Draker Enters Japanese Solar Market Through Instrument Partnership

Img source:best power upsDraker Laboratories, a provider of turnkey monitoring and asset management services for commercial and utility-scale solar photovoltaic projects, says it is entering the Japanese market through a strategic partnership with Tokyo-based EKO Instruments Co. Ltd.In 2011, the Japanese solar PV market was the sixth largest in the world, and it is expected to grow larger as its solar feed-in-tariff program is introduced in July, Draker notes.

Under the terms of the EKO partnership, EKO will handle marketing, sales, project management and installation services for Draker's commercial and utility-scale solar monitoring, asset management and control packages.Draker will provide technical and product support to EKO and collaborate closely with the EKO team to develop integrated turnkey solutions for customers in Japan.

Southwest Solar Technologies Inc. has entered into a new collaboration agreement that the company expects will drive the commercialization of its concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) solar power technology.The company has signed a joint development agreement with MaxQ Power Conversion LLC, an affiliate of Tempe, Ariz.-based MaxQ Technology LLC.Under the agreement, the parties will cooperate to develop and manufacture Southwest Solar's patent-pending dense array CPV module.

The module packages numerous multi-junction photovoltaic cells into a compact, high-concentration solar power generation module where a solar concentration ratio of 1,200 times is achieved, the company claims.The product's design incorporates a solar flux management capability that enables nonuniform light intensity to be used. This design makes it possible to use the CPV product with either dish or heliostat collectors designed for concentrated solar power, Southwest Solar adds.

First Solar Inc., a Tempe, Ariz.-based cadmium telluride (CdTe) PV module manufacturer, has announced its financial results for the fourth quarter and year that ended Dec. 31, 2011. Because of the company's position as the highest-volume U.S.-based PV manufacturer, its financial results are typically viewed by the industry as particularly telling. Overall, bad news permeated the company's announcements - a performance that was largely expected, given PV market conditions.Fourth-quarter 2011 net sales were $660 million, a decrease of $345 million from the third quarter of 2011, primarily due to the timing of revenue recognition in the systems business and lower volume for module-only sales, First Solar said in its announcement. Relative to the fourth quarter of 2010, quarterly net sales increased $50 million from $610 million.

Net sales for 2011 were $2.8 billion, up about 8% from fiscal year 2010.Fourth-quarter net loss per fully diluted share was $4.78, compared to a net income per fully diluted share of $2.25 in the third quarter of 2011 and $1.80 in the fourth quarter of 2010.Although the company noted that it achieved several milestones last year - including a module efficiency record, sales of several large projects, and reductions in manufacturing costs - outside conditions inhibited strong performance, according to Mike Ahearn, chairman and interim CEO.In its 2012 guidance, the company reduced net sales predictions from $3.7-$4.0 billion to $3.5-$3.8 billion and reduced operating cashflow from $0.9-$1.1 billion to $0.8-$0.9 billion.

Analysts at Jefferies & Co. described First Solar's quarter "just shy of a kitchen-sink quarter." In a research note, the analysts pointed out that the company missed its fourth-quarter targets substantially and took a number of charges.Perhaps more importantly, this latest round of financial results marks a change in business strategy. First Solar "now admits that selling CdTe modules as components is no longer the company strategy, and certainly not profitable," the Jefferies analysts wrote.see more at:back ups

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