First Solar to Build 10 MW Thin Film CdTe PV Power Plant for Sempra Generation
CompoundSemi News StaffJuly 28, 2008...First Solar announced that it will build 10 MW turnkey solar PV power plant near
Boulder City, Nevada for Sempra Generation. First Solar will design, engineer, and construct, the turnkey photovoltaic power plant. Additionally, it will provide monitoring and maintenance services for the plant over its lifetime. According to First Solar, Sempra Generation, the developer for the project, will own and operate the PV power plant once completed. Construction began in July, and the 10 MW PV power plant is expected to be completed by the end of 2008. First Solar will produce the CdTe -thin film solar modules for the project at its Perrysburg, Ohio manufacturing facility.
The 10 MW PV power plant will reportedly be adjacent to Sempra Generation's existing El Dorado combined cycle natural gas plant. First Solar points out that the location will be able to take advantage of existing infrastructure and the associated interconnection and transmission facilities. For this reason, First Solar contends that the impact to the immediate environment will be minimal and the project completion timeline will be shorter. The PV power plant will serve customers in California and the Western United States.
"This new solar project is another step in Sempra Generation's long-range plan to emerge as a leading renewable-energy developer," said Michael W. Allman, president and chief executive officer of Sempra Generation. "The combination of Sempra Generation's experience in developing power-generation projects in the region with First Solar's expertise in advanced, thin-film photovoltaic solutions is a natural fit. "
First Solar News Release Pirelli and CyOptics Launch Integrated Photonics Company
CompoundSemi News StaffJuly 28, 2008...The Pirelli Group of Milan, Italy, and CyOptics, Inc. of Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania USA, have announced the formation of a strategic alliance in integrated photonics. PGT Photonics, the Pirelli Group’s photonics company, valued at about 40 million dollars will combine with CyOptics, a privately-held US company which is a leader in indium phosphide based optical components. As part of the agreement Pirelli will participate in a CyOptics capital increase with a cash contribution of 20 million dollars. Following the transaction, Pirelli will maintain an approximately 30% share in the new business, which the the business owners expect to have annual revenue of about 80 million dollars.
Pirelli notes that the combined company will have the complementary technologies of CyOptics’ indium phosphide based lasers and detectors and PGT Photonics technology for silicon based photonics. The combined company will produce products such as wavelength tunable TOSAs, photonic integrated circuits (PICs), and other components for improving flexibility and reducing the cost of optoelectronic communications.
“This investment is coherent with Pirelli's strategy to grow in photonics through integration with other companies in similar businesses. We strongly believe in the potential of this transaction, which allows for joining two advanced and complementary technologies and creating a leading-edge company in the optical sector,” Marco Tronchetti Provera, Chairman of Pirelli, stated. Pirelli News Release July 28, 2008...Research and Development (R&D) Magazine gave several solar companies awards for their significant commercial innovations. Last week, Emcore and HelioVolt received separate awards from the magazine for their solar innovations. Emcore won the award for achieving a world record of 33% conversion efficiency in space for Inverted Metamorphic (IMM) multi-junction solar cells. Heliovolt of Austin, Texas USA, received the award for demonstrating a simpler, faster end-to-end process for printing high quality thin film (CIGS) photovoltaic (PV) systems.
Emcore collaborated with the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and the Vehicle Systems Directorate of the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory. Emcore says that it anticipates 42-45% conversion efficiency with when using the same cells with solar concentrator optics. Emcore also predicts that it will reduce the cost of power generated by solar by 10 to 20%, and it will commercialize the technology in 2009. Emcore News Release.
HelioVolt says that it won the award with the help of the NREL for developing a hybrid process for the production of large grain, high quality copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) thin film solar devices.
