Hebei, China: JA Solar Revises Wafer Supply Agreement with M.Setek

From Solarbuzz June 11, 2007

Chinese solar cell manufacturer, JA Solar and M.SETEK, a privately-held Japanese company and one of the world's largest monocrystalline ingot and wafer manufacturers, have revised their supply agreement.

M.SETEK will supply larger quantities of wafers from July 2007, and the payment terms are also restructured from single payment to three installments. The original agreement was entered into in December 2006 and the revised agreement was entered into on June 5, 2007, about two weeks after the inauguration ceremony of M.SETEK's brand new polysilicon material plant in Soma, Japan.

The new agreement starts with 300,000 wafers per month being delivered in the period July 2007 to October 2007, rising in steps to 5,000,000 wafers per month by the July 2009 - December 2009 timeframe. The contract has a total value of $100 million.

"At the time of tight supply of feedstock of poly-silicon in solar industry, this agreement enables JA Solar to be in a more comfortable position," said Samuel Yang, JA Solar's Chief Executive Officer. "M. SETEK is a highly respected and reliable supplier of high quality monocrystalline wafers. We are delighted to have strengthened the partnership with M.SETEK in our supply chain. This long-term agreement, combined with other supply agreements previously negotiated with key partners, gives us confidence that JA Solar will be able to meet the expected demand levels we are seeing from customers, while maintaining our strict focus on profitability."

Jiangsu, China: Canadian Solar and City Solar AG Partner on Large-Scale Solar Farm Projects

From Solarbuzz

Chinese solar cell and module manufacturer, Canadian Solar has commenced delivery of solar modules to City Solar AG, Germany for a series of large-scale, ground-mounted solar farm projects.

The deliveries are part of an annual project sales contract CSI signed with City Solar in January, 2007 to supply approximately 31 MW of solar modules to 7 specific projects in Germany and Spain. About half of the projects are expected to be completed before December 31, 2007. The contract is worth approximately 80 to 90 million Euro.

CSI expects to deliver 4.2MW solar modules by July 2007 for the first project in Germany. Deliveries for the other projects are expected to start in June and July, 2007.

Dr. Shawn Qu, CEO of CSI, commented, "We continue to execute our two-leg strategy in sales, which emphasizes long-term partnerships with both tier-one regular distributors and top-notch project-based companies. Our collaboration with City Solar clearly demonstrates the success of this strategy. Project-based channel sales like this one allow us to plan our production several quarters ahead, in order to provide stability to both CSI and its customers."

Mr. Steffen Kammler, CEO of City Solar, AG, commented, "City Solar's vast experience in multi-MW scale solar project development, planning and implementation, brings turn-key solutions to commercial renewable energy investors. We have developed unique mounting and panel matching technologies. Combining our expertise with the outstanding quality of CSI modules will help us to provide the best-performing and the most cost-effective solar systems to the market place."

Jiangsu, China: Canadian Solar Breaks Ground on 250 MW Module Manufacturing Facility

From Solarbuzz

Chinese solar module manufacturer, Canadian Solar Inc (CSI) has held a ground breaking ceremony for the new 250 MW module manufacturing facility for its plant in Changshu, China, located about 100 km west from Shanghai.

The first phase of the new facility is 20,000 square meter in area and is expected to be completed by November of 2007. When finished, the first phase facility will have a module production capacity of 250 MW. Construction is expected to start in June after receiving final building permits.

CSI has also concluded a 2007 annual sales contract worth 45 million Euro with a leading German customer. CSI has already started to deliver to this contract in March, before official signing, due to immediate demand for the products.

Dr. Shawn Qu, CEO of CSI, said, "We continue to execute our business expanding strategy as planned in order to support our customers' demands and forecasts. Our insistence on quality products and services is paying off. The strong demand we are seeing exemplifies CSI management's strategies of branding CSI as Tier-One in quality and to form long-term partnership with Tier-One distributors in every geographic market. This annual contract, with firm pricing and delivery schedules until the end of year, serves as another example of such a partnership which brings business security and visibility to both CSI and its customers."

Sector Glance: Solar Cell Makers Up

Associated Press 06.13.07, 4:31 PM ET

Shares of solar cell makers climbed Wednesday after the U.S. Senate began debating a federal energy bill that could give the companies greater support.

Democratic Congressional leaders are looking to raise fuel efficiency standards and toughen punishments for oil price gouging. One Senator plans to propose a requirement that 15 percent of a utility's power come from renewable sources, including solar power.

Cowen & Co. analyst Rob Stone said a tax credit for solar energy investment would probably be included in the final version of the bill.

Here are how some key players in the sector fared Wednesday:

Trina Solar Ltd. shares jumped $1.86, or 4.8 percent, to end at $41.05.

First Solar Inc. stock rose $3.32, or 4.7 percent, to $74.36, and set an all-time high of $74.73.

JA Solar Holdings Co. gained $1.13, or 4.6 percent, to $25.68.

LDK Solar Co. added 80 cents, or 3.5 percent, to $24.

China Sunergy Co. picked up 41 cents, or 3.7 percent, to $11.42.

Solarfun Power Holdings Co. Ltd. advanced 25 cents, or 3 percent, to finish at $8.53.

Shares of Evergreen Solar Inc. moved up 40 cents, or 4.7 percent, to $8.88.

BTU International Inc. climbed 41 cents, or 3.1 percent, to $13.40.