Solar business from Korea

LG Electronics has acquired third-party certification for its solar cell testing facility from TUV Rheinland, a German company involved in technical, safety and certification services. The South Korean company has been investing heavily in the solar cell business over the past five years, looking to invest 220 billion won (about $185 million) to complete two solar cell production lines by the end of 2010. LG claims to be the world's first company to get third-party certification for a solar cell testing facility. The certification will help reduce the time and money spent on safety testing and the certification of solar cell products, the process of which is currently handled by independent organizations. ``When relying on independent product safety organizations, the process takes about a year and costs several tens of millions of won for each product. Gaining certification will cut the time to about six months and allow us to save about 3 billion won annually,'' said an L...

A solar module prototype developed by SunPower has clocked a 20.4% efficiency in tests, confirmed by the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL). The 333W full-sized solar panel consists of 96 third-generation cells with a total panel area of 1.6m 2 . The prototype was funded the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) under its Solar America Initiative (SAI), which was awarded to SunPower approximately two years ago. Using the company’s technology, which yields cells that boast a minimum of 23% efficiency, the company used larger area cells cut from a 165mm diameter ingot. The prototype was also treated with an anti-reflective coating for maximum power generation. The company expects to launch the new 20.4% efficiency module on the market within the next two years. SunPower has announced its intention to initiate a solar panel manufacturing facility in the U.S. utilising automated equipment designed and created using the SAI funding. "SunPower has the engineering expertise and proven techno...

major chemical manufacturer in Korea, HanWha Chemical Co., Ltd, will be produce PV solar cell at Jan. 2010, already completely set up factory of PV solar cell 30MW in Ulsan Korea it's his first factory and will be expand 330MW/year until 2012 every people has know that PV solar market is very bad this new producer can be competition with major old producer in worldwide? who is beginner PV solar cell, didn't has any business relationship PV solar cell and module value chain before Hanwha Chemical is some big chemical company in Korea, no one or two producer of PVC, DOP & LDPE in Korea total sales volume is 1 billion USD the last year and has investment just 30million USD for this first factory, it's small amount than his sales volume but in the further need a lot money for expand capacity of PV solar cell if can't expand capacity can't survivor in hardly competition It's his problems local PV solar market is very sharply drop down in this year because ...

A team of South Korean researchers suggested a new approach that enables dramatic improvement in the low-cost, thin-film solar cells now being developed in laboratories around the world. The new technique could improve the power conversion rates of dye-sensitized solar cells by more than 50 percent of the current level once commercialization is made. Dye-sensitized solar cells, a relatively new class of thin-film solar cell, are considered extremely promising as they are easier to manufacture and use cheaper materials than conventional solar technologies. They can also be engineered into flexible sheets, and are mechanically robust, requiring no protection from minor events like hail or tree strikes. However, improving efficiency has been a major issue. Current lab prototypes of dye-sensitized solar cells convert about one tenth of the incoming sun's energy into electricity, which is about half as efficient as the commercial, silicon-based cells used in electronics devices and roof...

Completion of OCI's Second Polysilicon Plant - OCI becomes World's No. 2 polysilicon maker with 16,500 MT production capacity - OCI commemorated the completion of its second polysilicon plant (P2) in Gunsan on September 29, 2009. Approximately 500 people attended the ceremony, including Chairman Soo Young Lee, President Woo Sug Baik and other executives from OCI, North Jeolla Province Governor Wanju Kim, National Assemblyman Bongkyun Kang, Gunsan Mayor Dongshin Moon, various officials from the central and provincial governments, key customers and Gunsan residents. The new plant has an annual production capacity of 10,000 metric tons. OCI, the only Korean company that has been able to develop its own polysilicon manufacturing technology, invested a total of 1.01 trillion won in the Gunsan complex, and with the completion of its second polysilicon plant it now has a manufacturing capacity of 16,500 metric tons per year. As a result, OCI is now the second largest polysilicon ...

