Tag Archives: First Solar

Module quality emerges as new marketing tool for the solar industry

Posted on October 4, 2017 by Ritesh Pothan

As soon as solar became an asset class, all issues related to component selection – including the modules, the materials used for the module assembly stages, and plant design and maintenance – then moves to a different level, and this … Continue reading →

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10 years of R&D spending analysis of 12 key PV module manufacturers

Posted on September 26, 2017 by Ritesh Pothan

 A technology buy cycle driven by PERC technology is keeping R&D spending high. Image: Fraunhofer ISE R&D spending patterns Combined R&D expenditures of 12 major PV module manufacturers in 2016, tracked since 2007, declined by approximately 4.4% in 2016 to … Continue reading →

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Anti-Dumping applied for Solar Products imported into India from Malaysia, China PR, Chinese Taipei and USA.

Posted on May 23, 2014 by Ritesh Pothan

Anti-Dumping Investigation concerning imports of Solar Cells whether or not assembled partially or fully in Modules or Panels or on glass or some other suitable substrates, originating in or exported from Malaysia, China PR, Chinese Taipei and USA. 14/5/2012-DGAD:- Having … Continue reading →

Posted in Anti Dumping Duty, Cells & Modules, MNRE, PV, Renewables, Solar Policy, Thin Film | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

THE TOXIC ISSUE OF SOLAR PANELS

Posted on May 2, 2014 by Ritesh Pothan

Last year Robert Lundahl and Roy co-wrote an article about a California PV solar factory that is not disposing of their solar panels once their lifespan expires. We could not name the company, as our source still works there, but they use … Continue reading →

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10 Huge Lessons We’ve Learned From Solar Power Success In Germany

Posted on April 9, 2014 by Ritesh Pothan

Ritesh: While this article is dated Early 2013, it provides us an insight into the scare mongers especially Discoms who claim that Solar will disrupt existing power infrastructure whereas in truth Solar is an excellent energy security and distributed method … Continue reading →

Posted in Articles, Commercial, DISCOM, Global Warming, Grid Connected, Grid Interactive Distributed Solar Energy Systems, Off-grid, Power Generation, PV, Renewables, Residential, Rooftop, Rural Lighting, Solar Policy, Transmission and Distribution | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Solar costs to halve as gas prices surge

Posted on April 7, 2014 by Ritesh Pothan

Another of the world’s leading solar PV manufacturing giants has underlined the potential for yet more substantial falls in the manufacturing cost of solar modules, even as the cost of fossil fuels – and gas in particular – surges in … Continue reading →

Posted in Articles, Commercial, Crystalline, Grid Connected, Power Generation, PV, Renewables, Solar, Thin Film | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

SUNEDISON DROPS INDIA SOLAR PROJECT ON DCR SUPPLY WORRIES

Posted on April 7, 2014 by Ritesh Pothan

BlackRock Inc.-backed SunEdison Inc. dropped a solar power project in India as local equipment shortages and prices make it unviable. SunEdison is giving up the 20-megawatt project it won in an Indian government auction in February on concerns that local … Continue reading →

Posted in Batch I, Cells & Modules, Commercial, Crystalline, Grid Connected, JNNSM, MNRE, Phase II, PV, Renewables, SECI, Solar, Solar Policy, Subsidy | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

NPD Solarbuzz: Idled solar cell capacity in India belies bigger issues

Posted on September 5, 2013 by Ritesh Pothan

Market research firm, NPD Solarbuzz reports that a significant amount of crystalline-silicon solar cell production in India lays idle, despite almost US$0.5 billion of investment in solar cell equipment between 2006 and 2012. The reason for the idled capacity was … Continue reading →

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Trina, Yingli, SunPower top Solar Scorecard

Posted on September 4, 2013 by Ritesh Pothan

Of the leading 40 solar companies, environmental and consumer advocacy group Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition found that Trina Solar, Yingli and SunPower bested industry rivals in areas such as worker safety and module toxicity. Industry watchdog and consumer advocacy group … Continue reading →

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First Solar and China Sunergy urge Indian government to drop dumping investigation

Posted on September 4, 2013 by Ritesh Pothan

U.S. and Chinese manufacturers claim that India’s government is acting beyond the scope of its powers in a dumping probe they describe as “flawed.” An Indian investigation into claims that U.S., European, Chinese, Malaysian and Japanese PV manufacturers dumped solar cells … Continue reading →

