plant to turn out 300 megawatts worth of panels per year.

San Jose, Calif.-based SoloPower makes thin-film flexible solar … Read more

Robotics manufacturing tends to evoke visions of a John Henry-esque scenario in which competent women and men lose jobs to hunks of automated metal.

But in the case of Solyndra it may be robots that help American workers compete more effectively against China's low-cost labor force.

Consider the video that solar manufacturer Solyndra released this week illustrating how thin-film CIGS (copper, indium, gallium, and selenide) solar modules are produced.

In reality, the video (see below) is a showcase for the company's new state-of-the-art solar manufacturing plant, built with a $535 million federal loan guarantee from the Department of Energy, … Read more

Thin-film solar-panel maker Solyndra will announce today it plans to close its Fab 1 plant in Fremont, Calif., The New York Times has reported.

The closing will result in 40 Solyndra employees being laid off. Another 150 subcontractors will not have their current work contracts renewed, according to the report.

But the news follows the opening of Solyndra's state-of-the-art Fab 2 plant near its original Fremont plant just weeks ago, which was built in part with a $535 million federal loan guarantee from the Department of Energy.

The Fab 2 plant, when fully operational, is capable of producing 500-megawatts … Read more

Applied Materials said on Wednesday it will stop new sales of its "turnkey" SunFab thin-film solar manufacturing line and concentrate on silicon solar and LED lighting.

The restructuring of its Energy and Environmental Solutions business will lead to the elimination of 400 to 500 positions and a third-quarter charge between $375 million and $425 million.

Applied Materials had been selling SunFab, an integrated line of equipment to manufacture amorphous silicon thin-film solar panels, but the business has been losing money for months.

In a statement, Applied Materials CEO Mike Splinter said Applied Materials will seek growth by selling … Read more

Silicon Valley solar company Solexant has raised $41.5 million to pursue technology it says can slice the costs of solar power with a printing-like manufacturing process.

The company's technology, which was developed at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, takes raw semiconductor material and creates nanoparticles which, once dissolved in a solvent, creates an ink that can be printed.

Initially, it plans to use cadmium telluride to make solar cells, but in the future it hopes to use materials more efficient at converting sunlight into electrical energy, said CEO Damoder Reddy on Friday.

Solexant has been operating a pilot facility … Read more

Solyndra, a start-up making thin-film photovoltaic systems, has secured $600 million in funding.

It's additionally secured $1.2 billion in contracts from clients in the U.S. and Europe, the Fremont, Calif.-based company revealed Tuesday.

What start-up gets that kind of funding and client promise? Basically, one that's invented thin-film solar panels shaped like old-school fluorescent lightbulbs.

Since 2005, Solyndra has quietly been developing a proprietary CIGS-based thin film photovoltaic (PV) system and a staff of more than 500 employees.

CIGS is a material that includes a combination of copper, indium, gallium, and selenide. It's now … Read more