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February 1, 2010...
Solyndra, a Fremont, California-based manufacturer of cylindrical photovoltaic systems, reports that Umwelt-Sonne-Energie GmbH (USE Projects) has completed a 1.9MWp installation over ten rooftop sites. The project, completed in only two months, is the largest collective Solyndra project to date with 10 rooftop sites in ten Belgium cities. The sites are owned by a large international food retailer. According to Solyndra, the power generated will be sold to local utilities under an agreement with the building owners.
Solyndra's unique cylindrical, thin film PV systems are reportedly designed to generate more electricity from typical low-slope commercial rooftops while providing significantly lower installation costs than conventional flat plate PV technologies. Unlike other technologies, the systems do not need costly directional adjustment platforms.
"This is a great example of how Solyndra's PV systems can take advantage of underutilized commercial rooftop space to generate significant power. The project also offers a good model for how distributed power generation can work in an urban setting," said Chris Gronet, Solyndra CEO and founder. "USE Projects designed and delivered a PV system that we believe can enable the highest energy production per roof over the system lifetime while taking advantage of Solyndra's low overall installation costs."
Solyndra News Release
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TriQuint Announces Tripower Family of 'Green' Base Station Amplifier RF Transistors
CompoundSemi News StaffFebruary 1, 2010...TriQuint Semiconductor, has released the first products in its new 'green'
TriPower family of 3G/4G wireless base station RFICs. According to the company, TriPower reduces electricity needed to power network base station amplifiers while it allows operators to more easily increase network capacity and speed.
TriQuint says that such a network with 2000 base station ampliers to cover a medium sized city would cut CO2 emissions by about 340 tons each year. According to the US Forestry Service, each acre of trees absorbs about 2.6 tons of CO2 annually. Using TriPower in such a system would be the equivalent of adding more than 130 acres of trees to the ecosystem.
TriQuint Networks Vice President, Brian P. Balut stated, “The complex modulation requirements of 3G and 4G networks cannot be delivered efficiently by legacy semiconductor technologies." He added, "We believe that for reasons of reliability, cost and efficiency, TriPower’s GaAs HV-HBT technology is the best choice.”
Balut explained that TriPower RFICs can be easily linearized using conventional Digital Pre-Distortion (DPD) techniques.
Independent researchers at the University of California at San Diego have compared key base station amplifier semiconductor technologies including Silicon LDMOS, Gallium Nitride (GaN) and TriPower GaAs HV-HBT technology. UCSD lead researcher, Professor Donald Kimball, concluded in a November 2008 paper that TriPower devices offer a clear efficiency advantage. TriQuint News Release Emcore to Deliver Solar Panels to ATK Space Systems for Orion Spacecraft
CompoundSemi News StaffJanuary 27, 2010...ATK Space Systems of Goleta, California has awarded Emcore Corporation a contract to manufacture, test, and deliver solar panels for ATK's UltraFlex solar arrays. The UltraFlex solar arrays will power the Orion spacecraft, which Lockheed Martin is developing for NASA.
Emcore's contract runs through 2013 and is valued at $9 million to $11 million. The solar array system is used for only one mission. For this reason, Emcore is expected to continuously produce the solar panels for ATK's UltraFlex solar arrays through 2020 and beyond.
Emcore's latest ZTJ triple-junction solar cells will be designed into the solar panels delivered to ATK Space Systems. According to Emcore, the cells have a sunlight-to-electricity conversion efficiency of 30%, the highest performance space qualified multi-junction solar cells available. Production of the solar panels will take place at Emcore's manufacturing facilities located in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
NASA's Orion crew exploration vehicle (CEV) program will replacing the current Space Shuttle and serve as its next generation human space transport system. It will be capable of transferring astronauts to and from the International Space Station (ISS), the Moon and other destinations within the solar system. NASA expects to order multiple Orion Constellation vehicles over the next decade.
Dave Messner, Vice President and General Manager of ATK's Solar Array and Deployables site in Goleta, California stated, "The ATK UltraFlex™ solar array design will be providing 14kW of power per shipset with superior performance characteristics and mission enabling features..."
Emcore News Release
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Aixtron Expands to New R&D Facilities
CompoundSemi News StaffJanuary 27, 2010...Aixtron AG of Aachen, Germany announced an expansion to its new R&D campus at its premises in Herzogenrath-Kohlscheid in support of the company’s research and development strategy.
