Hey, solar Fools. No earthshaking news this week, I'm
afraid, but I did find a few tidbits worth sharing.
On Tuesday,
JA Solar (Nasdaq: JASO) announced that it is
developing high-efficiency solar cells using solar start-up
Innovalight's silicon ink technology. The
Harris & Harris Group (Nasdaq: TINY)
portfolio company just installed its first high-throughput
industrial printing system
back in June, so this certainly makes JA Solar an early
adopter. The solar shop is targeting commercialization next
year.
On Thursday,
Solarfun Power (Nasdaq: SOLF) reiterated its
shipment volumes and guided revenue to a range of $135
million to $144 million. Even on the high end, that revenue
level is well below Wall Street analysts' average target. If
solar had a road sign today, it would read: Beware of falling
sales prices!
First Solar (Nasdaq: FSLR) continues to
attract utility-scale suitors, this week landing a
27-megawatt supply agreement with the U.S. subsidiary of juwi
Holding AG. The company's thin-film panels will supply two
near-term projects, one in Florida and one in Ohio.
Also on Thursday,
Applied Materials (Nasdaq: AMAT) introduced a
new technology for improving the efficiency of crystalline
silicon (c-Si) solar cells. One application -- double-printed
metal line deposition -- has been shown to improve
efficiencies by up to half a percentage point. If baseball is
a game of inches, solar is a game of microns, so even 50
basis points are a big deal.
Speaking of efficiency,
Q-Cells rounded out the week by announcing a
record 15.9%-efficient polyscrystalline module prototype, due
on the market next year. The German company thus edges out
Suntech Power (NYSE: STP), which claimed a
record 15.6% last month.
This article was originally published as
This Week in Solaron
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