GE Solar Inverter(Brilliance),Panels (Efficiency,China) Review of Technology,Manufacturing and Comparision

8 Jul, 2011
GE,Solar EPC,Solar Inverters,Solar Panels

GE is one of the biggest companies in the world and has one of the biggest Green businesses as well.GE is the most profitable wind turbine manufacturer and is one of the largest renewable energy developers in the globe as well.GE like other electrical and power conglomerates like Siemens  has decided to invest billions of dollars into Green Energy.Till recently Solar Energy had gotten scant attention from GE just like Siemens too has not invested a lot.However the 50% CAGR rates of Solar Energy,the fast declining costs have made it imperative for GE to have a presence in this market.GE had bought a thin film solar company Prime Solar a few years ago to acquire the Cadmium Tellerium Technology which First Solar uses in its Solar Panels.

However it won’t be easy in Solar Energy

GE is now looking to dethrone the No.1 Solar Energy Producer First Solar using its all round strengths.GE had invested in a Cadmium Tellurium Startup Prime Solar which is ramping up production.Note Cd-Te is the same technology which is used by First Solar.GE has said that it has managed to attain 15% efficiency on commercial glass.Don’t know how much of it is true since First Solar only manages around 12% efficiency despite around 10 years of dedicated R&D.However if GE can even manage to get near to that level then it would surely give First Solar a run for its money.GE has also tied up with Japanese Solar Frontier to market its CIGs based modules.Note Solar Frontier or Showa Shell is building a massive 900 MW plant in Japan.This would make Frontier Solar one of the biggest Solar Players in the world.GE is offering an integrated solution comprising of modules,inverters,services and other BOS equipment to get a leg up on competition.

GE Solar Panels Review

GE Solar Panels are being offered in the 78,80 and 83 Watt ranges which is considerable less than that supplied by other thin film solar panel suppliers like Kaneka,First Solar and others.However the product range should increase with commercial production.GE’s CdTe thin film module is comprised of 116 thin film cells  at 75 volts. The module is frameless and has a durable glass laminate

Specifications

  • Length: 1200 mm (47.2 in)
  • Width: 600 mm (23.6 in)
  • Thickness: 7.5 mm (0.30 in)
  • Weight: 13 kg (28.7 lb)
  • Front Glass: 3.2 mm (0.13 in) Heat Strengthened Glass
  • Back Glass: 4.0 mm (0.16 in) Tempered Glass
  • Frame: None
  • Cell Type: CdS/CdTe, 116 Active Cells
  • Cell Orientation: Parallel to the 600 mm Dimension
  • Bypass Diode: None
  • Cable Length: 610 mm (24 in)
  • Connectors: MC4 Compatible
  • Encapsulation: EVA with Edge Seal

GE does not manufacture solar panels in large scaleyet but will start to do so in 2012 when it starts production in the “largest solar panel factory in the USA.GE is getting into the solar module space when solar manufacturers in the USA are dying because of the low cost Chinese solar panel competition.This has caused the bankruptcies of some big solar panel companies in recent times like Solyndra,Spectrawatt and Evergreen Solar.Only those solar panel companies with the lowest cost and good quality will manage to survive the price war in solar panels that is currently on.Most companies are running losses as the prices of solar panels have decreased by 40% in 6 months.

GE Solar Manufacturing and Expansion

GE plans to invest about $300 million in the facility at the Denver suburb of Aurora.The plant will make photovoltaic panels with a capacity of  400 megawatts yearly.The National Renewable Energy Laboratory, part of the U.S. Energy Department, has given a 12.8% efficiency rating to the thin-film solar panels produced by PrimeStar.This in layman terms implies that if 100 units of solar energy strikes a General Electric Solar Panel then on an average 13 units of solar electricity will be produced.First Solar is claiming that the efficiency of the solar cells made in its lab has reached more than 17% and it would in future would be able to sell solar panels with an efficiency of 15% which sets the bar high for GE in the future.

