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According to the latest Indian Solar Compass, India’s solar industry has got off to a successful start this year, with a large number of power purchase agreements (PPAs) having been signed. However, bankability continues to be an issue.

Phoenix Solar announces its most successful financial year to date, with revenues, EBIT and photovoltaic module sales all notably increasing. Despite this positive news, the German company doesn’t expect to see growth in 2011.

Day4 Energy Inc. has made 30 of its employees redundant at its Burnaby pilot-production facility in British Columbia, Canada. The move will allow the company to restructure its operations in both Europe and Canada.

Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited and Japan-based YHS Co., Ltd have entered into a photovoltaic module distribution contract and an exclusive agent agreement.

Silfab Ontario has officially opened its new solar module manufacturing facility in Mississauga, Canada. During a ribbon cutting ceremony, it was announced that the company has received approval for a €2.2 million loan.

Swissolar is demanding immediate removal of the ceiling on feed-in tariffs. It adds that subsidies should be designed based on the German model, in order to achieve a similarly dynamic market and to increase photovoltaic share to 20 percent by 2025.

Bosch Solar Energy AG has achieved a “world record” efficiency of 19.6 percent for its large-area PERC solar cells on p-type wafers. The company adds that it is building a research and development center in Germany.

Bosch’s passivated emitter and rear contact (PERC) monocrystalline solar cells, with screen-printed metallization in 156 x 156 mm format, have achieved an efficiency of 19.6 percent. This consequently means they can reach an output of 4.73 Watts peak.

The independent calibration laboratory at Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems has verified the numbers.

The company explains that its new cell structure helped it to achieve the record efficiency. In a statement, it says: “The rear side of PERC solar cells is coated with a dielectric and a metal layer and equipped with point contacts. This new structure improves the solar cells’ optical and electrical properties.”

It continues: “The incident light is reflected on the cell’s reflective rear side, thus enabling the emitter to convert more light into electricity. The front side of the high-performance cell was also optimized.”

The new cell is also said to perform well under weak lighting conditions, due to its high open-circuit voltage.

“This is a great success for the engineering team,” states Volker Nadenau, chief technology officer at Bosch Solar Energy AG. “Especially since we’ve exclusively used industrial production steps to manufacture those record-breaking cells. Now we have to push hard in order to make our products based on this design as soon as possible ready for production.”
Bosch is currently building a new research and development center in Arnstadt, Germany. It is scheduled for completion this summer.

Centrotec Sustainable AG subsidiary, the Ubbink Group, will obtain a number of assets from Systaic AG. Through the acquisition, Centrotec is looking to expand into the integrated photovoltaic and solar thermal energy roofs market.

Construction on the Hyundai-Avancis 100 megawatt Korean thin film solar module plant has begun. Expected to be operational by 2012, KRW 220 billion (around US $200 million) has been invested in the project.

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has approved Pacific Gas & Electric’s 20-year contract to purchase 150 megawatts (MW) of solar power from Sempra Generation’s Mesquite Solar 1 facility in Arizona, the U.S.