Aixtron says that the new facility will be able to host up to 350 engineers at the end of phase 1, significantly increasing the laboratory resources and prototype capabilities used to develop next generation complex material deposition manufacturing systems. The company plans to invest up to €40m over the next 2-3 years to fully develop these new modular facilities. The new facilities will reportedly utilize a renewable energy design.
Aixtron says it will continue to focus the main portion of its manufacturing of standard deposition equipment at its nearby production facilities in Herzogenrath, Kaiserstraße. Manufacturing of standard deposition equipment will also be supported by the engineering and assembly locations in Cambridge, UK, and Sunnyvale, US. Aixtron indicated that the facility will help to meet requirements of improved performance and will aid in reducing the cost of ownership of its systems for use in the LED general lighting market.
Company News Release Veeco Awarded $4M in R&D Matching Funds from DOE for SSL Manufacuturing
CompoundSemi News StaffJanuary 25, 2010...Veeco Instruments Inc.was awarded $4 million in R&D matching funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act by the U.S. Department of Energy for solid state lighting projects.
The company of Plainview, New York USA, produces metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) systems.
Veeco is among 8 companies to share in $23.5 million for research and development of manufacturing equipment, processes, or monitoring techniques used in the production of solid state lighting. The research and development efforts among the eight companies is focused on achieving significant cost reductions and enhanced quality of solid state lighting products.
(Ref: LIGHTimes Article).
Congressman Rush Holt, who represents New Jersey’s 12th Congressional District commented, “In a few years, LED lighting will be everywhere, and New Jersey should be in the forefront of creating the jobs that will make it happen”
Veeco’s proposal was aimed at driving down the cost of high brightness LEDs through the advancement of its metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) technology.
Veeco says that the overall objective of its two year program is to develop high-volume MOCVD systems that provide a 4X reduction in the cost of epitaxial growth for LED devices, with the ultimate goal of a 10X reduction in LED costs. Veeco will partner with Sandia National Laboratories on this project.
According to John Peeler, Veeco’s CEO, "The funding will support the retention and creation of jobs in Veeco’s Plainview, N.Y. and Somerset, N.J. facilities."
Veeco News Release Arrow Electronics to Distribute Cree's Silicon Carbide-Based Power Products
CompoundSemi News StaffJanuary 25, 2010...Arrow Electronics has signed an agreement with Cree to distribute Cree's silicon carbide (SiC) power products. Among the Cree products available through Arrow will be the recently released Z-REC™ Series of 600-V Schottky diodes and the groundbreaking 1200-V Schottky diode line.
“Our customers are at the leading edge of green power designs,” said Robert Behn, vice president of supplier marketing for Arrow Electronics.
“Together, Cree and Arrow intend to accelerate the adoption of silicon carbide power semiconductors to create more efficient switching power supplies, alternative energy converters and motor drives,” said Bob Pollock, Cree senior vice president, sales.
Cree News Release
/documents/view/cldoc.php?id=118730#top Keithley Instruments’ Solar Cell Testing Survey Reveals Priorities and Best Practices in Test Methods of Solar Cells
CompoundSemi News StaffJanuary 25, 2010...Keithley Instruments has published a solar cell testing survey, which it says outlines the priorities and best practices in test methods of solar cells.
The Cleveland, Ohio USA-based company conducted a recent survey of solar cell/photovoltaic device researchers and manufacturers working in government, university-based, and corporate labs and manufacturing facilities. The survey indicates distinct differences in testing methods and priorities among respondents from Asia, North America, and Europe. Keithley Instruments, Inc. conducted the study during Summer 2009 using what it says was a by-invitation-only online survey that generated 564 responses. A white paper summarizing the results is available for downloading at no charge from Keithley's website at: http://www.keithley.com/data?asset=52794.
Across all geographies, the survey indicated the industry is focused on improving device efficiencies as the dominant development priority. “Reducing manufacturing cost” was the second most important among the respondents, as might be expected, although substantially less significant than the need to boost device and panel performance.
In Keithley's survey, a large majority of respondents worldwide identified their “key parameters” for measurement as short-circuit current (ISC), open-circuit voltage (VOC), maximum output power (PMAX) and, to a lesser extent, conversion efficiency. Respondents in North America and Europe showed consistent agreement on what constitutes their most important tests. Respondents from Asia, while agreeing with the same top four tests, showed much less preference for them as other tests were cited as key parameters nearly as often as the top four.
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