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July 5, 2010...As part of the $2.3 pledged for Solar Projects back in January, President Obama announced on his weekly video address that the U.S. Department of Energy has offered the conditional commitment of $1.45 billion loan guarantee to Abengoa Solar Inc. The President also announced the conditional commitment of $400 million loan guarantee to Abound Solar.
Abengoa Solar, a company based in Spain with offices in Denver, Colorado, will reportedly use the money for the construction of the largest concentrating solar power plant in Arizona (70 miles southwest of Phoenix).
The plant will be able to supply 250MW of power and will have reportedly have 6 hours of molten salt thermal energy storage to generate electricity well into the evening to help meet the summer peak demand. Obama said that the money would help generate 1500 to 2000 permanent jobs. Abound Solar will reportedly use the funding to expand its operations in Longmont, Colorado and purchase of the empty Chrysler Getrag facility in Indiana to produce CdTe-based thin-film solar cells.
“After years of watching companies build things and create jobs overseas, it’s good news that we’ve attracted a company to our shores to build a plant and create jobs here in America," said President Obama.
Colorado's Governor Bill Ritter said, “Abound is already a job-creation engine in Colorado and this Recovery Act loan guarantee will translate to more jobs, cleaner energy and bolster our standing as a hub of clean energy entrepreneurialism.”
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TowerJazz and Vishay Intertechnology Expand Relationship to Include Planar MOSFET and Super Junction MOSFET Devices
CompoundSemi News StaffJuly 5, 2010...TowerJazz, a specialty foundry, and Vishay Intertechnology,a low-voltage power MOSFETs producer, report the expansion of their business relationship to include planar MOSFETs and Super Junction FET Power MOSFETs.
The companies expect that production of these products under the terms of the expanded relationship will add tens of millions of dollars in additional yearly revenue.
Vishay siliconix says it chose to expand its relationship with TowerJazz because of its excellent technical capabilities, especially its production achievements with its Trench technologies. For this reason, Vishay Siliconix will reportedly continue to be one of TowerJazz’s top five customers. The new devices will reportedly offer lower conduction losses, and save energy in power factor correction (PFC) and pulsewidth modulation (PWM) in electronics such as LCD TVs, PCs, servers, switch mode power supplies, and telecom systems.
“Along with the announcement of our new 600-V Super Junction FET power MOSFETs, our expanded foundry agreement will enable us to support the very significant demand that we expect for this device,” said Serge Jaunay, Senior Vice President, MOSFET division, Vishay Intertechnology.
“The work that was invested in the last couple of years has now matured to create this important business upside,” said Dr. Itzhak Edrei, Executive Vice President of Business Groups and Business Development, TowerJazz Aixtron Commissions New MOCVD Reactors at Sanan’s Tianjin Facility
CompoundSemi News StaffJuly 5, 2010...Aixtron of Aachen, Germany announced that it has received an order for multiple tools from the China-based color LEDs manufacturer, Sanan OptoElectronics.
The order was for multiple CRIUS 31x2 inch tools. Aixtron says its local support team commissioned the HB GaN LED growth reactors at the new facility of Sanan in Tianjin in the first half of 2010.
Sanan OptoElectronics’ CEO, Simon Lin, stated that they have started a major expansion with their new facility. He added that they were searching for high-quality MOCVD tools for increasing the HB-LED manufacturing capacity. Lin indicated that the CRIUS MOCVD tool’s high throughput and uniformity convinced them that the tools were the perfect option for Sanan. DARPA Awards Ascent Solar Team Contract for Portable Photovoltaics (PoP) Program
CompoundSemi News StaffJune 28, 2010...The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has selected Ascent Solar for an award under the Low-Cost Lightweight Portable Photovoltaics (PoP) solicitation.
The Ascent Solar-led program, entitled "Flexible High-performance Tandem-junction PV Array", consists of three gated phases. The 18-month first phase of the 54-month program has an contract value of about $3.8M. The goal of PoP program is to demonstrate low-cost, lightweight photovoltaics (PV) that can stand up to battle conditions and environmental extremes while offering 20 percent or greater power conversion by the end of the program.
Other small business program participants include: ITN Energy Systems of Littleton, Colorado; Cambrios Technologies Company of Sunnyvale, California; Brewer Science of Rolla, Missouri. A large business, QinetiQ North America-TSG based in Boston, Massachusetts, and the Institute of Energy Conversion (IEC) of Newark, Deleware are also participating. These partners hope to leverage their collective expertise with dedicated funding from DARPA to meet the highly aggressive goals of the PoP program.
Farhad Moghadam, President and CEO of Ascent Solar commented, "In order to meet the aggressive goals of performance, capacity, and military toughness, our team has put together a definitive plan that combines our flexible CIGS production experience and existing MILSTD 810G military product, advanced high-temperature substrates from QinetiQ, the combined expertise in multijunction thin film technology from Ascent Solar and IEC, films for optical and electrical enhancement from Brewer and Cambrios, and enhanced packaging technologies being developed by ITN and Ascent Solar. "
Veeco Awarded $800K In Matching Funds from Minnesota for Solar Technology
CompoundSemi News StaffJune 28, 2010...Veeco Intruments Inc. of St. Paul Minnesota USA, reports that its St. Paul operation was awarded $800,000 in matching funds by the Minnesota Department of Commerce’s Office of Energy Security. The money comes from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to support emerging renewable energy technology. The matching funds were awarded for a 1.5 year project that will expedite Veeco’s CIGS (copper, indium, gallium, selenium) deposition equipment technology to market. This technology helps solar panel manufacturers to reduce their production costs and increase the feasibility of solar panels as an alternative energy.
While much investiment and money has gone into thin-film solar companies, relatively little has been given to MOCVD equipment makers such as Veeco, which will likely be one of the keys to making thin-film solar economical.
In total, the state of Minnesota awarded just over $4 million dollars in funding for the Emerging Renewable Energy Industries Grant Program.
According to David Bruns, Senior Vice President of Veeco’s Solar Operations, “Veeco will facilitate the development of this critical technology, creating green energy jobs. We would like to acknowledge the integral support of MN District 53B House Representative Carol McFarlane, in addition to MN District 53 Senator Sandy Rummel, MN 4th District Congresswoman Betty McCollum, and other various high-ranking elected government officials. Through visits to Veeco and encouragement of our efforts, they clearly demonstrated their strong support of green energy technology and its advancement in the state of Minnesota.” Sulfurcell Begins to Offer CIS Solar Modules in the U.S.
CompoundSemi News StaffJune 28, 2010...Sulfurcell, a CIS/CIGSe thin-film solar modules manufacturer based in Germany, has commenced operations in the U.S. The company reports that its copper-indium-sulfide (CIS) thin-film modules that are made in Germany are now available in the U.S. for numerous building and rooftop integrated applications. The company ,which is partially funded by Intel Capital, reportedly plans to establish a network of system installers and integrators across the U.S. over the coming months.
The company's CIS thin-film solar modules are black in color and compact in size. Sulfurcell contends that the quality, size and color of its CIS modules make them an ideal option for building integrated photovoltaics for property owners and architects. The module products include frameless, framed and roof-integrated modules.
The company first introduced the CIS modules in 2005 in Europe. Sulfurcell contends that the modules significantly surpass the standards of their IEC certification. The company says that the same performance registered at an operating-life of 1,000 hours at 85 percent humidity and 85°C can be witnessed after 2,000 hours. Our news features are reported
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