Also Read about Reviews on

Sharp Solar Panels

Sanyo Solar Panels

First Solar Solar Panels

Bosch Solar Panels

BP Solar Panels

GE Solar Inverter Review

GE is one of the biggest producers of Wind Inverters in the world and so getting into the Solar Inverter market was easy for the company.Solar Inverters can make a huge difference in the amount of electricity generated by solar panels over the lifetime of the solar array.You should be careful of any lesser known inverter brand they are offered as part of a home solar power system before installing them. While some of these inverters may have certification this does not mean they can perform as well as the good brands.Skimping of a few dollars here and there may make you penny wise and pound foolish.

GE  Brilliance Solar Inverter

General Electric makes solar inverters for the utility scale market mostly and the power ratings of the solar invertesr are in the 100-1000 kw range.Its most famous inverter is the 1 megawatt (MW) Brilliance Solar Inverter.The 1 MW inverter’s two-stage power conversion provides a standard 480vac output voltage works both in 50 and 60 HZ.

Specifications

  • Height: 2,350 mm
  • Width: 3,400 mm
  • Depth: 1,300 mm
  • Weight: 4107 kg
  • Peak Conversion Efficiency: 98.0% (50 Hz); 97.5% (60 Hz
  • Operating Temperature: -30.0 to 50.0 °C

 

Solar Panels Manufacturers USA – Complete List of Top Domestic Solar Panel Suppliers (Sunpower,First Solar,Suniva,Uni Solar,Solarworld,Sanyo)

6 Jul, 2011
First Solar,GE,MEMC,Miasole,Sharp,Solar Energy,Solar Panels,Solarworld,Sunpower,Suntech,USA

Solar Panel Manufacturers in USA are facing a torrid time from the falling prices of Chinese solar panels.This has caused the bankruptcies of some big solar panel companies in recent times like Solyndra,Spectrawatt and Evergreen Solar.Only those solar panel companies with the lowest cost and good quality will manage to survive the price war in solar panels that is currently on.Most companies are running losses as the prices of solar panels have decreased by 40% in 6 months.This would cause any industry to see massive bankruptcies and this is the case with the solar panel industry as well.Note Solar Industry is a new one with rapid technology and cost changes which makes startups  with bad business models go bust.This is a natural effect of capitalism and nothing to be afraid of .However you have to be careful of which solar panel manufacturer to buy from as your 25 year solar panel warranty will become useless if the solar panel manufacturer from which you brought the solar panel goes out of business.On the Bright Side the sharply declining costs of solar has made it the biggest advantage of using solar power.

Solar Panels USANote there are a number of small solar panel manufacturers in the US as well as big established solar panel companies like First Solar.There are also some foreign solar panel suppliers which run and operate solar wafer and solar cell factories in the USA and sell “Made in USA” Solar Panels.Some of the US Stimulus Grants are only allowed for “Made in USA” products so you can also buy domestic solar panels made by an International Supplier if is making the solar module from a factory in the US.Note Solar Panels in Ontario Canada also run on the same principle.

Big Solar Panel Manufacturers in USA

  1. First Solar is the largest Solar Thin Film Manufacturer in the world and a benchmark for other thin film companies thinking of making it big.The company was promoted by Wal-Mart promoters and has seen remarkable growth in the last few.This US based company uses Cadmium Tellurium (Cd-Te) Technology and  is the lowest cost panel producer in the world today if you don’t include any penalty for low efficiency.Even if you penalize the Cd-Te Technology for its lower efficiency vis-a-vis the higher efficiency crystalline technology,First Solar is clearly the leader with a core cost of 74c/watt.The company has a roadmap of  reducing the cost to 52c/watt by 2014 and given its track record it seems quite achievable.There is little doubt about First Solar’s ability to survive and flourish due to its massive first mover advantage.
  2. Sunpower - Sunpower produces the highest efficiency crystalline solar panels in the world.This is a US company like First Solar and has a strong system installation business as well.A offspring of Cypress Semiconductor,it faced tough times due to its higher costs.However seems to be on a recovery path.Failed to expand as rapidly as the Asians in 2010.
  3. MEMC/SunEdison- The only big American solar wafer producer is building a factory in Malaysia to reduce costs.The company is one of the biggest manufacturers of semi wafers.Like GCL Poly,it is also expanding into the solar systems business without getting into cell and module production.The company has partnered with Flextronics to make solar panels in Ontario.

