Executive Viewpoint

Sourabh Sen of Astonfield: “India’s cost targets more ambitious than most”

Katherine Steiner-Dicks — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 13:37:56 +0100

Thin Film Today speaks to Sourabh Sen, co-founder of South Asia´s renewable energy company, Astonfield Renewable Resources, on the heels of its tie up with Belectric to build a 5MW solar power plant in Osiyan, Rajasthan--the first utility-scale solar power plant commissioned by Belectric under India’s National Solar Mission. Elizabeth Block asks his take on how thin film will fit within India´s renewable energy plans amongst a wall of challenges.

Joining the dots: AQT’s strategic links

Rikki Stancich — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 10:04:57 +0100

Thin Film Today speaks to Michael Bartholomeusz, CEO of CIGS developer, Applied Quantum Technology (AQT), about why partners are pivotal to gaining market leverage.

Solar technologies benchmark: Comparing apples with pears?

Rikki Stancich — Thu, 27 May 2010 19:38:22 +0100

Thin Film Today talks to Dr Andrew Skumanich, founder and CEO of SolarVision Co (SVC), a Silicon Valley based renewable energy consultancy, about the burgeoning demand for solar technologies consulting services and SolarVision’s master plan to benchmark the solar sectors.

Sharp: Shifting the balance of power in PV

Katherine Steiner-Dicks — Tue, 18 May 2010 14:10:33 +0100

Until 2007, Sharp held the number one spot for PV production and sales. Then the likes of First Solar and others started to attract the limelight, especially among the analysts. But Sharp is back in full force with a new thin film plant in Sakai, a new joint venture in Southern Europe and record high sales. Is it a matter of Sharp´s development coming full circle? Or is it something deeper within this company´s mindset, proprietary technology or ability to remain flexible despite industry demands?

Gartner: innovation to have massive impact on solar adoption

Katherine Steiner-Dicks — Tue, 04 May 2010 13:10:05 +0100

Research and analyst group, Gartner, reported in its Cool Vendors in Solar Energy, 2010 report, that innovation will be the carrot luring future venture funding in the coming months. Gartner´s report highlights some of the solar energy start-ups making a major impact on the solar industry and named Applied Quantum Technology, BrightView Systems, Confluence Solar, Innovalight and Solexant as just some of the companies to watch.

BrightView: Chinese leading the thin film manufacturing market

Katherine Steiner-Dicks — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 14:54:13 +0100

Thin Film Today speaks to Israeli thin film process control systems developer, BrightView Systems. Hai Benron, Director of Global Business and Ariel Ben-Porath, VP and Business Development, discuss the markets they believe are the most attractive for thin film panel manufacturing; obstacles manufacturers are likely to face and potential solutions; and the company’s upcoming targets.

GE discusses their ambitious plans for thin film

Katherine Steiner-Dicks — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 11:15:44 +0100

Todd Alhart, spokesman for GE Global Research, speaks to us about the global utility group’s ambitious plans into thin film and why they see the solar technology as a good investment.

Global Solar Energy CEO Jeffrey Britt on reducing costs and improving efficiencies for CIGS

Katherine Steiner-Dicks — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 11:07:56 +0000

Following the news that it is the first thin film module developer to reach record efficiency on flexible substrate (confirmed 13.2 percent aperture area efficiency), we have a quick chat with the Jeffrey Britt, CEO of CIGS manufacturer Global Solar Energy, on how his company is reducing costs and improving efficiencies.

Thin film demand high for now, but Coherent says driving force of PV market is c-Si

Katherine Steiner-Dicks — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 00:36:39 +0000

Katherine Steiner-Dicks speaks to Finlay Colville, Director of Marketing, Solar, at the world’s largest laser manufacturer, Coherent Inc.

Investors change focus to downstream

Katherine Steiner-Dicks — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 11:59:00 +0000

Only just 18 months ago, upstream solar looked good. But the dried up debt markets have put a massive strain on many upstream solar energy companies, which has had a knock-on effect across the entire supply chain, stopping many companies from meeting their growth targets. We speak to Franco Hauri of Climate Change Capital to see how he and his team are assessing the situation.