“Barnett and Stiner agreed to permanent injunctions; payment of civil penalties in the amount of $65,000 and $40,000, respectively; and other sanctions.”

It has been a while since I posted AstroPower Saga Continues: Fraud Claims Referred to FBI.

Per this Litigation Release No. 20938 issued on March 10, 2009:

U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Litigation Release No. 20938 / March 10, 2009

Accounting and Auditing Enforcement Release No. 2946 / March 10, 2009

Securities and Exchange Commission v. Allen Barnett, et al., Civil Action No. 1:09-cv-00457 (D. D.C.) (EGS) (filed March 9, 2009)

SEC BRINGS SETTLED ACTIONS AGAINST FORMER CEO AND CFO OF ASTROPOWER, INC. FOR THEIR ROLES IN FINANCIAL FRAUD

Dr. Allen Barnett  Photo Credit: University of Delaware

Although I don’t like quoting verbatim to excess, according to the SEC Complaint in this matter, Dr. Allen Barnett and Thomas Stiner:

made material misstatements, engaged in fraudulent accounting practices, and signed filings made with the Commission that they knew, or were reckless in not knowing, contained materially false and misleading financial statements. The Commission alleged that at the direction of Barnett and Stiner, and in contravention of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, AstroPower improperly recognized approximately $4 million in revenues from four transactions executed over the course of the second and third quarters of 2002. According to the Complaint, as a result of improperly recognizing revenue from these transactions, AstroPower’s net income was overstated by approximately $160,000 or 80% for the second quarter of 2002, and approximately $440,000 or 113% for the third quarter of 2002. The Commission alleged that these material misstatements of revenue and net income were included in Commission filings that Barnett and Stiner signed.

When considering the amounts involved, this fraud case approaches pathetic proportions save for its impact. Furthermore:

Without admitting or denying the allegations in the Complaint, Barnett and Stiner consented to the entry of final judgments enjoining them from future violations of these provisions of the federal securities laws, prohibiting them from acting as officers or directors of any public company, and imposing civil penalties.

Stiner, without admitting or denying the Commission’s findings, also consented to the institution of settled administrative proceedings pursuant to Rule 102(e)(3) of the Commission’s Rules of Practice suspending him from appearing or practicing before the Commission as an accountant, based on the anticipated entry of an injunction against him.

I have to wonder if these sanctions, without any admission of wrong doing, are sufficient considering the severe impact of their behaviors on AstroPower stakeholders.

For further though similar coverage, please see “Sun Goes Down on Solar Company Execs” by Stephen Taub at CFO.com or “Former CEO and CFO of AstroPower, Inc. Settle Fraud Charges” at the Securities Law Prof Blog.

My prior posts can be found under the AstroPower and the related Blue Square Energy categories.

I still see two open issues.

• To date, I have not seen an official resolution or statement regarding Peter Aschenbrenner under SEC investigation in AstroPower Saga as first observed in Solar Light Flashes: November 15, 2007. Mr. Aschenbrenner continues as the SunPower Corporation (NASDAQ:SPWRA, NASDAQ:SPWRB) Vice President, Corporate Strategy.
• From the classic GUNTHER Portfolio post, AstroPower: Decline of a solar photovoltaic star remains an untold tragedy?:
  
  In a final twist to the AstroPower saga, AstroPower Liquidating Trust, operated by Bridge Associates, has sued KPMG for mismanaging company audits.

I noticed former Blue Square Energy CEO Jeff Barnett at the recent Cleantech Forum XXI in San Francisco, California USA. I suspect he did not see me nor care to talk with me anyway.

©2010 GUNTHER Portfolio. All Rights Reserved.

Solar start-up Blue Square Energy (BSE) had a layoff before the holidays to close 2008, a year marked by internal struggles at the company captured in Blue Square Energy: Solar plans stalled at funding round. BSE has sold assets and equipment from an out of service solar cell line as a second cash preservation step. Discussions are reported to be underway with interested buyers.