Small Solar Panel Manufacturers in USA

  1. Suniva was spun out of Georgia Institute of Technology’s University Center of Excellence in Photovoltaics (UCEP)  using  the work of Dr. Ajeet Rohatgi in 2007 who is the founder and director of the photovoltaic (PV) research program.Suniva produces 17+% – 20% efficient cells. Currently, Suniva is producing 20%+ in the lab, and the world’s highest commercially available cell efficiency in full-scale low-cost production
  2. Miasole – Miasole made a major splash announcing a record breaking 13.8% efficiencythin film module which it will ship in 2011.The company has also raised another $100 million in equity finance despite fall in its pre-IPO valution to $550 million from $1.2 billion earlier.Seems an attractive target for a takeover.
  3.  Nanosolar – This secretive CIGs startup has big backers in the form of Google and others.The company is planning to build a massive plant in US but till now there has been little news about its commercial shipments,efficiency or costs.Remains to be seen if it manages to succeed or joins the long list of thin film deaths.
  4. Abound Solar - Abound Solar which is a CdTe startup has also received a massive loan guarantee like Solyndra earlier.This money is going to be used to set up manufacturing facilities in Indiana and Colorado.Abound Solar has been heavily supported the the US government’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and is in the process of starting a 200 MW plant in Colorado.
  5. Ascent Solar – This US Based Company has a long history of making Thin Film Panels on Flexible Substances.The company is trying to survive against the onslaught of competition through strategic tie-ups with a number of companies around the world which will uses its Niche Technology.
  6. Energy Conversion Devices – After First Solar,Energy Conversion Devices seemed the mostly likely viable c2mpany in Thin Film Technology.After a few quarters of profits in 2008,the company went into the red as its flexible a-Si modules failed to cut costs as fast as others.It has been shutting factories in the US and shifting to low cost locations.Still one of the biggest independent Thin Film Producers.Seems more likely that it will be bought out then survive independently.
  7.  General Electric - GE has invested in a Cadmium Tellurium Startup Prime Solar which is ramping up production.Note Cd-Te is the same technology which is used by First Solar.GE has said that it has managed to attain 15% efficiency on commercial glass.Don’t know how much of it is true since First Solar only manages around 12% efficiency despite around 10 years of dedicated R&D.However if GE can even manage to get near to that level then it would surely give First Solar a run for its money.GE has also tied up with Japanese Solar Frontier to market its CIGs based modules.
  8. MX Solar is a Italian company that runs a 65 MW Solar Panel Production plant in New Jersey.The group also owns 2 production facilities in Italy and plans to expand in the USA.It remains to be seen whether this small company can expand when global majors are falling by the wayside.
  9. Global Solar Energy opened in 1996, and in 2008 finished another phase of development as it expanded its CIGS production to a new 40 MW facility in Tucson, Arizona and a second 35 MW facility in Berlin, Germany
Other companies are AQT Solar,Solopower,Heliovolt.

International/Foreign Solar Panel Manufacturers in USA

  1. Sharp the Japanese Zaibatsu known more for its Electronics Products is also the world’s No 1 Company in terms Solar Module Revenues.Despite its leadership in c-Si Technology,it has shifted focus to a-Si thin film due to higher costs.Sharp has started shipping a-Si modules from its 1 GW capacity plant in Sakai.With its established distribution strengths and technological abilities in LCD Technology,Sharp is one company that can survive the c-Si onslaught.With most of the a-Si thin film competitors bankrupt or in a moribund state,Sharp can capitalize to completely capture this space.However the cost structure of Sharp is not clearly known right now to make a clear call on how this will turn out.Also a 10% efficiency while decent for a-Si technology fall far short of the 13% claims by CIGS start-ups like Miasole.
  2. Panasonic/Sanyo – Sanyo is the producer of high efficiency solar panels and like Sharp sells mostly in Japan and USA.With buyout by Panasonic is looking to sell integrated energy  efficiency/energy storage/solar energy home solution.
  3. Suntech was  the world’s biggest producer of solar panels in 2010 and was one the first companies to set up operations in China.Its example was followed by a host of other Chinese companies.Suntech has been slow to expand compared to the fast growing small companies in China and has lost marketshare to them.It has started to vertically integrate in order to meet the low cost challenge from Trina and Yingli.The company has opened a small 30 MW factory in the USA which it plans to expand .
  4. Solarworld – Biggest German producer of solar panels,the company is one of the few to still have operations in Europe and USA.The company has been battered by low cost competition .he company operates production facilities in Germany, Sweden and the USA. In California the largest production site in the USA for solar modules and in Oregon the largest production site in the USA for solar wafers and cells are being created.The company has now closed the solar module production citing the tough competition from Chinese solar panels.