The HelioVolt/NREL collaboration employed a non-vacuum technique developed at NREL and licensed by HelioVolt to precisely apply liquid precursors under standard atmospheric conditions onto a printing plate and substrate, which can be made from various building materials including glass, metals, roofing materials, and plastics. HelioVolt’s patented FASST process was then used to reactively bond the inks with the high-performance CIGS crystals. HelioVolt News Release Skyworks Introduces RF Subsystem for GSM/GPRS/EDGE Femtocell Base Stations and Cellular Repeaters
CompoundSemi News StaffJuly 28, 2008...Skyworks Solutions, Inc., a developer of high performance analog and mixed signal semiconductors enabling mobile connectivity, introduced what it contends is the industry's first highly integrated RF subsystem for GSM, GPRS and EDGE femtocell base stations and cellular repeaters. The RF subsystem supports femtocell base station and cellular repeaters in GSM850, EGSM900, DCS1800 and PCS1900 frequency bands. Skyworks noted that one of the key challenges for OEMs is to make these femtocell base stations affordable for the consumer market. Ideally the would allow consumers to take advantage of femtocells, or small cellular home base stations in residential and small business environments, to provide improved indoor cellular coverage and increase overall network capacity. Skyworks says its new dual-chip RF subsystem solution also provides excellent linearity, blocker performance, dynamic range, and output power required by cellular operators, carriers and equipment manufacturers deploying femtocell base stations and cellular repeaters globally.
"Skyworks' new and innovative RF subsystem solves a variety of real-world issues that manufacturers face daily," said Stan Swearingen, Skyworks' vice president and general manager of Linear Products. "Ultimately, we're enabling them to reap considerable benefits by reducing space, expense, and time-to-market." Company News Release BluGlass Opens New Facility; Australian Environmental Minister On-hand
LIGHTimes StaffJuly 24, 2008...Australia’s environmental minister, Peter Garret, was on-hand at the opening of a BluGlass facility in Silverwater, Sydney Australia. BluGlass indicated that the facility houses the development of a unique technology that it hopes will lower the cost of production of high brightness LEDs. The company was spin-off of research at Sydney’s MacQuarie University. Then in 2007, the Australian government awarded the company AU $5 Million to further develop its technology.
The company’s main technology is a method of removing contamination during the gallium nitride film growth process. The company says that its remote plasma chemical vapour deposition (RPCVD) technique has been improved by its staff through a fundamental understanding of the physics of the nitrogen plasma used during film growth. The technology ultimately results in less expensive and more efficient white and blue LEDs.
Australia is among several countries that will soon ban incandescent light bulbs through a phase out that will impose import bans beginning in November. Content continues for LIGHTimes SecondPage members... AIST Achieves Conversion Efficiency of 17.7% for Flexible CIGS Cells
CompoundSemi News StaffJuly 23, 2008... Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) announced that that it confirmed a cell conversion efficiency of 17.7% from a CIGS solar cell with a flexible substrate, according to an article in TechOn Nikkei.
The efficiency of the solar cell is reportedly one of the highest in the world for flexible CIGS solar cells. AIST noted in the article that instead of varying the amount of relatively unstable alkali metals such as sodium selenide or sodium fluoride to control the carrier density of a p-type semiconductor, its researchers developed the “alkali-silicate glass thin layer (ASTL) method." In this method, a silicate glass layer is formed on the substrate. Adjusting the conditions of the silicate glass layer for forming the film helps vary the amount of alkali metal that passes through the backside electrode layer and diffuses into the light absorbing layer. The company notes that this method increases the reproducibility of the process and improves the conversion efficiency of the solar cells.
AIST tested three kinds of substrates: a ceramic substrate, a plastic film from Teijin Ltd., and a titanium foil with a rough surface.
A conversion efficiency of 17.7% was achieved using the ceramic substrate. Using the plastic film achieved 14.7% efficiency and using the Ti foil achieved 17.4% efficiency.
The technology will be showcased at the 4th Annual Symposium of Research Center for Photovoltaics from July 28-29, 2008, at the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation.