It would appear Blue Square Energy: Joseph Babin named new CEO and President may have happened too late to raise a $25 million funding round for the company. Or per Blue Square Energy: Interview with solar CEO Joseph Babin, was the lack of Barnett regime change on the BSE Board of Directors the root cause of the funding travails? Even though “Cleantech Venture Investment in ‘08 Breaks Record, Despite Weak Finish” by Katie Fehrenbacher at Earth2Tech resulted in record level solar venture investment.

For reference, here is a Blue Square Energy international patent application published by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO):

(WO/2007/040774) PHOTOVOLTAIC SOLAR CELL AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME

I am trying to reconcile the facts about the situation as they trickle in from multiple sources. Please see the label Blue Square Energy for prior Blog posts about the company.

Other photovoltaic (PV) start-ups and small caps have been impacted by the credit crunch and soft photovoltaic module market of recent months.

SpectraWatt

“Solar-cell maker halts construction plans for new plant in Hillsboro”, by Richard Read for The Oregonian said:

SpectraWatt Inc., an Intel spinoff that planned to make solar cells in Hillsboro, may leave Oregon because it can’t find financing to build a plant.

This answers questions raised by Tom Cheyney at PV-tech.org in his the Chip Shots blog post, “Intel turns on a solar system, but it’s just the start, and what’s going on with SpectraWatt anyway?”

CSG Solar AG

Per “Solarfirma CSG Solar stellt Produktion ein” at Handelsblatt.com, CSG Solar halted production and laid off 124 of their 164 employees on December 23, 2008, due to declining PV module demand.

Day4 Energy Inc. (TSE:DFE)

In response to the market situation, Day4 Energy accelerated a change in their business model with “Day4® Energy Completes Outsource Agreement with Jabil” before Christmas culminating with “Day4® Energy Announces Reduction in Workforce” on January 6, 2009 (Ed. Note: Wrong year error corrected per comment). Module production will be relocated to a Jabil facility in Poland closer to principal market demand in Europe denominated in Euros. Day4 Energy President George Rubin said:

We expect to have the equipment installed at the Jabil facility in Q1 and to be operating at full capacity as we enter the second half of 2009.

Layoffs are always tough decisions, but the timing around the end of year Holiday Season is a no win scenario. Is it better to let employees know before the holiday or after?

©2010 GUNTHER Portfolio. All Rights Reserved.

First, “Blue Square Energy Announces 14.6 Percent Efficient Solar Cell on Upgraded Metallurgical Grade Silicon” was the third press release in a week from resurgent start-up Blue Square Energy (BSE).

Blue Square Energy has succeeded in producing a Bright Point technology silicon solar test cell with 14.6% percent conversion efficiency. BSE claims this “efficiency result is one of the highest in the world on upgraded metallurgical grade (UMG) silicon and has been verified independently by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).”

Bright Point technology deposits a fine layer of high-grade silicon onto a 4N (four nines or 99.99% pure) UMG silicon substrate. I first described BSE’s Bright Point technology about a year ago in “Blue Square Energy also presents at Alternative Energy Innovations 2007”. BSE has dropped using the “boron rich” adjective from the technology description.

I had a chance to discuss recent, rapid developments at Blue Square Energy with new CEO and President Joe Babin. Our first topic was the resolution of the BSE “Leadership issues” brought to light in Blue Square Energy: Solar plans stalled at funding round.

Per Mr. Babin, former BSE CEO Jeff Barnett began to view the situation with a fresh perspective and agreed to an executive management change while retaining his seat on the BSE Board of Directors.

In addition, Dr. Allen Barnett’s visionary role at BSE has been fortified. Mr. Babin said Dr. Barnett is motivated to achieve the successful commercialization of Bright Point technology through active participation. Retaining his Consultant title and seat on the BSE Board or Directors, Dr. Barnett has been named to the just created Blue Square Energy Technical Advisory Board. Former University of Delaware colleague, Dr. Christiana Honsberg, now a Professor of Electrical Engineering with Arizona State University, is also a member of the BSE Technical Advisory Board, and BSE is recruiting a third board member.

The Technical Advisory Board is intended to complement the leadership and execution experience of CEO Babin and new Chief Technology and Operating Officer (CTO/COO) Dr. Stephen Costantino (“Dr. Stephen Costantino Joins Blue Square Energy Management Team”) with photovoltaic specific insights, analysis, and direction for BSE’s technology and product development efforts.