Also read about Solar Inverter Manufacturers.

Toxic Nuclear Waste to be Dumped on Poor Citizens Mongolia by Japan,USA for Toshiba,GE Nuclear Reactors

10 May, 2011
GE,Japan,USA

Japan and USA have failed to open a permanent nuclear waste storage site despite decades of planning and with thousands of tons of nuclear waste lying in temporary pools.The problems of Nuclear Waste were brought to the fore in the Fukushima Nuclear Accident where spend fuel rods which are a high level nuclear waste where the chief cause of radioactive emissions.USA too has failed to open a nuclear waste storage site despite almsot 30 years and most of the nuclear waste lies near nuclear plants in concrete storage

Now the 2 Countries Plan to Open Nuclear Waste Storage in Mongolia

Mongolia has been chosen by the two countries to open a nuclear wastes storage site for their companies radioactive waste.GE-Hitachi and Toshiba-Westinghouse are two of  the three largest nuclear equipment suppliers in the world and have big plans to export billions of dollars of reactors to emerging markets.These will generate huge levels of nuclear waste which would need disposing of.Mongolia is a  convenient dumping ground as it a developing country with lax environmental laws.The country has big plans for uranium extraction and building on nuclear power plants as well.Monatom the government miner plans to mine huge amounts of uranium from the country’s huge reserves to export to developing markets like China,India,Vietnam and others.Another case of dumping of toxic waste on developing countries by developed countries.Note the citizens of Japan and USA have made life difficult for those wanting to construct permanent nuclear waste storage facilities.Having failed to dump dangerous waste near their citizens,the government of these countries plan to dump the radioactive waste on poor citizens of Mongolia.

The Effects of Nuclear Waste are quite dangerous and this is the reason why despite billions of dollars USA has failed to construct a nuclear storage site for its dangerously growing nuclear waste stockpile

USA Nuclear Waste Policy

The US has 65,192 tonnes of the waste but the nation has no place to permanently store the material, which stays dangerous for tens of thousands of years.Currently, there are no permanent disposal facilities in the United States for high-level nuclear waste; therefore commercial high-level waste (spent fuel) is in temporary storage, mainly at nuclear power plants.A permanent facility was planned in the Yucca Mountains in Nevada by the Congress in 1987.This  project that has long been the subject environmental and political opposition and with the Obama administration cutting funding this project appears to be in limbo after $9 billion was spent.

Japan Nuclear Waste Policy

Japan has a policy of reprocessing all nuclear waste unlike the USA however its nuclear storage policy too is highly dangerous.. The government and electric utilities state that this is the best policy for nuclear waste management since this process extracts the most highly radioactive materials and concentrates them into a relatively small volume as high level radioactive waste (HLW). The HLW is then vitrified (glassified) and put into stainless steel canisters. Japanese national law calls for permanent disposal of this high level waste in a deep geological final repository in a yet undesignated place in Japan.

The government estimates that approximately 31,000 canisters of HLW will be generated by nuclear power plant operation by the year 2010. Since a final repository site is yet to be determined for the high level waste, the vitrified HLW canisters now being generated by reprocessing in Europe are being shipped to Aomori Prefecture for temporary above ground storage for 30-50 years.

