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Non-Tech : Alternative energy -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Sam who wrote (11403)	7/27/2011 11:38:12 PM
From: Jacob Snyder	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 16955

I haven't seen any definitive list of who is "tier 1" and/or "bankable". Probably a moving target. The list ranks by capacity in GW/y, of module/cell production. Therefore, companies that are mainly poly/wafer don't make the list. By 2012, there will probably be even more overcapacity in poly, as there will be in cells, if current plans aren't changed. Solarbuzz definition of Tier 1: Capacity installed is in excess of 500MW. Technology has been qualified in high-volume production with low processing costs. Manufacturing is at mass-production status, typically supported by vertical upstream integration. Product (cell/panel) is competitive in current market climate, often accompanied by strong downstream participation and access to project pipelines. pv-tech.org Q-cells, I'm guessing, is the European company you are thinking of. They aren't on the list, and I didn't add them. They had 1.0GW capacity end-2010. I looked at them last year, concluded they were on the road to bankruptcy, and stopped following them. Nothing has changed: Investment bank Jeffries International expects significant inventory write-offs at Q-Cells in its second quarter (2011) financial report due to massive inventory levels, said to reach €585 million or about half of Q-Cells' expected revenue for the full year... ...production capacity of 500MW in Germany, but was ‘unviable’ due to legacy equipment... pv-tech.org ...(Q-cells) cell production in the first quarter (2011) was 284 MW (peak). However, the slack market demand meant that the company only sold 84 MW (peak) of crystalline silicon cells, and another 7 MW (peak) in the form of modules... optics.org REC is downsizing, losing to GCL-Poly, and mainly makes poly: 2011 production to reach 240MW of wafers, 700MW of modules (down from its previous estimate of 750MW), and 19,000 tonnes of polysilicon... rechargenews.com SOL makes wafers mainly, and only 600MW of modules/cells.