Sunday, June 22, 2008

China's SMIC plans to make polysilicon: source

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp, China's biggest contract chip maker, plans to become a maker of polysilicon, a key material for solar energy cells, a source familiar with the situation said on Thursday.

SMIC is in talks with a German company to obtain the necessary technology, said the source, declining to identify the German firm.

The location of SMIC's polysilicon plant has not been decided, but it will be in an area of China where power is relatively cheap, added the source, who declined to be named since an agreement on the technology transfer has not yet been reached.

An SMIC spokesman declined comment.

SMIC, a major maker of memory and logic chips, also manufactures crystalline cells and assembles photovoltaic panels, which are used to produce solar energy.
Several Chinese companies making solar power equipment, such as Suntech Power Holdings Co, are trying to move their operations upstream into production of key materials, in order to cut costs and obtain better control over the supply chain.

(Reporting by Sophie Taylor: Editing by Andrew Torchia/Rory Channing)

ReneSola Announces Pricing of Follow-On Public Offering on the New York Stock Exchange

JIASHAN, China, June 18 /Xinhua-PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- ReneSola Ltd('ReneSola' or the 'Company'), a leading global manufacturer of solar wafers, is pleased to announce further details of its follow-on public offering of American Depositary Shares ('ADSs') (the 'Offering').

Details of the Offering

A total of 9,000,000 ADSs, each representing two shares of the Company, are being sold in the Offering at a price of US$20.50 per ADS.

Of the ADSs to be sold in the Offering, 8,577,220 ADSs represent new shares being issued by ReneSola and 422,780 ADSs are being sold by certain selling shareholders (the 'Selling Shareholders'), including certain directors of the Company, further details of which are set out below. In addition, the underwriters have been granted a 30-day option to purchase up to 972,720 additional ADSs from ReneSola and an aggregate of 377,280 additional ADSs from the Selling Shareholders to cover over-allotments.

The Company's ADSs will be traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol 'SOL.' The ticker symbol of the Company's shares on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange ('AIM') will remain 'SOLA.'

Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC and Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. are acting as joint book runners and Piper Jaffray & Co., Lazard Capital Markets LLC and Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. are acting as co-managers for the Offering.

The underwriters expect to deliver the ADSs to purchasers on or about 23 June 2008.

ReneSola's registration statement relating to the ADSs sold in the Offering has been declared effective by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy the securities described herein, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.

The Offering is made only by means of a prospectus forming a part of the effective registration statement. A copy of the prospectus relating to the offering may be obtained by contacting Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, Eleven Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10010-3629, or by telephone at 1-800-221-1037; or by contacting Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., Attn: Prospectus Department, 100 Plaza One, Floor 2, Jersey City, NJ 07311-3901, by telephone at 1-800-503-4611, or by e-mail at prospectusrequest@list.db.com.

Separate from the Offering, the Company will issue 28,000 shares to Panjian Li, Chief Strategy Officer of ReneSola, following his notification of exercise of options. The shares resulting from the exercise will be converted into ADSs and sold in the Offering.

Application for admission to AIM has been made for the 17,182,440 new shares represented by the ADSs being sold by the Company and the new ADSs being sold by Panjian Li in the Offering. Admission is expected to take place on or about 24 June 2008, following the anticipated closing of the Offering on or about 23 June 2008.

On closing of the Offering, before any exercise of the over-allotmentoption, there will be 135,667,472 shares in issue.

About ReneSola

ReneSola Ltd ('ReneSola') (AIM: SOLA, NYSE: SOL) is a leading global manufacturer of solar wafers, which are thin sheets of crystalline silicon material primarily used in the production of solar cells. ReneSola has accumulated extensive experience and expertise in developing and using monocrystalline wafer production technologies, has expanded operations into multicrystalline wafer production and has moved upstream into virgin polysilicon manufacturing. ReneSola maintains dedicated raw material procurement personnel in China, the United States and Singapore and possessesa global network of suppliers and customers that include some of the leading global manufacturers of solar cells and modules. For more information about ReneSola, please visit http://www.renesola.com .

Shenzhen Topraysolar passes milestone in $433M PV park

June 17, 2008

Company plans to make an initial investment of $108 million by year end.
Hohhot, China-based Shenzhen Topraysolar Co. has announced plans to invest $433.63 million over five years in a photovoltaic industrial park in Leshan.
An initial investment of $108.41 million, just secured, is to be divided between the next year-and-a-half, with half the capital going toward the project by year end, said Shenzhen.

Earlier this year Shenzhen filed for China's first domestic IPO.

The Shenzhen Topray Solar Industrial Park, as it has been named, is to consist of a 670,000 square meter park which is planned to have 880 MW of combined solar and wind power, making the silicon park partially self-sufficient, boasts Shenzhen.

