Intel Invests in German Thin Film Solar Company
CompoundSemi News StaffJuly 9, 2008...Intel Capital, the business investment branch of the chip maker, Intel, has reportedly invested in a German thin-film solar company. Reuters reported in a recent article that Intel Capital invested 24 million Euros (about $37.7 million) in the German company, Sulfurcell. However, Reuters incorrectly reported that Sulfurcell uses copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) technology. Sulfurcell actually uses a somewhat less publicized formulation for thin film solar cells, copper indium sulfide (CIS) (hence the name Sulfurcell).
The investment is part of a funding round for the company of up to 85 million Euros (or about $133 million. Intel notes that 38 million euros of the current amount comes from other investors including: Climate Change Capital Private Equity, AIG, Demeter Partners, Zouk Ventures and Bank Invest. The remaining 23 million Euros comes from existing investors. Sulfurcell said it plans to use the funding to expand it production capacity in Germany. Intel Capital likely invested in Sulfurcell and Sulfurcell likely chose to locate its manufacturing facility in Germany in part because the German government continues to provide attractive, long-term incentives for solar manufacturing, research, and development.
In June, Intel spun off a solar cell company called SpectraWatt. SpetraWatt is reportedly expected to break ground on its new manufacturing facility in the state of Oregon during the second half of 2008. The company remains tight-lipped about the technology it will be using.
 |
QPC Lasers Finishes Development Phase of Laser TV Contract
CompoundSemi News StaffJuly 9, 2008...QPC Lasers, Inc. “QPC,” a maker and developer of high power semiconductor chip-based lasers, reported that it has successfully met the performance requirements for red, blue, and green lasers related to its recently announced $12 million laser TV contract. The company noted that it had thereby completed the technology development phase of the contract with an unnamed major Asian manufacturer of consumer electronics. According to the contract, QPC will be the exclusive laser supplier over the next three years for $11 million. The contract reportedly carries a potential value of up to $230 million over the 10 year term of the contract. QPC previously demonstrated its green laser technology based on frequency doubling of its proprietary BrightLase single-mode laser technology in Sept. 2007. At the time, the company boasted of continuous wave and peak conversion efficiencies of greater than 50 percent.
“QPC is enabling a new generation of lower cost and dramatically improved high definition large screen televisions by replacing today’s poor quality light sources with our bright, power efficient, cost effective and ultra compact lasers,” said QPC co-founder and CEO Dr. Jeffrey Ungar. “Utilizing QPC’s unique laser technology instead of LEDs, OLEDs and other poor quality and inefficient light beam sources, consumers will see a broader visible color spectrum, and a sharper, brighter, more vivid image than today’s LCD or Plasmas can offer,” continued Dr. Ungar.
Ungar also indicated that a variety of projection displays and ultra-portable projectors for cell phones and laptops could benefit from the technology. Company News Release GP Solar Releases Flexible, Triple-Junction Thin Film Solar Cells
Scott McMahanJuly 9, 2008...GP Solar of Konstanz, Germany, has released a range of flexible thin film solar panels to the market. Unlike most thin film cells on the market these are triple-junction solar cells. These are the types which companies such as Emcore pioneered for use in satellites. Efficiency, light weight, and ruggedness were the goals of the original Emcore triple-junction solar cells. Producing such cells was costly. GP Solar has evidently devised a cheaper method of producing and processing such solar cells.
GP Solar indicated, that three semiconductor junction layers of the cell absorb different portions of the light spectrum. The bottom layer or sub-cell absorbs red light, the middle cell absorbs yellow/green light, and the top layer or sub-cell absorbs blue light. GP Solar notes that its cells are connected together to provide a specified output voltage which can be customized according to customer requirements. The surface of the cells is laminated in flexible weather-resistant polymers. This is probably not quite as rugged as the radiation hardened cells to go in satellites. These thin film modules can reportedly be used in the field standalone or attached to a backpack for charging cellphones, iPods, repeater stations or any other portable equipment. They are used primarily for specific electric applications, not the generation of electricity to replace significant portions of the electric grid. The company says that 30, 50, 60, and 120 W versions along with 3, 5, 10, and 20 A battery chargers. Company News Release
 |
Avanex Begins CEO and CFO Search After CEO Termination and CFO Resignation
CompoundSemi News StaffJuly 7, 2008...Avanex, a company based in Fremont, California USA that specializes in fiber optic communication solutions, announced the termination of Dr. Jo Major as president and CEO. According to the company, the termination was due to Dr. Major’s inability to work with the company’s board of directors effectively. Also, the company reported the resignation of Ms. Marla Sanchez from her position as senior vice president and chief financial officer (CFO).