During the internal management conflict, Mr. Babin claims BSE took care to keep the core technical team in tact. In addition, some technical team members that chose to leave BSE may return to the new organization. Mr. Babin recognizes the challenges his team faces bringing Bright Point silicon solar cells to market and admitted those efforts were “delayed a year” at this point. However, Mr. Babin said the time had been used to redesign production equipment and teased about additional product and performance announcements in the near future beyond the consistent Bright Point silicon solar test cell results.

As a matter of routine, I asked Mr. Babin who was the source of the 4N UMG silicon used in Bright Point? Jiawei Solarchina was his response. Jiawei Solarchina claims to have:

• Set up silicon feedstock Factory in Beijing in 2007
• Polysilicon development
  R&D partner from Guizhou, China. The production is to be ramped up in November 2008. Estimate volume 2-3 MT/month, annual capacity approximately 200MT.

Confidential sources claim Chinese UMG suppliers can only produce 4N to 5N purity UMG silicon. While not usable for mainstream silicon solar cells, the 4N to 5N purity level is perfect for Bright Point UMG silicon substrates.

In June 2008, Jefferies & Company, Inc. lead a $30M Convertible Notes Offering for Dynamic Green Energy, Ltd. also known as Jaiwei Solarchina. Besides Blue Square Energy, Jaiwei Solarchina customers include SunPower Corporation and GE Energy (previously AstroPower).

“Blue Square Energy Raising $25M for Dirty, Efficient Solar” by Craig Rubens at Earth2Tech was the first to report Blue Square Energy has reinitiated efforts to raise a $25 million funding round.

©2010 GUNTHER Portfolio. All Rights Reserved.

Promoted from Blue Square Energy Chief Operating Officer.

All has been quiet, too quiet, at Blue Square Energy (BSE) since I posted Blue Square Energy: Solar plans stalled at funding round back on July 8, 2008. Today, “Blue Square Energy Names New President and CEO” resolved the management dispute with the appointment of Joseph Babin as the new President and CEO of Blue Square Energy replacing former CEO Jeff Barnett.

Mr. Babin said:

I am very much looking forward to leading this talented group of engineers and researchers that BSE has managed to attract. Over the next few months, industry watchers in the solar energy space can expect to see a number of exciting new developments from BSE.

Prior to BSE, Mr. Babin was CEO of Kinetix where he transformed a small contracting firm into a large regional MEP (Mechanical Electrical and Plumbing), facilities maintenance, and energy services company focused on serving the federal government. His prior business technology experience was as the executive vice president of Electronic Payment Exchange (EPX), an online payment processing platform, directing the sale of EPX to Intercept Payment Solutions.

Mr. Babin shall remain on the BSE Board of Directors; he has been a member since 2005. Mr. Babin also serves on the Board of Directors for Electronic Payment Exchange (EPX), The Elwyn Institute, Grace Institutional Pharmacy, and Exceptional Care for Children (ECC).

I expect Mr. Babin will bring Bright Point silicon solar cell technology development back on track and reinvigorate venture capital funding efforts.

BSE Chairman of the Board of Raymond Moyer seems to concur and said:

Joe is the best of the best when it comes to running a business that works for its shareholders. As a member of the Board, he has had a role in creating a strategic direction for the company, but now he’s going to be responsible for implementing it as well. I have all the faith in the world that Joe and his management team will meet our goal of creating the world’s most affordable high efficiency solar cell.

Visit this Blue Square Energy label for prior posts about the company.

No word yet on the exact fates of Jeff Barnett or Dr. Allen Barnett.

©2010 GUNTHER Portfolio. All Rights Reserved.

Since Blue Square Energy also presents at Alternative Energy Innovations 2007, Blue Square Energy (BSE) has failed to raise the outlined $30 million round of venture capital to fund their expansion plans.

In a recent conversation with BSE Chairman Ray Moyer and Board member Joe Babin, I learned that Blue Square Energy has missed hitting critical milestones in the commercialization of Bright Point and confirmed rumored layoffs had occurred at the company.