The solar installation is to include a 300 KW roof top installation and an 80 KW amorphous silicon solar module "curtain" over the main building.

For wind generation, the Chinese company said it plans on installing a building-integrated wind turbine which is expected to contribute approximately 500 MW of power.

When completed, the project is expected to product crystalline silicon materials, solar power batteries, graphite products, quartz products and special glass products.

Leshan is China's largest production base of crystalline silicon and reportedly has two polysilicon production projects underway by Tongwei Group for 1,000 tons, and Emei Semiconductor for 1,500 tons, in addition to being the headquarters of TBEA Co., China's largest researching and assembling bases for solar energy equipment.

Shenzhen said it expects the park to begin production in 2010.

Canadian Solar lifts FY08 revenue guidance

6/17/2008
(RTTNews) - Tuesday, Canadian Solar Inc., a manufacturer and marketer of solar module products, announced it will raise the 2008 annual revenue and output guidance to reflect the anticipated sales of its e-Module products in the second half of this year.

The Markham, Canada-based company lifted the revenue forecast to a range of $750 million to $870 million for fiscal 2008 from the earlier guidance of $650 million to $750 million. Wall Street analysts estimate revenues of $836.06 million.

The company estimates that it will ship approximately 10 - 12 MW of e-Modules to USA and South Korea in 2008.

The company disclosed that it has begun delivery of e-Modules to Pro Solar Solarstrom GmbH and Iliotec Solar GmbH of Germany, as per the annual supply agreements signed in early 2008. The company expects to ship 24.5 MW of e-Modules before the end of 2008. Canadian Solar has committed sales of 35 MW and customers' interest of about 20 MW for e-Modules in 2008.

"Our expected e-Module output for 2008 was sold out; we are pleased that e-Modules have been accepted by leading industry players such as Pro Solar and Iliotec. Since we have secured our supply of raw materials and are on track with our planned capacity ramp we are now comfortable in raising our guidance," said Shawn Qu, chairman and chief executive officer.

Looking ahead to 2009, the company said there is strong demand seen for both regular and e-Modules, and to meet this, the Board has authorized an increase in capital expenditures to accelerate the planned capacity ramp.

Regarding capacity expansion, Canadian Solar announced plans to increase its annual ingot and wafer capacity from the previous target of 40 MW - 60 MW to 150 MW - 200 MW; Internal cell capacity from 250 MW to 400 MW; and Module capacity to 800 MW, the company said.

LDK Solar Signs a Five-Year Wafer Supply Agreement With Solar PV Corporation

XINYU CITY, China and SUNNYVALE, Calif., June 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --LDK Solar Co., Ltd. (NYSE: LDK), a leading manufacturer of multicrystalline solar wafers, today announced that it has signed a five-year contract to supply multicrystalline solar wafers to China-based Jiangxi Solar PV Corporation (JSPV). Under the terms of the agreement, LDK Solar will deliver approximately 70 MW of multicrystalline solar wafers to JSPV, a new venture created by US-based Solar PV Corporation, over a five-year period commencing in 2009 through 2013. JSPV will make an advanced payment representing a portion of the contract value to LDK Solar.



"We are excited to enter this long-term wafer supply agreement with Jiangxi Solar PV as they launch a new venture within the Jiangxi Province," stated Xiaofeng Peng, Chairman and CEO of LDK Solar. "We are very pleased to begin this strategic partnership and aid in the development of more solar PV companies in Jiangxi."



"We are very pleased to enter into this agreement with LDK Solar to securequality solar wafers," commented C. Chang, Chief Executive, Solar PVCorporation. "We look forward to a long-term relationship with LDK Solar as wework toward rapidly increasing our scale of operations and capacity to assumea leadership position."

About LDK Solar

LDK Solar Co., Ltd. is a leading manufacturer of multicrystalline solar wafers, which are the principal raw material used to produce solar cells. LDK sells multicrystalline wafers globally to manufacturers of photovoltaic products, including solar cells and solar modules. In addition, the Company provides wafer processing service to monocrystalline and multicrystalline solar cell and module manufacturers. LDK's headquarters and manufacturing facilities are located in Hi-Tech Industrial Park, Xinyu City, Jiangxi province in the People's Republic of China. The Company's office in the United States is located in Sunnyvale, California.

About Jiangxi Solar PV Corporation

Jiangxi Solar PV Corporation is in the business of development, manufacturing and marketing wafer-based solar cells. Incorporated in Jiangxi, China and a wholly owned subsidiary of US-based Solar PV Corporation, JSPV's business office and manufacturing facility are located in Xingyu, Jiangxi, China. The production in Xingyu is scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2009.