Thursday, April 10, 2008

LDK Solar Prices US$400 Million Convertible Senior Notes

XINYU CITY, China and SUNNYVALE, Calif., April 10/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- LDK Solar Co., Ltd. , announced today the pricing of $400 million of 4.75% Convertible Senior Notes due 2013 pursuant to Rule 144 A under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"). The notes will pay cash interest semiannually at a rate of 4.75% per annum and in certain circumstances,will be convertible into LDK Solar's American depositary shares, cash or acombination of cash and American depositary shares. The initial conversion rate, subject to adjustment, is 25.4534 LDK Solar American depositary shares per US$1,000 principal amount of notes, which is equal to the initial conversion price of approximately US$39.29 per American depositary share, which represents an approximate 25% premium to the closing price of $31.43 on April 9, 2008. The closing of the offering is expected to occuron April 15, 2008.

LDK Solar expects to use the net proceeds of the offering to enter into prepaid forward contracts with one or more of the initial purchasers and/or their affiliates to repurchase approximately $200 million worth of its American depositary shares. In addition, LDK Solar expects to use approximately 75% of the remaining net proceeds to fund the construction of a polysilicon manufacturing plant, approximately 20% of the remaining net proceeds to fund the capacity expansion of its wafer production facilities and 5% of the remaining net proceeds to fund other general corporate activities.

China Nuvo Solar Energy Announces Plans to Use Thin Film CIGS in Its Pilot Production Project

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.--China Nuvo Solar Energy, Inc. (the "Company" or "China Nuvo") (OTCBB: CNUV) announced today that it will be developing a low-cost solar cell based on thin-film CIGS technology with its collaboration partner, Pioneer Materials, Inc. ("PMI"), at its pilot production facility in Chengdu, China. CIGS, which stands for copper indium gallium selenium, has achieved the highest efficiency for thin-film photovoltaics at 19.9%, which rivals the performance of crystalline based silicon solar cells. With thin-film manufacturing techniques, CIGS thin-film solar cells can be made with 1/100th of the materials used in crystalline based silicon solar cells.

The Company believes that thin film CIGS represents second generation solar technology when compared to traditional poly-Si manufacturing technology. When compared to poly-Si, the Company believes CIGS provides for significantly reduced wafer thicknesses with a significant increase in per kilogram wattage production. Also, CIGS avoids the cadmium toxicity issues surrounding the other mainstream thin-film technology, CdTe or cadmium telluride. In addition, the CIGS thin film solar cells can be made with much less energy input than conventional crystalline based silicon solar cells.

As previously announced, the Company has executed a Collaboration Development Agreement with PMI for the Company's pilot production project in Chengdu, China. The initial project focus is to develop a single junction solar cell with commercial efficiency utilizing materials provided by PMI and incorporated into the Company's ceramic sleeve solar technology. The Company believes this will provide the baseline for development of a multi-stacked solar cell that could provide an even higher degree of efficiency. The ultimate goal of the project is to develop and produce a highly efficient, commercially viable, lower cost-per-watt solar energy cell.
China Nuvo Solar Energy, Inc. is a development stage company that owns a unique patent pending solar technology and is working to develop a commercially viable higher efficiency stacked solar cell.

Polysilicon quotes rocket high following sharp supply cut by MEMC

Nuying Huang, Taipei; Esther Lam, DIGITIMES [Thursday 10 April 2008]

Following MEMC Electronic Materials' sharp polysilicon supply cut to the spot market in the first quarter of 2008, corresponding quotes have shot to a new high at US$500-510 per kilogram recently, according to sources from solar wafer makers in Taiwan.

The sources noted that the shrink in supply led to a batch of about 20 tons of polysilicon being settled at US$500-510 per kilogram during the past two weeks. As the batch of polysilicon was secured through agents, information about the buyers is still unknown, but some industry players in Taiwan suspect that the buyers are likely from China, given that the market is rapidly growing, and that many China-based vendors have a relatively heavy reliance on the spot market.

Chin-Yao Tsai, general manager of E-ton Solar Tech, indicated that he had heard polysilicon was trading at a price tag above US$480-500, recently, but added in saying that he did not have further information say that whether the company had made any transactions at this price range. He added in saying that polysilicon spot pricing is expected to spur amid the upcoming suspension of solar tax incentives in Spain in September.

The sources explained the rocketing polysilicon price to MEMC's supply status. Since MEMC sought to guarantee sufficient supplies to its contract customers, including Gintech Energy from Taiwan and Suntech Power from China, during the last quarter, material supply was trimmed to the spot market in return. The polysilicon maker had also previously mentioned that its output would be reduced by 20% on quarter in the first quarter, and that some production would be affected by adjustments to its production facilities.

JA Solar Appoints New Chief Financial Officer

HEBEI, China, April 10, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- JA Solar Holdings Co., Ltd. ("JA Solar", "the Company") (Nasdaq:JASO) announced today that it has appointed Mr. Daniel Lui as the new Chief Financial Officer of the Company. Mr. Lui will assume the role of CFO effective May 10, 2008. JA Solar's current CFO, Mr. Herman Zhao, will retire from the Company and relocate back to the United States.

"I am very pleased to welcome Mr. Lui to our management team," said Samuel Yang, Chief Executive Officer. "His experience and expertise as a CFO at public and private companies, as well as startup ventures, will add additional strength to our financial management and will be a key contributor to our long-term success."

About JA Solar Holdings Co., Ltd.

Based in Hebei, China, JA Solar Holdings Co., Ltd. is an emerging and fast-growing manufacturer of high-performance solar cells. The Company sells its products to solar module manufacturers who assemble and integrate its solar cells into modules and systems that convert sunlight into electricity. For more information, please visit http://www.jasolar.com.