G24 Innovations Announces $30 million Investment
CompoundSemi News StaffJuly 23, 2008...G24 Innovations (G24i), a solar energy pioneer of Cardiff, Wales, announced that it has raised a further $30 million, through an investment by the renewable and alternative energy fund, 4RAE. G24i says this is its second major funding announcement in the last two months following a $20 million investment by Morgan Stanley Principal Investments in June. The company says that 4RAE will take a seat on the its board and will be represented by former ABN Amro CEO and Chairman Rijkman Groenink.
G24i is a maker of Dye Sensitized Thin Film technology. The dye sensitives solar cells use a dye to absorb incoming light and excite electrons. They are not as efficient in converting electricity as the most efficient thin film cells, but they are much less expensive. Additionally they can work from indoor lighting much more efficiently than other cells. They are reportedly suited for powering mobile electronic devices such as mobile telephones, cameras, and portable LED lighting systems. G24i says it will use the investment to rapidly expand its production and sales capability. Robert Hertzberg, Chairman of G24 Innovations, commented, “This is an important and major step in the development of our business. It is a huge endorsement for G24 Innovations that 4RAE is investing in the company. Equally, we are delighted that Mr Groenink has accepted a position on the Board of Directors.” Company News Release Peregrine Semiconductor Ships 300 Millionth UltraCMOS RFIC
CompoundSemi News StaffJuly 23, 2008...Peregrine Semiconductor of San Diego, California USA, reports that it has shipped its 300 millionth UltraCMOS RFIC. The company says that it reached the shipping milestone with an order for its PE42672 SP7T RF switches that are designed into RF transmit and front-end modules for cellular handsets supporting the WCDMA, HSPA, EDGE and GSM/GPRS networks.
The company notes that the HaRP-enhanced PE42672 3G antenna switch utilized in the WCDMA design is a high-throw count RF switch that was introduced into the market in October 2005. The company says it began shipping the switch to major handset manufacturers throughout 2007 and 2008. According to the company, the 3G mobile user demand for higher data rates is creating an unprecedented level of complexity in the RF front-end, and higher levels of integration are key to meeting customer requirements for exceptionally small form factors, cutting-edge features, and quick time-to-market. For this application, the company touts the superior linearity performance and reliability of its UltraCMOS RFICs delivered in a single-chip solution.
“We are extremely pleased to have achieved this milestone,” commented Jim Cable, Peregrine’s CEO. “It speaks to the widespread adoption of our UltraCMOS technology into very high-volume commercial RF applications. ... Our ability to earn this high-volume business in demanding, high-growth applications such as the cellular handset -- and ramp our production at such a tremendous rate -- is indicative of the disruptive capability of UltraCMOS and Peregrine’s staying power,” he added. Company News Release Strategy Analytics: GaAs Market Shows Strong Growth; North American Manufacturers Dominate
CompoundSemi News StaffJuly 21, 2008...Strategy Analytics, a leading compound semi industry market research firm based in the UK and Boston, Massachusetts USA, released its latest report about the gallium arsenide (GaAs) device market. The company says that the GaAs device market reached $3.6 billion in 2007, which is up 17 percent compared to 2006. Strategy Analytics (SA) says in the report that RFMD, Skyworks, and TriQuint continue to dominate, accounting for about 50 percent of the total market. SA says that seven out of the top ten GaAs device manufacturers are based in North America including Avago and M/A-Com, and these make up some 78 percent of the total market, according to SA. The company notes that Mitsubishi Electric continued to be the top Japanese GaAs device maker in 2007. Eudyna devices of Japan was also in the top ten. Win Semiconductor was tenth on the list of GaAs device manufacturers.
“Strong market growth was driven by demand from cellular handsets which we estimate to have represented 65 percent of the merchant market in 2007,” commented Stephen Entwistle, VP Strategic Technologies Practice. “GaAs-based RF modules accounted for nearly 90% of the cellular handset market in 2007; and these modules will continue to be key to future mobile handset designs.”
Asif Anwar notes, “While macroeconomic uncertainties will affect the primary end markets for diminishing year-on-year GaAs growth in 2008, the market leaders will strengthen their leadership as a result of the industry consolidation that has taken place over the past 12 to 18 months.” Company News Release Our news features are reported
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