Tokyo, Japan: Nippon Oil and Sanyo to Establish Thin Film Joint Venture. Nippon Oil Corporation and SANYO Electric Co., Ltd. have reached a basic agreement to explore the possibility of establishing a joint company to handle the expected expansion and development of the thin-film solar cell market.

Bedford, MA, USA: Spire to Provide Turnkey Solar Module Manufacturing Line in India. Spire Corporation has received a contract from GreenBrilliance to provide a turnkey photovoltaic module assembly line for that company's operation in India.

Isseroda, Germany: Asola in Korean Manufacturing Joint Venture. Asola has signed a Memorandum of Understanding to establish a joint venture manufacturing plant in South Korea, to enable production and distribution of high quality, German-designed solar modules in South Korea.

Xinyu City, China: LDK Solar Signs Polysilicon Reactor Agreement. LDK Solar has signed a new agreement with GT Solar to purchase polysilicon CVD reactors for installation in LDK Solar's manufacturing facilities in Xinyu City, Peoples Republic of China.

Taoyuan, Taiwan: Sunwell Starts Thin Film Production. Sunwell, a wholly owned subsidiary of CMC Magnetics (Taiwan), has started mass production at its Taiwan based thin film PV plant. In the past month more than 10,000 solar panels were produced with an Oerlikon Solar end-to-end fabrication solution.

Merrimack, NH, USA: GT Solar Signs $173 Million Contract With DC Chemical. GT Solar has signed a $173 million contract with DC Chemical. Under the terms of the agreement, GT Solar will provide DC Chemical with polysilicon CVD reactors, which are used to manufacture polysilicon, a key raw material utilized to produce solar cells.

Tokyo, Japan: Mitsubishi Electric to Raise Cell Production Capacity to 600 Megawatts. Mitsubishi Electric said today that the company is planning to construct a new photovoltaic cell production facility, the PV Cell Plant #2, at its Nakatsugawa Works Iida Factory in Nagano Prefecture.

Xinyu City, China: LDK Solar Reaches 1GW Wafer Production Capacity. LDK Solar held a ceremony this week-end celebrated its wafer plant reaching the milestone of 1.0 GW annualized capacity. This event was hosted by Mr. Xiaofeng Peng, Founder, Chairman and CEO in Xinyu, China.

Xinyu City, China: LDK Solar Awards $220M Contract to Applied Materials. LDK Solar has awarded a $220 million contract to Applied Materials to provide precision wafering systems to support its next phase of production expansion.

Venlo, Netherlands: Scheuten Announces Strategic Alliance with Taiwan's Ritek. Scheuten has announced a strategic alliance with Taiwanese disc manufacturer Ritek. By combining the knowledge which Ritek has gained over the years in the Optical Media and OLED industry and Scheuten's Solar knowledge, Scheuten says this strong combination will bring solar developments to a higher platform.

Xinyu City, China: LDK Signs Contract to Purchase JYT Furnaces. LDK Solar, a manufacturer of multicrystalline solar wafers, has signed a contract to purchase production equipment from China-based JYT Corporation.

Kedah, Malaysia: First Solar Inaugurates its First Malaysian Manufacturing Plant. First Solar announced that the first of its four solar module manufacturing plants being constructed at the Kulim Hi Tech Park in Kedah, Malaysia was formally inaugurated this week.

Tainan, Taiwan: Applied Materials Breaks Ground for Taiwanese Manufacturing Center. Applied Materials held a groundbreaking for an expansion project of its Tainan Manufacturing Center yesterday.

Xinyu City, China: LDK Provides Update on Polysilicon Plant Construction Progress. LDK Solar, a manufacturer of multi- crystalline solar wafers, held an equipment installation celebration ceremony today for its 1,000 metric ton (MT) annualized capacity polysilicon plant in Xinyu, China.

New York, NY, USA: Solar Thin Films Schedules Equipment Delivery for Thin Film Manufacturing Plant. Solar Thin Films, Inc, a manufacturer of equipment for the production of amorphous silicon (a-Si) photovoltaic modules, has received $3.6 million from Grupo Unisolar, S.A.

Bitterfeld-Wolfen, Germany: Solibro Starts Shipments of CIGS Modules. Solibro GmbH has started shipments to customers of its CIGS thin film solar modules.

Munich, Germany: Linde Nippon Sanso to Power Spain's First Thin Film Solar Plant. Linde Nippon Sanso has been awarded the exclusive contract to supply high purity gases to Spain's first thin film solar cell manufacturing plant set up by T-Solar S.A. in Ourense, Galicia, Spain.

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates: Masdar Breaks Ground on Thin Film Manufacturing Plant. Less than three months after announcing a strategic investment into thin-film photovoltaics, Masdar, the Abu Dhabi renewable energy company, yesterday broke ground on its first photovoltaic production plant in Ichtershausen, Germany.

San Jose, CA, USA: Silicon Genesis and REC ASA Sign Collaboration and Equipment Supply Agreement. Silicon Genesis Corporation (SiGen) has signed a collaboration and equipment supply agreement with Renewable Energy Corporation (REC) of Oslo, Norway.

Zürich, Switzerland: New Polysilicon and Cell Plants Planned in Italy. Solar Industries AG, a portfolio company of New Value AG (SWX: NEWN), api nòva energia S.r.l. and Silicio Engineering S.r.l. are joining forces to set up a plant for the production of highly pure silicon (polysilicon) for photovoltaic applications.

Aragona, Italy: Moncada to Manufacture Thin Film Modules. The Moncada Energy Group s.r.l., a private producer of renewable energy in Italy, has awarded Applied Materials, Inc. a contract to establish what will be Moncada’s first photovoltaic (PV) module production facility and Applied’s first SunFab™ line in Italy.

Blaubeuren, Germany: Centrosolar to Construct Portuguese Cell Plant. The recently formed joint-venture between QIMONDA and the CENTROSOLAR Group is planning to construct a production facility for Itarion Solar Lda for silicon-based solar cells at Vila do Conde in Portugal.

San Diego, CA, USA: Sanyo to Construct US Manufacturing Plant. Sanyo North America Corporation will construct a new plant for the manufacture of silicon ingot and solar wafers in the Salem Renewable Energy and Technology Park.

Sandvika, Norway: REC Selects Quebec for Future Silicon Expansions. Renewable Energy Corporation ASA (REC) has selected Bécancour, Quebec as the site of choice for the next phase of silicon materials expansions.

Charlotte, NC, USA: Sencera Plans Thin Film Module Factory. Sencera International Corporation, a manufacturer of thin film solar modules is expanding in Charlotte.

Lansing, MI, USA: Legislature Passes Plan to Allow for Hemlock Semiconductor Expansion. State Representatives Jeff Mayes (D-Bay City) and Andy Coulouris (D-Saginaw) today voted to give final approval to a plan that clears the way for nearly $1 billion to be invested in the expansion of the Hemlock Semiconductor in Saginaw County