• Friday, November 20, 2009 Latest Update: 4:41PM

Greentech Solar

Featured Content:

Growth, Market Share and Dynamic Change in The PV Inverter Industry

The PV inverter market, once short of innovation, has seen a surge of investment in the last few years.  Spurred by startup advances, established firms like SMA, Satcon, and National Semiconductor are developing new distributed PV electronics technologies in-house or through acquisition. This Special Report from Greentech Media, sponsored by Enphase Energy, takes a look at the state of innovation in the inverter market, VC investment activity, and the emerging leaders in the $2.4 billion PV inverter market.

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As the price of PV falls, the technology will become more competitively priced in Europe and the U.S. before its prices are competitive in China.

Hot Startup »

Solar Startup Solasta Seeks Next Round

The solar firm was founded in 2006 with A round funding from Kleiner Perkins and claims its process could increase the efficiency of conventional amorphous silicon PV by up to 150 percent.

Manufacturing

  • Starwood, Lockheed Cancel 290MW Solar Project

    UPDATE—Lockheed said the project wasn’t worth it because of its high cost. The two companies were going to build the solar thermal power plant to sell electricity to Arizona Public Service.

    Solar

    Ucilia Wang October 1, 2009
  • Wacker Ditches Solar Wafer Biz, China to Curb Silicon Oversupply

    Wacker Chemie is giving up its share of the solar wafer business with Schott to focus on making silicon at a time when silicon prices have dived.

    Solar

    Ucilia Wang September 30, 2009
  • Spire Set to Get a Korean Investor

    The solar factory tool maker said it’s negotiating to sell a majority stake in a project development company to Uni-Chem. Uni-Chem also has bought equipment to set up shop in the U.S.

    Solar

    Ucilia Wang September 29, 2009
  • Nitride With Silicon: Think Solar Cells With 30% Efficiency

    RoseStreet Energy Labs said it has created a prototype cell that combines gallium-nitride with silicon, a technology that it could license to silicon cell makers and produce on its own.

    Solar

    Ucilia Wang September 28, 2009
  • German Election Leads to 2010 Boom for Solar?

    The newly elected center-right coalition could cut the country’s solar incentive, causing developers to hurry up and complete their projects before new policy is in place. 

    Solar

    Ucilia Wang September 28, 2009
  • Suntech Beats Its Own Solar Record

    The company has improved the efficiency of its Pluto panels to 16.53 percent from 15.6 percent, but it still has to prove that betting on the new Pluto technology is a good idea.

    Solar

    Ucilia Wang September 23, 2009
  • Suntech to SolarWorld: Careful What You Wish For

    The German company’s CEO Frank Asbeck has rallied for regulations to protect European solar companies against Asian competitors. He is now calling for lowering the feed-in tariff.

    Solar

    Ucilia Wang September 21, 2009
  • Roundup: Suntech Offers Mid-Size Panel, Tianwei Sells to Thailand and More

    The start of the European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference prompted announcements of new products, deals and partnerships

    Solar

    Ucilia Wang September 21, 2009
  • Global Solar: BIPV Market or Bust

    The thin-film solar cell maker says its products have a top efficiency of 15.45 percent, and it is branching out of the “dinosaur glass module” market to get a slice of the building materials market.

    Solar

    Ucilia Wang September 16, 2009
  • Ausra Plans Two Projects in Australia, One in Middle East

    The solar thermal equipment maker, which shifted its business model over the past year, plans to announce solar thermal projects in the next few months.

    Solar

    Ucilia Wang September 15, 2009
  • The Real (and Potentially Minimal) Impacts of the Cash Grant Program

    This excerpt from GTM Research’s upcoming report United States Downstream PV Market: Opportunity, Strategy and Policy takes a look at the Cash Grant program.

    Solar

    Shayle Kann September 14, 2009
  • Oerlikon Solar Tools Coming to America

    The Swiss factory equipment maker has lined up its first U.S. customer, who plans to build an initial 90-megawatt plant in an idled Ford assembly plant near Detroit.

    Solar

    Ucilia Wang September 10, 2009
  • First Solar’s Gift to China: How to Build a Solar Farm

    CEO Michael Ahearn says First Solar plans to carry out an ‘IP transfer’ by training Chinese companies how to engineer solar power projects.

    Solar

    Ucilia Wang September 10, 2009
  • Nanosolar Boosts Cells Efficiency, Starts Mass Production

    The CIGS thin-film solar maker has posted two white papers about its technology and products, and it has named some of its customers who have inked $4.1 billion of contracts.

    Solar

    Ucilia Wang September 9, 2009
  • First Solar Inks 2GW Power Plant Deal in China

    The solar thin-film company has signed a preliminary agreement for the project in Inner Mongolia. It appears to be the first non-Chinese equipment maker to announce such a large-scale power plant.

    Solar

    Ucilia Wang September 8, 2009
  • Innovalight Ups Silicon Ink Cells Efficiency to 18%

    UPDATED: The California startup CEO Conrad Burke talks about its manufacturing plans and the six customers who plan to make cells with Innovalight’s silicon ink technology.

    Solar

    Ucilia Wang September 8, 2009
  • Solyndra: Fab 2 Construction Begins

    The California CIGS thin-film company breaks ground on its second factory complex, which will be partly financed by the federal $535 million loan.

    Solar

    Ucilia Wang September 4, 2009
  • SMA Solar Enters Microinverter Biz Through Acquisition

    The Germany company, which makes centralized inverters, is betting on a technology that’s finding a greater acceptance in the solar energy market.

    Solar

    Ucilia Wang September 3, 2009
  • Xunlight 26 Solar Aims for CdTe on Plastic

    The one-year-old Ohio startup is developing a flexible cadmium-telluride thin film that isn’t like First Solar’s, and plans to go into pilot production next year.

    Solar

    Ucilia Wang September 1, 2009
  • Is Buying European a Good Idea?

    There seems to be a growing call for regulations to protect European solar companies from producers mostly from China. China and the U.S., meanwhile, aim to protect their domestic companies.

    Solar

    Ucilia Wang August 27, 2009
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