“Leadership issues” have contributed to a morale problem at BSE resulting in the resignations of core technical team members. CEO Jeff Barnett is studying for a Wharton MBA at the University of Pennsylvania rather than committing one-hundred (100) percent to running start-up BSE. BSE shut down the silicon wafer recycling business last November 2007 citing reduced wafer availability from key supplier Intel Corporation because of Quality Assurance procedure and process changes. Government contracts and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Very High Efficiency Solar Cell (VHESC) program are the revenue streams for BSE now.

BSE failed to raise $30 million in VC funding due to concerns surrounding Allen Barnett and the failure at AstroPower along with serious questions related to Jeff Barnett’s ability to manage.

Members of the Board also have come to realize that Allen Barnett is no longer a technical asset to the company. Board members also confirmed that Jeff Barnett has failed to meet almost all timing objectives for Bright Point commercialization.

Contrary to these developments, the BSE Board of Directors still strongly believes in the promise of Bright Point technology and has been careful to maintain relationships with departed members of the company’s core technical team. However, a prerequisite for their return to BSE are changes in the company’s management prompting the Board to take the formal step of asking Jeff Barnett and Dr. Allen Barnett to tender their resignations from Blue Square Energy.

©2010 GUNTHER Portfolio. All Rights Reserved.

In this final Solar Light Flashes of 2007, I need to catch up on accumulated tidbits I’ve collected over the past few months.

Advent Solar, Inc.
If recent events at Miasolé regarding former CEO David Pearce are the precedent (see Former Miasolé Employees Confirm Cuts by Jennifer Kho at Greentech Media), then Advent Solar Appoints Peter Green as new President and CEO, tends to indicate Rusty Schmit’s days with Advent may be numbered despite the claim:

Company founder Rusty Schmit will remain a member of the Board of Directors in an active role focused on strategic initiatives and will be working with Peter to ensure a smooth transition.

This development also lends credence to anonymous rumors the retooling and layoffs are masking process issues.

Blue Square Energy
While I was on my best behavior at the Dow Jones VentureWire Alternative Energy Innovations 2007 conference in Redwood City, California, AlternativeEnergy.com captured this video of Blue Square Energy (BSE) President and CEO Jeff Barnett’s presentation.

Concentrix Solar GmbH
In the under reported Concentrix passes all tests required for starting construction of its 500 kW power plant in Spain (October 2007), the company’s 5.75 kW prototype system passed ISFOC, Instituto de Sistemas Fotovoltaicos de Concentración S.A. or Institute of Concentration Photovoltaics Systems, required qualification tests including draft IEC standard 62108 D8d (now IEC 62108 Ed. 1.0). Construction of the 200 kW Puertollano, Castilla La Mancha – Spain, installation was supposed to begin in early November 2007.

Greentech Media
Greentech Media: Conversations has so far rolled out two of a six part discussion series with Dr. Richard Swanson, co-founder, President, and Chief Technical Officer (CTO) of SunPower Corporation. Since the series is sponsored by SunPower and mirrored over at the SunPower website as the Richard Swanson Podcast Series, this series has the appearance of an infomercial. Then again, what photovoltaic company would want to sponsor a series about a competitor? Nonetheless, I am sure these podcasts with Dr. Swanson are worth a listen.

Izusu Glass Co., Ltd.
DigInfo (Digitized Information, Inc.) has a short video about Izusu Glass compound parabolic concentrators (CPC) produced using a glass mold process to reduce manufacturing costs.

Oerlikon Solar
I just noticed this public relations Oerlikon Solar Image Film on the website available via streaming (English, Deutsch) or download. And here is an apparent bootleg video Report on solar energy from CASH-TV in German (Deutsch) aired back on October 7, 2007. Oerlikon Solar is a business segment of OC Oerlikon Corporation AG (VTX:OERL).

REC Solar Grade Silicon LLC
This REC Silicon Groundbreaking video by Grant County EDC showed up on YouTube before Christmas even though the ceremony to mark the construction of the new Solar Grade Silicon manufacturing facility in Moses Lake, Washington USA, was held way back on August 16, 2006.

