Issue link: http://osercommunicationsgroup.uberflip.com/i/247216
Tuesday, July 9, 2013 Solar Power Daily News Spire (Cont'd. from p. 1) RGL: On the systems side, revenue will continue to increase, but at a slower pace than it has over the past few years. The oversupply of modules will start to dry up late this year or early next year, bringing the supply/demand ratio back into balance. This will actually drive module prices back up toward $1/Watt by mid-2014. In fact, prices are likely to increase throughout the value chain, creating a healthier market for value chain survivors. One trend we see is a growing market for indigenous module assembly. This is driven by incentives for locally sourced components based on newlyenacted government policies. SPDN: How about the longer-term future? Heraeus PV Business (Cont'd. from p. 1) products and also products in various stages of development. We have also acquired over 30 years of experience in PV paste. That history is valuable in broadening our knowledge base. SPDN: Can you provide the readers with an idea of what new products will be introduced by Heraeus in 2013? AL: By combining the R&D and product portfolios of the two organizations, we see opportunities to offer enhanced products during this calendar year. Our R&D team is working hard to take advantage of both companies' intellectual property. Bronkhorst USA (Cont'd. from p. 1) accuracy and turndown range for measurement and control. Users of these instruments can rescale their instruments on site, saving time (and money) for mounting and dismounting. For the convenience of the user, Bronkhorst developed an easy-to-use software tool called FlowTune for changing the configuration of Select instruments. Besides gas flow instruments, Veris Industries (Cont'd. from p. 1) circuitry from power surges and prevents drift over time. Robust encapsulation protects against moisture and other environmental concerns. Multiple LEDs provide easy indication of status for both the communications unit and each current sensing module. Modbus Schletter (Cont'd. from p. 1) For roof mount systems, the new Fix EZ is an extremely cost-effective and fast solution for flat roofs. It's a ballasted roof mount option that uses proprietary concrete footers to reduce loading on the roof and maximize spans. Installation is 'EZ' in just four simple steps. We are also excited to announce that we have begun offering installation services for our customers. Combined with our geotechnical testing and engineering, installation services will make it easier for customers to complete their project in one step. RGL: Well, the good news is that the systems market will continue to grow for the foreseeable future. This will help stabilize module pricing at about $1/Watt. Crystalline silicon modules will still dominate due to demonstrated long-term reliability and competitive cost structure. Additionally, c-Si PV cells are becoming increasingly efficient, providing further performance advantages compared to thin film technologies. Two important trends that will grow in the future are larger modules and bigger, more highly automated factories. Bigger factories are driven by the growing systems market and by industry consolidation. Some of these factories will approach Gigawatt levels, and at these scales they must be highly automated to achieve the lowest possible production costs and highest We are close to commercializing new pastes for N-Type and MWT cell designs. We will release new backside pastes, one of which has a silver content that we believe will be the lowest in the industry, while providing excellent adhesion and solderability. We will be releasing new pastes for PERC cell designs and, based on current alpha testing, will have strong market acceptance. For the front-side of conventional crystalline solar cells, we expect to release a new paste with innovative technology that will improve our pastes' performance and further decrease paste cost per watt. SPDN: What other benefits have you gained from the purchase of Ferro's Solar possible yields. The trend toward larger modules is driven primarily by growth in utility PV systems. For these installations, constructing a system with fewer modules is less expensive than one composed of smaller modules because it simplifies the installation; there are fewer connections involved and materials costs are less. There is already a trend toward 72-cell modules in these applications, and we see the trend continuing to include even larger modules, with as many as 240 cells and peak output power exceeding 1kW. SPDN: What is Spire's strategy in the current market and how are you preparing the company for a market recovery? RGL: We are currently focused on pockets of opportunity that exist in the market, such as the aforementioned Paste Business? AL: Though we have obtained products and valuable intellectual property from the purchase, more important is the key personnel we have been able to integrate into our organization. As mentioned, collaborations between research and development personnel have identified numerous product improvements of both the Heraeus PV and Ferro PV product lines. Japan is a key market for the photovoltaics industry. With the purchase, we have now added Japan as our sixth