Japan, U.S. plan nuclear waste storage in Mongolia: paper

Japan and the United States plan to jointly build a spent nuclear fuel storage facility in Mongolia to serve customers of their nuclear plant exporters, pushing ahead despite Japan’s prolonged nuclear crisis, the Mainichi daily said on Monday.A Trade Ministry official said Japan, U.S. and Mongolia officials, at a meeting shortly before Japan’s March 11 earthquake, informally discussed possible construction of a nuclear waste storage facility for countries with nuclear power plants but no spent fuel storage capability of their own.He said there were no concrete plans at this time but the ministry would consider such a project if Mongolia were interested.

The Mainichi said the facility would allow Japanese and U.S. nuclear plant exporters, which include joint ventures and units of General Electric, Hitachi and Toshiba, to better compete with Russian rivals that offer potential nuclear plant customers spent fuel disposal in a package.Mongolia plans to have its first nuclear power plant by 2020 and to build nuclear fuel production capacity to tap its rich uranium resources, undeterred by the crisis at Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power complex, a senior official at the state-owned MonAtom LLC said in April.MonAtom represents the Mongolian government in mining and developing the country’s uranium resources.

Smart Metering – List of Top Smart Energy Meter Manufacturers Growing Smaller as Consolidation gains pace

10 May, 2011
GE,Smart Grid,Smart Meters

The Smart Meter Industry like the rest of the Smart Grid Industry is seeing an astounding pace of consolidation as big industrial conglomerates like Siemens,ABB,Schneider Electric and others gobble up smaller companies at a rapid pace.Smart Meter Manufacturers which were already not many are growing even smaller as the smaller independent companies are acquired by the larger more established giant MNCs.The Energy Efficiency and the Smart Grid industries will see a rapid growth as the demand grows for reducing global greenhouse emissions,increasing amounts of renewable energy integration into the grid and rising prices of fossil fuels.Unlike solar and wind industry,independent companies in the Smart Grid are not as large as they require relationships with utilities,a bigger portfolio of products and longer history to survive.Bigger companies like Cisco,Honeywell,GE have mentioned the importance of Energy Efficiency and are going all out to achieve dominance.Smart Meter Manufacturers which traditionally had a presence in the water and gas metering area have found a huge growth area in the Electricity Smart Metering industry.With the power grid almost a 100 years old,newer smarter meters are needed as essential pieces of infrastructure to implement a smart grid.Here is a list of the major smart meter manufacturers.

Itron- It is the largest manufactures of smart meters in the world with a huge marketshare in its home American market.Itron(NSDQ: ITRI) is one of the biggest independent smart grid companies in the world with 8000 utility customers.It has used its expertise in making meters for gas and water to win large contracts in the electric smart metering market as well.It has won contracts from SCE,DTE Energy,Center Point Energy amongst others.The company sells end-to-end smart grid and smart distribution solutions to electric, gas and water utilities around the globe. Our company is the world’s leading provider of smart metering, data collection and utility software systems.It generated revenues o f$2.26 billion in 2010 and has over 9000 employees.

Elster Group – Elster is a leading manufacturer in Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) and integrated metering and utilization solutions to the gas, electricity and water industries.Elster is a US based private company that has a 170 year old history where a number of times its ownership changed hands.Elster electricity meters are used for residential, commercial and industrial, and interchange metering applications. They support both Automated Meter Reading (AMR) and AMI systems..

General Electric - GE as it is popularly known is one of the biggest players in the Green Industry globally.It generated $18 billion in Ecomagination revenues in 2009 with $1.5 Billion in Investment.General Electric like other industrial conglomerates like Siemens,Areva and others are in fact low risk plays in the Green Investing sector.GE is strong across most of the Green Sectors today particularly in the area of Smart Grid and Energy Efficiency.GE is not that big in the Smart Meter market but with its overarching scale it has quickly won a number of contracts like the one with FPL.