A few updated photos of the construction are posted on the Grant County Economic Development Council website at REC Silicon Project. Slated to ramp in the second half of 2008, the new plant is based on a proprietary FBR (Fluidized Bed Reactor) process and will add 6500 MT (Metric Tons) of granular Solar Grade Silicon production capacity. REC Solar Grade Silicon LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Renewable Energy Corporation ASA (OSL:REC).

Solarvalue AG
The stockings of Solarvalue AG (XETRA:SV7) shareholders were empty this Christmas. No (char)coal, wood chips, quartz, or Solar Grade Silicon (SGS) sample material from a US lab. But did the Solarvalue ÜberBull get high sulfur coal from Santa Claus?

Two series begun in 2007 remain unfinished. I have noticed significant interest in Timminco Limited: O Canada! Solar Grade Silicon, Eh? – Part 1. This is a top priority at the start of 2008, and I have two additional parts planned. There was also supposed to be a Part 3 after Sunways goes its own Silicon ways – Part 2 to cover the Automotive solar segment of Sunways. I have the material but just have not gotten to the write up.

Once again I wish everyone a Happy New Year 2008 and may it be happy and prosperous for us all.

©2010 GUNTHER Portfolio. All Rights Reserved.

Further details of Bright Point solar cell business plans and the next $30 Million funding round emerge

Blue Square Energy (BSE) President and CEO Jeff Barnett delivered a capable and informed presentation regarding BSE’s plans and solicitation of venture capital for continued expansion on Wednesday, October 23, 2007, at the Dow Jones VentureWire Alternative Energy Innovations 2007 conference in Redwood City, California.

As mentioned in Blue Square Energy sets the impurity enriched solar cell record straight, BSE was founded in 2004 and generated a profit from recycling semiconductor silicon wafers into solar cells by 2005.

With Bright Point silicon solar cell technology, BSE expects to reach $1.22 per Watt module cost by 2010. BSE claims to have the lowest cost of capital per Watt based on a proprietary production equipment toolset. In fact, Mr. Barnett said Bright Point achieves crystalline silicon efficiency at comparable cost to thin film solar technologies.

Bright Point achieves this lofty goal by depositing a 10um (micrometer) active layer of Solar Grade Silicon on a 4N (four nines) 99.99% pure “boron rich” 200um Bright Point Upgraded Metallurgical Silicon (UMG) substrate. Longer term, Mr. Barnett said the UMG silicon would cost $10 per kilogram (kg) although costing perhaps as much as $25 per kg in 2008. BSE has already received commercial size samples of the boron rich UMG material for qualification. The Solar Grade Silicon layer is supposed to cost a mere $0.01 per Watt per BSE estimates.

BSE expects to deliver Bright Point solar cells with 13-14% efficiency in the second quarter of 2008. Thus far, BSE has obtained 12.3% laboratory efficiency and commercial sized Bright Point solar cells have been confirmed by NREL at 10.9% conversion efficiency. BSE further claims Bright Point can achieve a 23% commercial efficiency potential by leveraging the boron impurities in the UMG substrate. The technique or principle involved here was not discussed. Overview of SAI PV Incubator Awards details the $2,990,000 proceeds used to fund research and development towards the 23% Bright Point silicon solar cell efficiency objective .

BSE plans to build 39MWp (MegaWatt-peak) of Bright Point solar cell capacity in 2008 and another 113MWp in 2009 for a total of 152MWp capacity in 2009 and targets 200MWp Bright Point capacity by 2010. BSE has already lined up exclusive silicon suppliers for their virtual vertical integration strategy. BSE will focus on Bright Point solar cell production using proprietary processes and production equipment while outsourced manufacturers will produce solar modules. In addition, BSE expects to sell 25 to 50% of their production to Bright Point solar cell customers. BSE has no ambitions beyond manufacturing and will not enter the downstream installation business.

In November 2007, BSE will receive prototype production equipment for a 5.5MWp Bright Point solar cell line to prove their scalable solar manufacturing system.

