Solar PV Investor

Nuying Huang, Taipei; Philip Liu, DIGITIMES [Monday 11 April 2011]

A number of major PV firms, including Giga Solar Materials, DelSolar and Neo Solar Power, have posted their March sales. Solar-cell conductive adhesive maker Giga Solar saw its March sales bounce 27.44% sequentially, following a sales decline of 20% in February. DelSolar's March sales advanced 7.54% sequentially, and Neo Solar Power's dipped 3.11%.

Giga Solar racked up NT$339 million (US$11.7 million) in sales in March, a record high. The sequential growth was also the highest among PV firms.

Nuying Huang, Taipei; Philip Liu, DIGITIMES [Monday 11 April 2011]
Reported output reduction by solar-cell firms has dampened prices of silicon wafer in April and led to confusion in spot-market quotes for polysilicon, although the latter have remained solid by and large so far. Photovoltaic (PV) firms believe that only by cutting polysilicon (poly-Si) prices can downstream firms reduce their costs and prices to stimulate demand.

By Kim Tong-hyung

Korea’s Hanwha Group will enter the business of producing poly-silicon, which is used to make solar wafers, as it looks to strengthen its profile in the global solar energy industry.

Hanwha Chemical, a key affiliate of the group, will begin building a manufacturing facility in Yeosu, South Jeolla Province, early next year and expects the plant to be producing 10,000 tons of poly-silicon annually after completion in late 2013.

by Russell Flannery
Apr. 10 2011 - 7:43 pm

Chinese silicon wafer producer Jiangsu Huantai Group, a joint venture partner of MEMC Electronic Materials, aims to go public in 2012, Chairman Wang Lubao told Forbes.

Huantai would use funds from the offering for production expansion, Wang said. He didn’t say where he expects the company to list.

Read more: http://www.articlesbase.com/press-releases-articles/solar-photovoltaic-p...

Nuying Huang, Taipei; Philip Liu, DIGITIMES [Friday 8 April 2011]

Faced with sluggish demand in the Europe market, solar-cell clients plan to cut their output and demanded price cuts. The trend seems to have started affecting the quotes for upstream PV silicon wafers, as demand for solar wafers has dropped. Spot-market quotes for solar wafers have slackened, including 6-inch polysilicon wafers whose quotes now stand at US$3.7. Although some Taiwan wafer firms still avoid cutting their prices, increase in quotes is unlikely.

Press release; Rodney Chan, DIGITIMES [Friday 8 April 2011]

The solar photovoltaic (PV) project order backlog for the United States market has now soared past 12GW, according to Solarbuzz. While the PV industry is facing the effects of large cuts in feed-in tariffs (FIT) across Europe, the order backlog in the US confirms that the country will be one of the most promising growth markets over the next 24 months. The US market doubled in size in 2010 and is forecast to do so again in 2011.

Nuying Huang, Taipei; Jessie Shen, DIGITIMES [Thursday 7 April 2011]

Sino-American Silicon Products (SAS) saw monthly sales of its patterned sapphire substrates exceed NT$100 mbillion (US$3.5 million) for the first time in March 2011, according to the company. The product segment, which contributed only 2-3% to company revenues in 2010, enjoyed a sales increase of more than 80% sequentially in the first quarter.

Nuying Huang, Taipei; Philip Liu, DIGITIMES [Thursday 7 April 2011]

In the wake of Japan's March 11 massive earthquake, M.Setek, a subsidiary of AU Optronics (AUO), has closed down its solar-grade polysilicon plants in Sendai and Souma, due to disrupted water and power suppliy, without a definite schedule for resuming production in sight. AUO reportedly is actively seeking the establishment of a polysilicon plant in Taiwan, possibly in a coastal industrial zone in Changhwa. M.Setek's technological team may be stationed at the projected plant.

(by Ken Liu)
http://news.cens.com/cens/html/en/news/news_inner_35932.html
Taipei, April 7, 2011 (CENS)--Motech Industries Inc., Green Energy Technology Inc. and Taiwan Polysilicon Corp. recently announced co-opening a joint venture to produce crystalline silicon ingots, a crucial material for making the wafers used to make solar cells.