Landis+Gyr – This Swiss-based PE bakced private company has a leading position in the European markets and has started  winning contracts in USA as well .With an installed base of over 300 million electricity meters Landis+Gyr is amongst the top 5 smart meter manufacturers.The company has recently put itself for sale inviting bids from a number of companies around the world from companies like Toshiba,ABB,Honeywell,Ge and other Private Equity companies with a price being rumored of $2 billion.The company has a turnover of $1.3 billion with EBITDA of $200 million and over 5000 employees.Based in Zug, Switzerland, it introduced electronic meters in 1981.Through the late 90s the company saw a series of different investors and owners, including Elektrowatt, KKR and Siemens. In 2004 Bayard Capital of Australia purchased the company with a vision of building the premier energy management company in the world that would combine positive environmental outcomes with the company’s culture.

Schieder Electric – One of the biggest electrical and energy equipment suppliers in the world,Schneider has been one of the most aggressive in M&A recently.The company provides energy efficiency solutions to residential market, buildings, Industry & Infrastructure, and data centres.The company’s range of services and products is quite awesome and provides a holistic solution to its customers.Though not a major player in the smart meter market yet,the company cannot be underestimated in the future.

There are a number of other smart meter manufacturers as well like Holley Metering,Iskraemeco etc .However these companies are relatively small compared to the big guys listed above

Wind Turbines in India – List of Types,Sizes,Capacity of Turbines from Wind Turbine Manufacturers

8 Apr, 2011
Gamesa,GE,Offshore Wind,Siemens,Suzlon,Vestas

India’s Wind Energy Market is the 5th largest in the world and is the biggest renewable energy sector in India (non-hydro).Wind Power forms almost 70% of the Alternative Energy Capacity in the country and will have  an important role to play to meet India’s target of 10% Renewable Energy from Electricity by 2020.Wind Energy is very cost effective in terms of cost and is approaching Gas Electricity Prices.Combined with the favorable tax treatment,accelerated depreciation,subsidies by different sates,Wind Energy has become the favored Green Energy Sector for investment by large private sector companies.Wind Power Plants in India are increasing in number and scale as larger companies like Caparo enter the Wind Power Sector.Wind Turbine Manufacturers in India are fast expanding capacity and investment to capitalize on this opportunity.Suzlon remains the Bid Daddy of the Wind Industry in India,however a number of foreign and domestic Wind Turbine Manufacturers are giving it a run for its money.Global Wind Turbine Leaders like Siemens,Enercon,GE have started Wind Turbine Equipment Manufacturing in India in recent times to lower their costs.Here is a list of the Major Wind Turbines available in India of different types and capacities from the various Different Wind Manufacturers.

Wind Turbines in India

Wind Energy Companies in India has been rising though except for Suzlon,no company is world class.Note India has Wind Turbines that are being sold in 225-2000 Kilowatt sizes.Suzlon is also in the process of introducing a 2250 KW Wind Turbine.Note most of the foreign Wind Turbine Producers sell Tubulur Steel Type Turbines while most of the smaller domestic players make Lattice Type Wind Turbines.India’s domestic WTG companies mostly have licensed their Wind Designs from international companies like Vensys,Vestas,American Superconductor and others.Here is a list of the Wind Turbines in India (source CWET).Note this list is not exhaustive.