Bridgestone will increase its production capacity of ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) film, which is used as an adhesive for solar modules. The company said it will install new production lines at its Seki Plant in Seki City, Gifu Prefecture, adding to its existing EVA film manufacturing site in Iwata City, Shizuoka Prefecture. The production capacity at the Seki plant will be 1200 tons per month by the second half of 2011, at a total investment of about ¥4.4 billion ($48.67 million), according to the company. In September 2008, Bridgestone said it had earmarked approximately ¥5.4 billion ($59.76 million at current rates) for investment in the Iwata plant, with plans to begin increasing production in early 2011. Combined with the previously announced capacity expansion plans in April 2008 which will take effect in late 2010, the leading tire and rubber company stated at the time that it expected total monthly production of EVA film to reach approximately 3000 tons, once the lines ramped t...

Centrosolar's Glas unit has increased its annual solar glass manufacturing capacity to 6 million square meters at its factory in Fürth, Germany, and has a new antireflective nanocoating process set to go into volume production before the end of the year. The company says that it has invested €10 million over the past two years to double its production output because of the addition of new customers in Europe, North America, and Asia, and that the newly installed capacity is being fully utilized, with further expansion plans already in the pipeline. The company says that its best-selling product is antireflective-coated solar glass that can boost the annual power output of a solar module by 4-7%. The new patented nanocoating feature set to go into volume production soon can now also be applied just on one side, and across the entire surface, making the processing of this solar glass even more efficient. "At times like the present, where everyone looks very closely at the effici...

The arrival of the feed-in tariff (FiT) was a much-anticipated one, something that would boost the solar sector and give countries around the globe the incentive they needed to convert from conventional energy sources into the renewable sector. No one could have predicted the upheaval that could have been brought with this seemingly positive move. Spain The first and most prominent downfall came in the shape of Spain. It introduced its generous FiT rate of up to €0.44/kWh back in 2007 when the government expected a steady stream of investment. In response, there came a flood. The country was left accounting for more than 40% of the world's total solar installations in 2008. This huge uptake gave the powers-that-be no choice but to revise the FiT rate, causing Spain to became one of the principal causes of the downturn in the solar industry. Some might say that the evident success stories of other countries like Germany caused a trend to be set for others. Yet in their infancy, unre...

Product Briefing Outline: Wacker is introducing ‘Tectosil,’ a silicone-based elastic polymer sheet, which is thermo-formable and therefore a fast and easy encapsulant process. Tectosil provides sensitive solar cells with effective and long-lasting protection against mechanical and chemical stresses. It is non-corrosive and can be used with any type of module. Problem: There is a growing need for new encapsulant materials as the PV industry continues to expand and traditional materials are limited supply. However, new materials must perform in the same way and offer the durability required for PV module expected lifespan. Solution: Tectosil is a flexible, highly transparent and electrically insulating sheet comprising a silicone-organo copolymer. Because of its thermoplastic properties, this silicone-based polymer can be processed quickly and inexpensively – without curing or chemical reactions. The lamination process thus benefits from short production cycles and a high tolerance to ...

Setting the lowest cost per watt production figures in the photovoltaics industry while ramping production past the 1GW level in 2009, should prove to be the key reasons why First Solar becomes the largest solar cell producer in 2009, leapfrogging Q-Cells and Sharp for the first time. According to market research firm, iSuppli Corp, First Solar is set to produce more than double the 503MW it made in 2008 and increase its market share as well as be responsible for nearly a third of global installations this year! Totting-up first-half year figures and taking into account third quarter company projections, iSuppli has projected some impressive gains for the CdTe thin film leader in 2009. The market research firm believes that First Solar is set to produce 1,100 Megawatts (MW) worth of solar cells in 2009 and actually have the majority of this record production level installed rather than a given percentage stuck in inventory. This is in contrast to many rivals facing inventory build as t...