Saturday, July 7, 2007

3000 ton polysilicon project launched in Mudanjiang, China

One 3000 ton polysilicon project contract was signed on December 29th, 2006, the total investment is 2.5 billion RMB (250 million Euro).

At present the project is still in early phase now.

It is said that Mudanjiang has the best polysilicon production infrastructure in China, all the production needed materials are available near the project in Mudanjiang.

China CHINT will expand its solar cell production capacity to 300MW in 2009

CHINT is the leading player in the Low-voltage electrical and Power Transmission and Distribution industries in China.

CHINT found CHINT Solar in October 2006 in Hangzhou, and the former BP Solar director, Mr. Liyou Yang is the general manager of CHINT Solar. The first thin film solar cell production line in the world was built under the direction of Mr. Liyou Yang.

The first phase solar cell production capacity is 25MW, and the production capacity will reach 100MW in 2008 and reach 300MW in 2009.

Thursday, July 5, 2007

China Sunergy Announces Preliminary Sales and Production Volume Figures for the Second Quarter 2007

Detailed Financial Results for the Second Quarter to be Released August 24th 2007

July 03, 2007: 08:02 AM EST

NANJING, China, July 3 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- China Sunergy Co., Ltd. , a specialized solar cell manufacturer based in Nanjing, China, announced today preliminary sales and production volume figures for the second quarter 2007. These figures are preliminary and have not been subject to any review procedures so may be subject to change once detailed reviewed financial results for the second quarter are disclosed on August 24th, 2007.

During the second quarter of 2007, China Sunergy produced 20.1MW of solar cells which represented a 93% increase on a year-on-year basis and was largely the same as the first quarter of this year. Monocrystalline 125-millimeter cells continued to account for the majority of production and sales at 85% and 88% respectively. The average conversion efficiency rate for this product during the second quarter of 2007 was 15.9%, which was largely the same as the average efficiency rate achieved during the first quarter this year. Based on preliminary information, quarterly shipments (including OEM volumes of 1.1MW for cell sales and 0.4MW for module sales), amounted to approximately 19.0 MW, compared to 9.2MW during the second quarter 2006 and 18.3MW during the first quarter of 2007 on a like for like basis.

China's solar market continued to experience a tight supply of polysilicon during the second quarter. Although the situation has improved from a year ago, the relatively tight supply of polysilicon affected the quality, quantity and delivery of wafers and drove up overall wafer prices in the spot market, resulting in increased pressure on China Sunergy's margins.

Key raw material procurement and sales related developments are as follows:

-- In June 2007, China Sunergy entered into three supply contracts and
framework agreements with LDK Solar Co., Ltd, Konca Solar Cell (Wuxi)
Company Limited and Changzhou Xiandai Communications Optic Fiber Co.,
Ltd for a net supply of a total of approximately 11.9 million and 4.4
million monocrystalline 125-millimeter and multicrystalline 156-
millimeter wafers for the second half of 2007 and 2008 respectively.
The volume for the net supply would translate into approximately 16MW
and 28 MW of solar cell production for the said periods. The pricing
terms are generally subject to negotiation on a quarterly basis and
prepayment ranges from nil to 30% of the contract value; and

-- In the same month, China Sunergy also entered into a 10MW sales
contract with Solarwatt AG, a leading solar module manufacturing
company in Germany, for the second half of 2007 with a total contract
value of approximately EUR21.7 million; To facilitate sales of our
China based module making customers, enhance our profitability and
better understand our end-user market, China Sunergy adopted a new
business model where we purchase a certain quantity of modules from our
module making customers and sell them, on a trading basis, to certain
European based system integrating companies that our Chinese module
making customers do not have access to. On this basis, we sold
approximately 0.4MW of modules that we bought from our China based
module making customers largely to a German based system integrator.

Revised and new contracts with some of China's top wafer manufacturing companies, LDK, Changzhou Xiandai and Konca Solar, demonstrate China Sunergy's continued ability to procure wafer supply contracts and provide comfort that we will be able to achieve higher production and sales volumes during the second half of the year. Through our enhanced procurement efforts, expected higher portion of 156-millimeter wafer supply, and more scalable commercial production of higher efficiency selective emitter cells, China Sunergy targets to produce a total of 55-70MW of solar cells during the second half of the year, which implies an annual production target range of 95-110MW.

Mr. Tingxiu Lu, Chairman and CEO of China Sunergy, commented: ''To address the supply challenges, we continue to work on expanding our existing key supplier relationships and sourcing new suppliers. As a result of the new supply agreements we reached during the second quarter we are now confident that we will be able to secure our wafer supply requirements for the second half of 2007 and 2008.

Our sales strategy continues to focus on diversifying our customer base and increasing sales to European customers. The recent sales agreement with Solarwatt is an example of how we have been able to successfully expand our European sales footprint by establishing significant relationships with customers outside China. As these customer relationships continue to develop we expect European sales to rise to approximately 30% of overall sales for the full-year 2007."

Solar cell group raises £30m

03/07/2007

AIM dealings start on Friday in Jetion Holdings, a Chinese maker of performance solar cells and modules, after it raised £30.5 million.

Dipesh Shah, former boss of BP Solar International, is chairman and Lijin Gai, ex-director of New York-listed Suntech Power Holdings, is chief executive officer of Jetion. The company supplies solar cells and components, and Photovoltaic energy systems to industrial users from its base in China's Jiangsu province, two hours from Shanghai. Broker Collins Stewart is nominated adviser to Jetion, whose directors have sold nearly five million shares into the float, which values the company at £112 million.

Jetion's turnover exceeded £22.7 million last year and it is now making money. The company said it will use the float proceeds to boost annual production capacity to 100 megawatts.

Friday, June 29, 2007

Solar Ovens Provide Alternative to Cooking with Wood in Rural China

By Jeff McIntire-Strasburg Filed on Jun 28, 2007 at 12:20 PM PST

Most of us in the developed world don't think a lot about the source of fuel we use for cooking: unless there's a power outage, we can turn a knob or press a button, and we've got the heat we need. If we've got a gas stovetop, we don't even need the electricity! We know, of course, that people in the developing world generally aren't this fortunate, and wood-gathering is a necessary part of the food preparation ritual. But what do people in poverty do if wood supplies start to run low because of deforestation, desertification, or just a simple lack of usable wood?

In Gansu, China, a region that receives little rainfall and has no trees, a very old technology has provided a solution: the solar oven. The concept of using a curved mirror to focus sunlight, and the heat it provides, has been around since the ancient Greeks; relief and development agency Operation Blessing International has purchased and installed over 200 of these ovens (made from concrete and mirrors) in Gansu. The program has been so popular that the organization has just released funding for 200 more in the region. According to Operation Blessing president Bill Horan,

"In Gansu, like in many other poverty-stricken regions around the world, firewood is as precious as water. There are virtually no trees here, and so little rain, that the only bath most people take in their whole life is on their wedding day. These solar ovens are based on ancient technology and they are eco-friendly - a totally renewable energy source."

OBI is considering taking the program to another devastated region of the world: the Darfur region of the Sudan, where the organization operates several refugee and relief camps in partnership with a German charity.

We Westerners tend to associate "technology" with the latest devices: computers, cell phones, renewable energy installations, etc. This simple, time-tested technology, though, looks like just the thing for impoverished people around the world. And, even with the high carbon emissions associated with concrete production, this looks like a pretty climate-friendly alternative, too...