  1. Vestas V100-1.8 MW 1800 KW Tubular Type
  2. Suzlon S52 600 KW Lattice Type
  3. Suzlon S64  1250 KW Tubular Type
  4. Suzlon S66  1250 KW Tubular Type
  5. Suzlon S95  2100 KW Tubular Type
  6. Suzlon S97  2100 KW Tubular Type
  7. Suzlon S88  2250 KW Tubular Type
  8. Enercon (German) E-48 800 KW and E-50 800 KW Tubular Type
  9. Gamesa (Spain) G52 850 KW Tubular Type
  10. Gamesa (Spain) G90 2000 KW Tubular Type
  11. Gamesa (Spain) G80 2000 KW Tubular Type
  12. Gamesa (Spain) G87 2000 KW Tubular Type
  13. General Electric (USA) GE-1.5sle 1500 KW Tubular Type
  14. Kernsys India K82  2000 KW Tubular Type
  15. Leitner Shriram LTW-77-1.35 1350 KW Tubular Type
  16. Leitner Shriram LTW-77-1.5  1500 KW Tubular Type
  17. Pioneer Wincon P250 250 KW Lattice Type
  18. Pioneer Wincon P750 750 KW Lattice Type
  19. Regen Powertech Vensys 77 1500 KW Tubular Type
  20. Regen Powertech Vensys 82 1500 KW Tubular Type
  21. RRB Energy (Vestas JV) V39-500 500 KW Tubular and Lattice Type
  22. RRB Energy (Vestas JV) Pawar-Shakti 600 KW Lattice Type
  23. Shriram EPC  SEPC 250T 250 KW Lattice Type
  24. Shriram EPC  SEPC 250T 250 KW Lattice Type
  25. Shriram EPC  SEPC 250T 250 KW Lattice Type
  26. Shriram EPC  SEPC 250T Rotor Blade Extender 250 KW Lattice Type
  27. Siva WindTurbine  Siva 250/50 250 KW Lattice Type
  28. Southern Wind Farm   GWL 225 225 KW Tubular Type
  29. Chiranjeevi  CWEL 30 250 Kilowatts Lattice Type
  30. Inox Wind (AMSC JV) WT2000DF  2000 KW Tubular Type

Summary

Wind Turbines in India are still restricted to small sizes and less sophisticated technology than those available in the Western Markets.India still does not install a lot of direct drive wind turbines which is becoming the Wind Turbines of choice these days.Also the larger Wind Turbines of 3 MW and greater sizes is not sold in India till now.Many of the Wind Farms at least the smaller Farms use the 250 KW Wind Turbines.Note many small Wind Farms in India were built to capitalize on the depreciation and tax incentives rather than on their Efficient Running.

Why Media Exaggeration (NY Times) making a Big Deal about General Electric’s 400 MW Solar Factory is Nonsensical

7 Apr, 2011
GE,Solar Cells,Solar Energy,Solar EPC,Solar Panels,USA

It is surprising to see the US Media jumping about saying the General Electric will build the biggest solar factory in the US when it is completely factually wrong.There are other companies that add 400 MW in a single quarter these days (eg.LDK). By the time GE builds its 400 MW Cadmium Tellurium Solar Panel facility,there will be around 20 players in the world with more than 1000 MW capacity.GE has been claiming high efficiencies for its Thin Film Solar Panels but the claims that it will be able to dethrone First Solar as the Leader seems far fetched currently.Note First Solar will have almost 7 times more capacity worldwide by the time GE builds its first solar panel facility.GE has been long been developing the Cadmium Tellurium Technology buying up Prime Solar.

Green Jobs Claim also Exaggerated

Note the 400-600 Jobs that would be created is a pittance to the thousands of jobs being create in China by the Big Solar Panel Producers like Trina,LDK,Suntech and others.For example LDK is employing more than 2000 thousand workers in a new 570 MW Solar Cell Plant in Hefei which was built in 4 months.For a long time US Green Jobs in Solar Energy are being outsourced to countries like Mexico,China and other places as Solar Companies like Evergreen,Energy Conversion Devices face mounting cost pressure.

Conglomerates with Bigger Solar Energy Plans than GE

However it will have an impossible time replicating its success in the Wind Energy field despite its massive size and reach.For one other global conglomerates are getting into Solar Energy in a big way.AUO has already planned 2 Gigawatts of Solar Panel capacity.TSMC,Samsung,LG,Hyundai and many other have similar gigawatt plans.GE’s 100 MW of orders does not even form 1% of the global 2010 demand.However the US Media (NY Times,Reuters etc) has harped on GE plans as it would become the Solar Leader.