Avanex reportedly appointed Dr. Giovanni Barbossa to be intermim CEO. Avanex says that Barbossa has forked for the company since 200, and has most recently served as senior vice president and chief technology officer (CTO). Avanex said that it has begun a search to fill the CEO and CFO positions. The company appointed Mr. Paul Smith, a current member of the Board, to be non-executive chairman of the board.
"I would like to thank Jo, on behalf of our Board of Directors, for his contributions in taking the Company through a difficult transition period over the last several years. We look forward to continuing the solid execution of the Company's strategy," said Mr. Smith. Company News Release Global Solar to Showcase Thin Film Technology at Intersolar North America
CompoundSemi News StaffJuly 7, 2008...Global Solar, a developer of thin film copper indium gallium diselinide (CIGS) solar cells on flexible substrates, will be presenting its technology at Intersolar North America on July 15 in San Francisco. Dr. Jeff Britt, chief technology officer at Global Solar Energy, will reportedly be presenting during the photovoltaic portion of the program. His presentation will be entitled, "Innovative Concepts for Cells & Modules (Thin-Film)".
The company is also inviting conference attendees to a follow-up panel discussion in which it will be represented along with other thin-film solar leaders.
Global Solar says it has developed a proprietary process for manufacturing thin-film CIGS photovoltaic cells and modules, and claims to be the only company reliably producing CIGS that can be encapsulated in traditional glass modules or in a flexible substrate. Dr. Britt will discuss the company’s unique production processes that it is using at its new Tucson, Ariz., manufacturing plant. Global Solar boasts that the Tucson, Arizona plant is the largest of its kind in the world with its phase-one annual production of 40 MW. The company also says that it will set up a second plant in Berlin, Germany, a hot bed for solar development. The annual production capacity of this facility will reportedly be 35 MW. Company News Release Alpha & Omega Semiconductor Enters Boost Regulator Market
CompoundSemi News StaffJuly 7, 2008...Alpha & Omega Semiconductor, Inc. (AOS) has introduced the first regulator in what it will call its EZBoost Family. The company says that the AOZ1905
is ideal for high efficiency DC-DC boost applications such as for providing bias voltages in LCD panel power for handhelds, notebooks, monitors, and TVs as well as for general purpose boost applications in personal navigation devices, power tools, set top boxes, and TV tuners. AOS explained that the AOZ1905 is a current-mode, constant frequency boost regulator with a switch current limit of 2A. Depending upon application requirements, its pin selectable switching frequency of 600kHz or 1.2MHz can reportedly be adjusted to optimize efficiency and external component size.
The company says that the current-mode control ensures easy loop compensation and fast transient response. The AOZ1905 operates from a 2.7V to 5.5V input voltage range and generates an output voltage as high as 24V. The company boasts that the built-in 0.15Ohm/2.4A MOSFET can achieve greater than 90% efficiency. The company notes the device’s other features which include input under-voltage lockout, cycle-by-cycle current limit, thermal shutdown and soft-start.
“The AOZ1905 EZBoost regulator integrates a low RDS(on) boost FET capable of output voltages as high as 24V while enabling up to 3% higher efficiency compared to competing devices with similar current rating,” said Alan Moore, Marketing Manager of Power IC products at AOS. “We are already shipping this product in volume to our key customers.” Company News Release StockerYale Awarded Laser Diode Contract
CompoundSemi News StaffJuly 3, 2008...StockerYale of Salem, New Hampshire, has been awarded a contract to supply custom packaged laser diodes for the telecommunications division of a mult-billion dollar, unnamed technology company. StockerYale says it expects that the contract revenues will initially be in the six-figure range and increase over time.
“This contract award further underscores the turnaround in Photonic Products recorded in the first quarter and validates our market-leading technology,” stated Mark W. Blodgett, Chairman and CEO of StockerYale. “Additionally, in securing a customer of this stature, we once again demonstrate our ability to leverage core technology competencies and apply them to solutions that yields a faster time-to-market and greater efficiencies for the end-customer.”
Stocker Yale says its Photonic Products unit has developed sophisticated processes for custom design and high volume manufacturing.
Damon Cookman, Managing Director of Photonic Products Ltd., said, “Our laser diodes are integral to the customer’s new innovative, next generation product, for which demand has been very high. The receipt of this award is indicative of our ability to rapidly produce initial prototypes and the capacity to ramp up production to satisfy increasing orders while maintaining consistently high quality.” StockerYale News Release Our news features are reported
by the CompoundSemi News staff writers.
For submissions or content suggestions, you can contact us using
editor -at - compoundsemi.com
For more information and to reserve promotion space contact
Info7 -at - compoundsemi.com
or call +1 (512) 257-9888
|