Posted in Anti-Dumping, Cells & Modules, Crystalline, PV, Renewables, Solar, Thin Film | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

First Solar Won the Race; The Environment Lost – First Solar Panel recycling now the system owner’s responsibility. It cost the DOE at the very least $0.20/watt to encapsulate the modules in concrete for Abound Solar

Posted on August 27, 2013 by Ritesh Pothan

In 2011, I wrote about the CdTe Horse Race in which the three US companies making cadmium telluride (CdTe) photovoltaic (PV) modules, First Solar (FSLR), Abound Solar and General Electric (GE Solar, stock ticker GE) jostled for position.  Abound and GE were challenging … Continue reading →

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First Solar to manufacture new crystalline silicon line from end of 2014

Posted on August 10, 2013 by Ritesh Pothan

Natgrp: Writing on the wall for Thin Film! “CdTe isn’t suitable for residential or small commercial – that’s half the global market.” Denis de Ceuster, Tetrasun has achieved a third party confirmed efficiency of 21.4% with its n-type silicon cells First … Continue reading →

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First Solar buys GE’s CdTe thin-film IP and forms business partnership

Posted on August 9, 2013 by Ritesh Pothan

GE announced the location of its first thin-film plant in October 2011 which would have a nameplate capacity of 400MW and start commercial shipments in 2013. The facility was at the core of a US$600 million investment in entering the … Continue reading →

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India May Expand Solar Dumping Probe to EU, Japan Cells – All parties must submit written statements by July 25, and defendants have until Aug. 2 to respond

Posted on July 22, 2013 by Ritesh Pothan

Indian clean-energy companies that claim manufacturers in the U.S. and China dumped solar cells below cost on the market are seeking to extend their case to include imports from Europe and Japan. Indosolar Ltd. (ISLR), Jupiter Solar Power Ltd. and … Continue reading →

Posted in Anti Dumping Duty, Cells & Modules, PV, Renewables, Solar | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Thin film CdTe PV breakthrough may cut solar costs by one third to lower than 40 $ cents

Posted on July 15, 2013 by Ritesh Pothan

A new Silicon Valley developer of thin film solar PV modules, backed by an Australian venture capitalist, has claimed an engineering breakthrough that could cut the manufacturing costs of PV modules by one third. RSI has broken cover after five … Continue reading →

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Domestic Content Requirement restricted to 300MW including Thin-film – India to Close Solar Import Loophole in Energy Auction

Posted on May 11, 2013 by Ritesh Pothan

India plans to close a loophole before its next solar-power auction to stop companies from importing thin-film panels from overseas suppliers like First Solar Inc. (FSLR) for projects that otherwise must be built with local equipment. The government will invite developers by the … Continue reading →

Posted in Cells & Modules, CPV, Crystalline, JNNSM, Phase II, PV, Solar, Solar Policy, Thin Film | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Current Solar Module Efficiency Nowhere Near Its Potential, Especially Thin-Film Solar & CPV (Chart)

Posted on April 19, 2013 by Ritesh Pothan

National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) Director Dan Arvizu recently gave a keynote speech during the 2013 International Renewable Energy Conference (part of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week), which I was lucky enough to attend*. His speech covered a large variety of cleantech topics, and most of … Continue reading →

Posted in Cells & Modules, CPV, Crystalline, PV, Solar, Thin Film | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

NREL verifies First Solar’s 16.1% total area module efficiency record leap

Posted on April 16, 2013 by Ritesh Pothan

  Easily surpassing its previous record of 14.4% efficiency, First Solar a pushed the bar to 16.1%. Importantly, the CdTe thin-film leader also set a record for open circuit voltage (VOC), reaching an NREL verified 903.2 millivolts (mV). First Solar … Continue reading →

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First Solar to manufacture copper-based crystalline silicon solar cells

Posted on April 15, 2013 by Ritesh Pothan

TetraSun’s cell concept is based on what the company has termed “a novel surface passivation technology”. It enables the use of 40um wide copper electrodes instead of screen-printed silver metallization. Without demanding special equipment for the manufacturing process, cell Voc … Continue reading →

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The largest PV System Integrator / EPC companies for 2012: First Solar, Sun Edison, BELECTRIC…..