For some reason, BSE skipped the de rigueur slide about the Management Team, a critical Venture Capitalist (VC) judgment metric. Could this be related to the news in Solar Light Flashes: October 22, 2007?

This investment round is open to new investors and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2008.

All things considered, Blue Square Energy earns high marks for executing to the plans they discussed with me earlier this year. However, the production capacity build to the full 200MWp appears to be delayed by over a year. Perhaps this is related to the delivery schedules for their proprietary Bright Point production equipment?

©2010 GUNTHER Portfolio. All Rights Reserved.

Once again, conferences including Solar Power 2007 and 22nd European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition (EU PVSEC) have dominated Blog coverage since September. I have accumulated anecdotes and news about Blog staples and newer companies and topics over this time period.

Advent Solar, Inc.
During Solar Power 2007, I talked to an Advent Solar spokesperson at their Hyatt Regency Ballroom stand. The spokesperson claimed the retooling of Advent’s 25MWp (MegaWatt-peak) line to 156mm (millimeter) silicon wafers would be completed by about November 2007 and ready for production in early 2008. The expectation is laid off workers will be recalled to ramp production on the retooled line.

In contrast, before Solar Power 2007, my request for a reiterative quote from the Advent Solar Management Team about the retooling to dispel anonymous rumors of process issues with Advent’s Emitter Wrap-Through (EWT) solar cells was denied. My subsequent request to meet a member of the Advent Solar Executive Management Team at Solar Power 2007 was also denied. I may be a niche Blogger, but I don’t seem to have trouble getting to talk with Photovoltaic company CEOs. Could there be some shred of truth behind this rumor?

Blue Square Energy
After seeing my post, Select Videos from the 22nd EU PVSEC, Joe Babin from Blue Square Energy (BSE) wanted to clarify Dr. Allen Barnett’s relationship with the company. Dr. Allen Barnett sits on the Board of Directors and has a technology consulting contract with BSE. BSE President and CEO Jeffrey Barnett will present this week at VentureWire’s Alternative Energy Innovations Conference.

ersol Thin Film
I noticed ersol Solar Energy AG (FRA:ES6) CEO Dr. Claus Beneking at the ersol Solar Power 2007 stand. Dr. Beneking was willing to answer a few questions about the recent developments at ersol Thin Film. He confirmed the basic facts I got from ersol reported in Oerlikon solar (almost) at work: ersol Thin Film delays production. ersol Thin Film plans to solidify their production toolset before further expansions to or by 100MWp in the 2009/2010 timeframe. ersol Thin Film expects to be the first company in production with micromorph tandem modules by adding Oerlikon’s KAI 1200^M2 deposition system to their existing production line.

GreenVolts Inc.
GreenVolts has been expanding the management team by hiring Joseph “Chip” Krauskopf as Chief Operating Officer, Stephen Smith as Director of Project Operations, Shaun Ferguson as Vice President of Global Supply Chain, and Craig Lewis as Vice President of Government Relations. Of most interest, Mr. Smith defected from SolFocus where he was the Director of Field Operations leading the ISFOC installations. Please see GreenVolts Continues Momentum With Addition Of Technology And Solar Power Veterans and GreenVolts Positions For Worldwide Expansion With Addition Of Experienced Executives for the respective press releases.

GreenVolts will also present at VentureWire’s Alternative Energy Innovations 2007 and again at the 20th NREL Industry Growth Forum.

Inside Greentech
Since I
nside Greentech (was) acquired by the Cleantech Network™, LLC to become Cleantech.com, the online publication seems to have lost its charm and gone corporate. Even The Greentech Avenger has renamed himself The Cleantech Avenger. I can’t imagine Spiderman going with a name change.

M.SETEK Co.,Ltd.
M.SETEK President Ritsuo Matsumiya delivers an Opening Ceremony speech in Japanese (with English subtitles, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4X0RI-eQF7U) on May 24, 2007, at their Polysilicon Plant located in Soma City, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan.