full service site, providing sales and local technical support to this region. This will give us the opportunity to work more closely with the cell manufacturers in Bronkhorst offers liquid flow meters/controllers for small flow ranges, from 75 mg/h up to 20 kg/h based on thermal mass flow sensors and up to 600 kg/h using Coriolis mass flow sensors. Our mini CORI-FLOW™ Coriolis mass flow meters/controllers measure mass directly, not requiring any conversion factors, and can be rescaled via a free software tool. Moreover, the digital instruments offer density and temperature as secondary output. In the Photovoltaic industry, these liquid flow meters are perfectly suited for spray coating processes and for controlling liquid precursors to vaporizing systems for CVD chambers. For the latter, Bronkhorst has developed a unique patented evaporation system to realize mass flow control of vapors, based on the combination of gas and liquid flow meters: the CEM-Liquid Delivery System (LDS). It can be applied for atmospheric, pressurized and vacuum processes, vaporizing liquid flows from communication simplifies commissioning and offers compatibility with many existing systems. The EA10 is designed to meet the SunSpec Alliance specifications for renewable energy component manufacturers, ensuring compatibility between components and management systems. Veris has a full line of renewable energy devices for monitoring energy levels at the sub-combiner, inverter, and electrical panel locations. SPDN: How do you address the needs of your customers? AK: Schletter's philosophy is to never be satisfied with the status quo, but to continually improve processes to better serve our customers. We believe in prioritizing four areas of our business: excellent service, competitive pricing, ease of use, and high product quality. At Schletter, we use the acronym SPEQ as a reminder to uphold these four pillars. All of our systems are 'Built to SPEQ'. SPDN: What distinguishes your product from the competition? About Veris Industries Veris Industries, located in Portland, Ore., is a market-focused, customerservice oriented leading supplier of energy and environmental sensors and AK: Our product quality is unmatched. Schletter uses the highest quality aluminum and steel material. All of our materials are domestically sourced and manufactured in one of our three North American facilities with many of our systems receiving ETL and UL certification. In addition, our internal processes are ISO certified for quality assurance. Many of our competitors reduce the initial system cost by cutting corners, such as using low-grade materials or inefficient system design. This leads to hiring additional labor in the field or replacing broken parts, which adds to the project costs. Our systems install quickly and we 21 indigenous module assembly and companies seeking technology upgrades to increase efficiency. We are also continually making improvements to our market-leading Spi-Sun simulator, further improving its precision and extending its measurement capabilities to better accommodate newer module technologies. Advanced measurement capability is becoming critically important as factory size increases and yield becomes even more dependent on accurate and reliable metrology tools. Finally, we are developing "supersized" 1kW modules and associated manufacturing equipment to address the trend toward larger modules in utility PV systems as discussed above. For more information, visit www.spirecorp.com, call 781-275-6000 or email pvsales@spirecorp.com. Japan to develop strong relationships between our technologies groups. With this, we can develop pastes that are optimized to their manufacturing process and aligned to their R&D roadmaps. We are confident that the consolidation of our two world-class photovoltaic technology teams will not only allow us to bring new, higher performance products to the market faster, but also provide our customers with a partner that is focused and willing to make substantial investments for their technological and market success. For more information, go online to www.pvsilverpaste.com, call 610-8256050, or visit booth #8611 at Intersolar North America. 0.25 to approx. 1200 g/h (depending on the fluid and process conditions). These vaporizers have been successfully applied in roll-to-roll coating applications for flexible solar cells. Currently, Bronkhorst develops a series of standard vapor delivery modules, an all-in-one precursor delivery solution. For more information, go online to www.bronkhorstusa.com or visit booth 8815 at Intersolar North America. control system peripherals for commercial HVAC, energy management, renewable energy, and industrial control applications. For additional information, visit www.veris.com, call 800-354-8556, email sales@veris.com, or stop by booth #8536 at Intersolar North America offer a standard 20-year warranty on all aluminum products. SPDN: What's a fun fact about Schletter that few people know? AK: Schletter has an employee softball and bowling team, and we know where to get an authentic Bavarian pretzel in most major cities! For more information, log on to www.schletter.us, call 520-2898700 or email mail@schletter.us. And stop by booth #9323 at Intersolar North America.