Category Archives: Solar

Orbotech Rolls Out a Solar Strategy

Posted by Finlay Colville in Solarbuzz, Flat Panel Displays, FPD Industry News, Solar on June 18, 2010 | No comments

By Finlay Colville – Senior Analyst, Solarbuzz and Charles Annis – Vice President, Manufacturing Research, DisplaySearch

Israel-based Orbotech is well known in the FPD industry as the leading equipment supplier of TFT array test and automated optical inspection (AOI) equipment. And like many other leading FPD equipment companies, it has looked at the PV industry as a long-term diversification and growth opportunity. At its Investor and Analyst Day on June 8, Orbotech for the first time publicly unveiled its solar entry strategy.
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Implications of AUO’s New Joint Venture with Solar Industry Leader SunPower

Posted by Charles Annis in Flat Panel Displays, Solar on June 1, 2010 | No comments

By Charles Annis – Vice President, Manufacturing Research, DisplaySearch

On May 27, AUO and SunPower announced they are entering into 50/50 joint venture to construct and operate SunPower’s Fab 3 that is currently building built in Malaysia. The factory will have 1.4 GW of cell capacity when fully ramped in 2014.
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In India, TVs to Cost More; Mobile Handsets and Solar Equipment to Cost Less

Posted by Indrajit Ghosh in Equipment, Small and Medium Displays, Solar, TVs on March 1, 2010 | 1 comment

By Indrajit Ghosh – Director, India and South Asia, DisplaySearch

The budget released by the Indian government on February 26 includes various measures affecting economic incentives. The mean excise duty on manufactured goods will be increased from 8% to 10%. This signaled the government’s intention to begin to roll back the stimulus package introduced in response to the global financial crisis in late 2008.
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First Solar Q&A at PVSEC-19 in Jeju Korea

Posted by Charles Annis in Solar on November 10, 2009 | No comments

By Charles Annis – Vice President, Manufacturing Research, DisplaySearch

Jos van der Hyden, First Solar’s Vice President of Business Development EMEA, gave one of the keynote speeches at PVSEC-19 in Jeju, Korea on November 9. The presentation was well delivered and interesting enough, but was similar to what can be found on the company’s website. Given the company’s success over the past few years, it is not surprising that the audience had lots of questions. A few of the areas covered are summarized here, and a more detailed summary will be published in the DisplaySearch Monitor.
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Despite Capacity Oversupply, Oerlikon Announces Largest 2009 Thin Film Turnkey Fab Order

Posted by Charles Annis in Equipment, Solar on August 20, 2009 | 1 comment

By Charles Annis – Vice President, Manufacturing Research, DisplaySearch

The DisplaySearch Q3’09 Quarterly PV Cell Capacity Database & Trends Report forecasts solar cell manufacturing capacity will potentially grow at a compound annual growth rate of 49% from 2.3 GW in 2005 to 42 GW in 2013. We have received a lot of feedback from this release, most of it very positive, but some have disagreed with our forecast and suggested, “It will never be built.”
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