Sol3g, S.L.
In a press release titled SOLÚCAR TRUSTS IN SOL3G from September 13, 2007, Sol3g announced Solúcar Energia, S.A. obtained a 25% stake in Sol3g by contributing 50% of the capital in a follow on financing round. The balance of the funding is a participative credit from ENISA, a government capital investment arm part of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism. The proceeds will be used to execute Sol3g’s business plan and complete the production capacity expansion to 5MWp by the end of 2007. The exact Euro sums of these investments were not disclosed.

As an Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) supporter, I appreciated this post, Bloggers should be allowed to join the journalist party, by Don Reisinger on his CNET The Digital Home Blog.

Speaking of Blogs, Madan’s Blog asks the question, Solar Energy – Heat or Hype?

©2010 GUNTHER Portfolio. All Rights Reserved.

Here is one for Italian speaking readers. Alfonso Pecoraro Scanio, Italian Minister for the Environment, Land, and Sea, answers a press question about Italian Photovoltaic market development in Italiano.

The following presentations made by Dr. Barnett and Dr. Hesse were included in Dr. Ossenbrink’s 22nd EU PVSEC Technical Highlights.

Dr. Allen Barnett presented “Milestones Toward 50% Efficient Solar Cells” on Monday, September 3, 2007. I decided to video this presentation after the first few minutes.

Here is the paper citation:

1AO.6.7 A. Barnett, C.B. Honsberg, K. Goossen & F. Kiamilev
University of Delaware, Newark, USA
D. Kirkpatrick
DARPA, Arlington, USA
S.R. Kurtz, M.W. Wanlass, K. Emery & L. Kazmerski
NREL, Golden, USA
D. Moore
University of Rochester, United Kingdom
R. Schwartz
Purdue University, USA
D.J. Aiken
Emcore, Albuquerque, USA
Milestones Toward 50% Efficient Solar Cells

Dr. Karl Hesse, Wacker Chemie AG, Polysilicon Division, presented “An Overview on Silicon Feedstock” on Thursday, September 6, 2007.

2DP.1.5 K. Hesse
Wacker-Chemie, Burghausen, Germany
An Overview on Silicon Feedstock
I believe Dr. Hesse is trying to create FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt) regarding refined metallurgical silicon or solar grade silicon.

The Q-Cells Party has developed a reputation as the best party at EU PVSEC. Last year at the 21st EU PVSEC in Dresden, I didn’t even hear about the Q-Cells Party until afterwards. This year, the Q-Cells Party took place at Karma in southeast Milan, Italy, on Tuesday night.

Here are my video bootlegs of the Q-Cells Band. My Canon Powershot SD800 IS digital camera only records in mono, so the Band is much better than these soundtracks. If you have viewed my videos before, the infernal audio clicks are a bug with this camera and occur every time the zoom is adjusted while recording a video.

Q-Cells AG CEO Anton Milner joins the Band towards the end of the set for “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”.

“I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll”

I think I have heard this song, but I don’t know the name of das Lied.

“Should I Stay or Should I Go” by The Clash from a distance.

Any idea which of the Band’s three front women was my fav? I am not telling.
I have a bunch more EU PVSEC videos to screen for post worthiness.

And when I see a Visual presentation like this:

3AV.1.4 A. Barnett, C.B. Honsberg & D. Prather
University of Delaware, Newark, USA
J. Culik, D. Ford, K. Allison & J. Barnett
Blue Square Energy, North East, USA
High Performance Thin Silicon Solar Cells

I cannot help but wonder if Dr. Barnett working this close with his son’s company, Blue Square Energy, and AstroPower alumni doesn’t represent one huge conflict of interest?

©2010 GUNTHER Portfolio. All Rights Reserved.

Intersolar 2007 and 2006 California Clean Tech Open (CCTO) companies have dominated Blog coverage over the past month. It’s time to get back to covering staple companies and topics although there are follow up Intersolar 2007 and PV Industry Forum 2007 posts plus SEMICON West coverage in the works.

Applied Materials:
Applied Materials Names Chris Eberspacher to Lead Advanced Solar Research and Development lends support to the notion that things may not be so rosy at Nanosolar. Dr. Eberspacher left Nanosolar just over one month ago.