Here is a list of the Plans of the other big Global Transnationals getting into the Solar Energy Industyr

  • Samsung -  Semiconductor and Electronics Giant Samsung is entering into production of polysilicon setting up a 10,000 ton plant in an equal JV with US Poly Producer MEMC.The plant will be set up in South Korea and will go onstream by 2013.Samsung had recently started production solar crystalline silicon solar panels which uses polysilicon as raw material.Samsung has made major plans to enter the Green Industry in a big way.It has signed a multi billion investment contract to build a huge offshore wind farm off Ontario and also plans to build solar plants.
  • LG – LG, the other big Korean Electronics Giant has also firmed up its plan in the Solar Energy Space.It is already selling solar modules in the South Korean and European markets and plans to have a 240 MW capacity by 2010 end .This will be rapidly expanded to a Gigawatt capacity by 2012.
  • Hanwha - South Korean Conglomerate Hanwha subsidiary Hanwha Chemicals took a controlling 49.99% stake inSolarfun .Solarfun is the 4th largest Chinese company which has been executing well on a vertical integration strategy.The company has 900 MW of module capacity with ~400-500 MW of wafer and cell capacity.Hanwha is also expanding into the polysilicon and system integration business.
  • Hyundai Heavy Industries - South Korea’s Hyundai Industries which is known more for its cars,is also making a big push into the Green Energy Space.Like its South Korean peers,Hyundai is also preferring to enter this space through Solar Energy.Hyundai has already established a 320 MW cell capacity which it plans to double to 600 MW by early 2011 which would make it the largest South Korean manufacturer.Hyundai had earlier bought solar cell equipment from Germany’s  Centrotherm as far back as 2008 and had entered a  long term contract with LDK Solar for buying solar wafers as raw material  for its cell lines.Its sister company KCC has started a 6000 ton polysilicon plant in South Korea.It is in negotiations with the Hungarian government to set up a manufacturing base in that country to serve the European markets.It is also targeting the US market with partnerships with companies like Raser Technology and Matinee Energy.It is also planning to set up a 240 MW solar power plant in partnership with Matinee Energy and LG.
  • TSMC - TSMC has been a late entrant into the solar energy market but is making much smarter moves than its Taiwanese peers.It bought a 20% stake in Motech (Taiwan’s oldest and largest solar cell company) for $192 million.It bought this stake at an opportune time when the stock prices of solar companies are trading at trough valuations.Its $50 million stake buy in Khosla backed unlisted CIGS startup Stion is another smart investment.Stion is looking  to partner with major semi companies for manufacturing and TSMC which is the world’s largest foundry is an ideal partner.
  • AUO – AUO is one of the world’s leading LCD panel manufacturers with most of its manufacturing facilities located in Taiwan.AUO has a  JV with SunPower’s to build 1.4 gigawatt third solar cell fabrication facility  in Malaysia. SunPower and AUO will equally own the JV and contribute equal capital funding.AUO is also building cell and module plants in Taiwan as well.It recently claimed the world’s most efficient solar panel with 19.5% efficiency.AUO has also bought M.Setek a large producer of polysilicon and wafer making it a vertically integrated player in a short time.
  • Siemens – The world’s largest green company is quite weak in the Solar Energy area.Like other conglomerates and competitor Areva,it acquired Israeli CSP company Solel Energy to make its foray into the Solar Thermal Energy sector.The company is looking to expand in India where the JNNSM has given equal importance to Solar Thermal Technology.
  • Areva - Giant Global Electrical Equipment Conglomerate which entered the Solar Thermal Energy area by acquiring a struggling CSP startup Ausra.The company is planning like the others to make a major investment of around $3 billion to build 1000 MW capacity in India.The company is the biggest nuclear equipment supplier in the world and has interests in biomass energy as well.

G.E. Plans to Build Largest Solar Panel Plant in U.S.

In a move that could shake up the American solar industry, General Electric plans to announce on Thursday that it will build the nation’s largest photovoltaic panel factory, with the goal of becoming a major player in the market.

The plant, whose location has not been determined, will employ 400 workers and create 600 related jobs, according to G.E. The factory would annually produce solar panels that would generate 400 megawatts of energy, the company said, and would begin manufacturing thin-film photovoltaic panels made of a material called cadmium telluride in 2013. While less efficient than conventional solar panels, thin-film photovoltaics can be produced at a lower cost and have proven attractive to developers and utilities building large-scale power plants.

G.E. has signed agreements to supply solar panels to generate 100 megawatts of electric power to customers, including a deal for panels generating 60 megawatts with NextEra Energy Resources.

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