Posted on April 1, 2013 by Ritesh Pothan

IHS’s table of the world’s top 15 EPC companies. Source: IHS. US giant First Solar became the world’s largest engineering, procurement and construction contractor (EPC) last year, according to a report from IHS Research. The study also revealed a shift … Continue reading →

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SunPower treading water on a sea of red ink

Posted on March 23, 2013 by Ritesh Pothan

The company reported fourth quarter 2012 GAAP revenue of US$679 million, up 8.5% from US$648.9 million in the prior quarter. Despite reporting its highest quarterly revenue figures for 2012, SunPower continued its loss making ways. SunPower has reported losses in … Continue reading →

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First Solar may recycle 100,000 Abound Solar CdTe panels at a cost of US$2.2m to avoid environmental fallout

Posted on March 2, 2013 by Ritesh Pothan

First Solar, the world’s leading CdTe thin film manufacturer, has been recycling its products since 2005. Abram said that process can now recover 95% of the semi-conductor material and 90% of the glass. First Solar has said that it has … Continue reading →

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Solar power one of the fastest growing segment of Indian power sector

Posted on February 28, 2013 by Ritesh Pothan

From almost negligible capacity in 2009 to 1,000+ MW today, solar power is one of the fastest growing segments in the Indian power sector, aided in good measure by enabling policies of the government. The Union government has set a target of … Continue reading →

Posted in Crystalline, PV, Renewables, Rooftop, Solar, Thin Film | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

R&D spending analysis of top 10 PV module manufacturers

Posted on February 7, 2013 by Ritesh Pothan

Using the latest market leader rankings from Solarbuzz for 2012, we plotted the annual spending on R&D of the top 10 ranked companies (see figure 1), since 2007. Looking at chart 2 it is immediately apparent that there is a … Continue reading →

Posted in Crystalline, PV, Renewables, Rooftop, Rural Lighting, Solar, Thin Film | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Solar Panel defect rates of 20% seen by Solar Panel Auditors

Posted on February 5, 2013 by Ritesh Pothan

A worldwide glut of solar panels has slashed prices and made the technology affordable to more people than ever before. But that glut could be prompting some panel manufacturers to cut corners. SolarBuyer, a company that audits solar factories, has … Continue reading →

Posted in Crystalline, PV, Renewables, Rooftop, Thin Film | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Top 10 PV module suppliers in 2012

Posted on February 4, 2013 by Ritesh Pothan

Table 1. According to NPD Solarbuzz, Yingli Green Energy is confirmed as the leading module supplier by MW shipment levels for 2012. Seven of the Top 10 companies can be categorized as public-listed, vertically-integrated c-Si module makers based in China. … Continue reading →

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Dumping duty to help Indian solar power gear makers: Experts

Posted on January 26, 2013 by Ritesh Pothan

Indian manufacturers of solar cells and modules would gain if the government imposes an anti-dumping duty, but it would also raise prices for project developers and eventually increase the price of power generated from these plants, industry officials and analysts … Continue reading →

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Odisha’s solar policy in 2 months, targets 50 MW generation

Posted on January 15, 2013 by Ritesh Pothan

Targeting generation of 50 MW of solar power within one year, Odisha government today said its comprehensive solar policy would be in place in next two months.   “The state will have a comprehensive solar policy in next two months,” science and technology secretary … Continue reading →

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First Solar to axe 2,000 jobs, close German plant and idle other lines

Posted on January 13, 2013 by Ritesh Pothan

First Solar said that its CdTe thin film production lines in Frankfurt (Oder), Germany, would permanently close in the fourth quarter of 2012. In relation to its Kulim, Malaysia operations, currently the largest of its manufacturing sites, First Solar said … Continue reading →

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Class action lawsuit filed in US District Court against First Solar

Posted on March 28, 2012 by Ritesh Pothan

While we had initially covered the unsuitability of First Solar for Hot Climates and then a reply by their PR Director, more heartache was in store for the company A class action lawsuit was filed against First Solar by Pomerantz … Continue reading →

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First Solar PR Director explains further on hot climate issues, in reply to our post

Posted on March 13, 2012 by Ritesh Pothan

In reply to our earlier post, Brandon Mitchener, director of public relations at First Solar said, this report was based on a misreading of what First Solar said and the Hindu Business Line is (belatedly) in the process of correcting it. … Continue reading →

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First Solar admits to unsuitability of its products to hot climates

Posted on March 5, 2012 by Ritesh Pothan

The Hindu Business Line – M Ramesh American company First Solar, major supplier of cadmium telluride-based thin-film photo-voltaic modules to India, has admitted that its products are not suitable for hot climates. Reliance Power is a major customer of First Solar. … Continue reading →

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