Blue Square Energy (BSE):
Alan Swanson Joins Blue Square Energy as Vice President of Manufacturing Operations bringing thirty years of experience from Tyco Electronics and the former AMP, Inc. To complete the management team in preparation for a potential IPO, BSE needs to name a VP of Engineering or CTO or both.

CMC Magnetics Corp:
Following the Moser Baer model, CMC Magnetics, the largest Taiwanese maker of optical media, is setting up a subsidiary, Sun Well Technology, to produce thin film solar modules in Taiwan. Information from industry sources (rumors) allege the 100MWp facility will be equipped by Oerlikon Solar.

Cool Earth Solar:
I stumbled on this video animation titled Inflatable Solar Collectors on YouTube. I don’t know the origin of the animation, but this appears genuine.

HyCore:
Norsk Hydro ASA (NYSE:NHY) and the Umicore Group (EBR:UMI) have formed the HyCore joint venture to produce solar grade silicon from metallurgical silicon using a process first researched by Umicore. €26 million will be invested to construct a 20 metric ton pilot plant at Herøya, in Porsgrunn, Norway, by 2008. If proven successful, a larger facility will be constructed at the same site to produce industrial scale volumes by 2010.

Umicore has about 90% market share in Germanium (Ge) substrate wafers required for compound semiconductors like III-V Triple Junction solar cells used in High Concentration Photovoltaic systems.

NJCEP:
Updated CORE Queues every two weeks now? CORE Queue > 10kw July 13, 2007 (greater than 10kW), CORE Queue <= 10kw July 13, 2007 (less than or equal to 10kW), Public Non K-12 Schools CORE Queue July 13, 2007, and Public K-12 Schools CORE Queue July 13, 2007 are available. An Updated 2007 CORE Budget July 13, 2007 shows the under funded status details of the main CORE Queues, and the Comment Summary: New Jersey Renewable Energy Solar Market Transition Straw Proposal has a number of company and policy centric comments and counter proposals.

A fresh new look for the NJCEP website is due by August 1, 2007.

Oerlikon Solar:
I heard Oerlikon Solar was briefing press (though not this blogger!) about a significant announcement. I have no idea what it is, but speculations include ersol or Schott in official production, more new orders like CMC Magnetics, or could Micromorph tools be shipping?

Solar Newsletter No. 2, July 17, 2007, was distributed at SEMICON West but is not yet on the Oerlikon Solar website at post time.

PV Cycle:
Per the EPIA (European Photovoltaic Industry Association) Newsletter, SOLARIS, the PV CYCLE association created on 5th July 2007 by founding members: Avancis, BSW, Conergy, EPIA, Isofotón, Schott Solar, SolarWorld, and Sulfurcell. An executive board was appointed to prepare for the first General Assembly meeting of the PV Cycle association scheduled for September 18, 2007, in Brussels, Belgium. Interested companies are welcome to apply for membership in the PV CYCLE association and membership information should be forthcoming to EPIA members.

Sol3g, S.L.:
In Sol3g makes a 1 kWp pilot installation financed by Solúcar, an Abengoa subsidiary, the company announced an agreement with Solúcar Energia, S.A., for a 1kWp (kilowatt-peak) HCPV (High Concentration PhotoVoltaic) system pilot installation. Another 20kWp of HCPV modules (M40?) will be supplied for mounting on Solúcar’s own two-axis tracker. Both of these systems will be located in the Solar Platform of Sanlúcar la Mayor, Sevilla, Spain.

SunPower:
And SunPower CEO Tom Werner Named Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2007 Award Recipient in Northern California would not be my first choice since I believe the PowerLight acquisition is an expensive distraction from increasing SunPower’s production of the highest efficiency, back contact, monocrystalline solar cells and modules. Why was Ernst & Young LLP not disclosed as being the independent auditor of PowerLight Corporation’s financials from 2005 and 2006? Although the award claims to use a panel of independent judges, how were the initial nominations made?

The SPR-315 datasheet is now online at the SunPower website.

Given the accelerated velocity of photovoltaic and solar activity, I don’t envy publications trying to cover every aspect of the PV Industry. I’ll stick with this Blog’s established format of looking for areas less covered or where I can add insight and commentary.

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