Solar Power World

Ionomer Encapsulant Reduces Cost, Increases Strength CIGS Modules

Axuntek Solar Energy Co., Ltd. offers a IEC-certified Copper Indium Gallium (di)Selenide (CIGS) thin film solar cell modules using DuPont™ PV5400 series ionomer encapsulant. These frameless solar modules, which are the first adoption of DuPont™ PV5400 into CIGS technology, take advantage of the ionomer’s excellent clarity and low moisture ingress, which combine to create a... Read More

MiaSole Continues Global Expansion Into India Solar Market

MiaSole, a manufacturer of copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) thin-film photovoltaic solar panels, today announced the appointment of Preetha Nair as Country Manager India. This latest executive hire reinforces MiaSole’s continued strategic global expansion, with particular emphasis on high growth solar markets such as India. Nair has an extensive history in clean energy... Read More

AQT Selects Sapphire Automation to Integrate Solar Cell Manufacturing

AQT Solar, a developer of low-cost thin-film solar cells, today announced it has successfully transitioned to a fully automated WIP Management System to complete the integration of its Sunnyvale production facility. AQT partnered with Sapphire Automation to drive greater operational efficiencies and further improve equipment utilization and planning. AQT anticipates that this platform... Read More

eIQ Energy Introduces new vBoost 600 DC Parallel System For Solar

eIQ Energy introduced the latest and highest-capacity addition to its vBoost DC Parallel System – the new vBoost 600 DC-to-DC converter module, which reduces the installed cost and improves the efficiency of solar power arrays.The new vBoost 600 modules boost the output of solar panels to a predictable, constant voltage while providing up to 600 watts of power capacity – enough... Read More

First Solar to Build 26 Megawatt Avra Valley PV Solar Project for NRG

NRG Energy and First Solar announced an agreement for First Solar to construct 26 MW (AC) Avra Valley solar project near Tucson, Ariz. Electricity from the Avra Valley solar project will be sold to Tucson Electric Power under a 20-year power purchase agreement. The project will utilize First Solar’s advanced thin-film photovoltaic technology, mounted on the company’s... Read More

Abound Solar Ramps Up Production On Next Generation Modules

Abound Solar, a manufacturer of thin-film cadmium telluride photovoltaic modules, today announced that the company will cease production of its first-generation solar module  to accelerate the manufacturing process and equipment changes needed for the production launch of its next generation high-efficiency module. Abound Solar’s new high efficiency “AB2″ 85-watt... Read More

Thin-Film Modules 101

Thin-film module from Solar Frontier. Typical thin-film solar modules resemble sheets of glass, as they consist of material placed between flexible laminate, steel or glass. Thin-film cells are made by depositing one or more thin layers of photovoltaic material on a substrate. These layers can vary in thickness from a few nanometers to tens of micrometers. A variety of thin-film... Read More

Photovoltaics 101

Often called PV panels, these convert the energy of light (photons) into electrical energy as DC current. Panels come in variety of sizes but it is common to find them with 60 cells each with a power output of about 240 W. At this time, other variations include concentrated PV and thin-film solar. For PV panels, efficiency reaches to about 14%. Typical Structure of crystalline Silicon... Read More

Solar Panels: Alta Reaches New Efficiency Levels

Alta Devices’ most recent solar panels have been verified by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) at 23.5% efficiency. This is the highest solar panel efficiency yet achieved and demonstrates progress toward the objective of developing solar photovoltaic (PV) solutions that are competitive, without subsidies, with fossil fuels. Today’s announcement is Alta’s next... Read More

GE To Supply Largest PV Installation In Midwest

GE  announced an agreement to supply 23 megawatts (MW) of advanced solar equipment to Invenergy. Invenergy will install the solar equipment at its Grand Ridge Solar project (“Grand Ridge Solar”), now under construction in Illinois. When completed in mid-2012, Grand Ridge Solar will be the largest solar farm in the Midwest. The Grand Ridge Solar site is located in La Salle County,... Read More

GE to build largest U.S. solar factory in Colorado

I had the opportunity to attend a press conference at Solar Power International  last week where GE discussed plans to build its new thin-film solar panel factory in Aurora, Colorado. When completed, the company says the the facility will create 355 jobs in Colorado and will be larger than any existing solar panel factory in the country. GE anticipates the first panels coming off... Read More

1-rail junction box for thin-film solar

The Solarlok 1-rail junction box is UL component recognized and TUV-certified. TE Connectivity (TE), formerly Tyco Electronics, offers a 1-rail junction box for thin-film solar modules. The company says the Solarlok 1-rail junction box is well-suited for photovoltaic modules in which the positive and negative leads each have their own access point. One small, flat junction box can... Read More

A 2-rail micro junction box for solar installations

The micro junction box is only 67 x 74 mm large and 15.7 mm high. The low profile product is well suited for all applications where small, but powerful junction boxes are needed, such as solar power-operated garage doors and residential and commercial roof installations. Also, the bypass diode between the two contact rails snaps into the housing, providing particular robustness.... Read More

Companies collaborate to supply thin film PV for India

G. K. Prasanna (left), president of Wipro EcoEnergy and David Chu (right), chief executive officer of DuPont Apollo. Chinese thin film manufacturer DuPont Apollo has formed an agreement with Indian supply company Wipro EcoEnergy to supply silicon-based thin film tandem photovoltaic (PV) modules for Wipro EcoEnergy’s upcoming grid-based solar power projects. Under the terms of... Read More

Record 18.7% for flexible CIGS solar cells on plastics

It’s all about the money. To make solar electricity affordable on a large scale, scientists and engineers worldwide have long been trying to develop a low-cost solar cell, which is both highly efficient and easy to manufacture with high throughput. Now a team at Empa’s Laboratory for Thin Film and Photovoltaics, led by Ayodhya N. Tiwari, has made a major step forward.... Read More