SEMI PV Group - The Grid, September 2012 IN THIS ISSUE Japan FIT Made a Good Start Taiwan to Increase PV Manufacturing Capacity and Expand into Other Markets PV Distribution Systems Market Status in China SEMI Releases Second Quarter 2012 Worldwide Photovoltaic Equipment Market Statistics Report Oregon State University Nanoparticles-based CZTS Solar Cells Book to Bill Analysis Provides First Indication of PV Green Shoots Japan's New Solar Era Takes Shape CALL FOR PAPERS Deadline: Oct 30, 2012 SOLARCON China 2013: CPTIC Call for Papers CALENDAR October 3-5, 2012 PV Taiwan 2012 November 14-16, 2012 Distributed PV Application and Commercialization Forum December 3-5, 2012 PVJapan 2012 March 10-13, 2013 7th SEMI Europe PV Fab Managers Forum March 19-21, 2013 SOLARCON China 2013 PARTNER EVENTS October 18, 2012 Conferencia de la Industria Solar - España 2012 October 29-30, 2012 Greentech Media: U.S. Solar Market Insight 2012 November 13-14, 2012 Solar Industry Summit Middle East 2012 November 22-23, 2012 13th Forum Solarpraxis November 28-29, 2012 Solarpraxis: 4th PV Power Plants Conference - USA 2012 February 26-27, 2013 OTTI's 3rd European American Solar Deployment Conference PV Rollout Supportive Policy for Globalized PV Markets By Bettina Weiss, Vice President, SEMI PV Group The need for policies that support the required growth and innovation in the solar industry extends around the world from India and the U.S. to Taiwan and Europe. As I traveled from one continent to the next this month, one thing was clear - each consortium, association, council and entity we heard from wants each of our governments to prioritize renewable energy in order to secure our energy future. The first week of September in Bangalore, I spoke at the SOLARCON India opening ceremonies on the need for continued policy support and a unified industry voice to help India compete on a global stage. And, although local content requirements remain attractive because they appear to help in the short term, any barriers to global trade will ultimately hurt in the long run because the global industry needs to fairly compete on price and efficiency grounds. There are steep hurdles in India's quest for a secure energy future and none may be as daunting as financing and bankability issues. Still, I am hopeful as they shift into Phase II implementation of the JN-National Solar Mission. Mr. M.N. Vidyashankar, a dignitary from the Government of Karnataka framed India's position best, "An economy based on hydro carbon is unsustainable. We will be failing in our duty to the next generation unless we optimize the use of resources. The untapped potential in alternative sources of energy holds the key to a sustainable future." (More...) Japan FIT Made a Good Start By Yoichiro Ando, SEMI Japan On September 18, 2012, the Japan Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) announced the results of the first two months of the FIT program. Taiwan to Increase PV Manufacturing Capacity and Expand into Other Markets By SEMI Taiwan While over-capacity continues to plague the global PV industry, the Taiwan PV industry is operating at high-capacity. PV Distribution Systems Market Status in China By Toby Liu, SEMI China Recently, more attention has been focused on distributed PV systems in China. On September 12, 2012, China's 12th 5 year plan was announced to include 10GW of PV installations that will originate from distributed systems. SEMI Releases Second Quarter 2012 Worldwide Photovoltaic Equipment Market Statistics Report By Melody Song, SEMI At 0.33, the book-to-bill ratio stayed below parity for the fifth consecutive quarter. Are you a SEMI member? Learn more about how SEMI works to advance PV industry growth, support continuous efficiency improvements and promote sustainable business practices through international standards development, events, public policy, EHS, and market data. Oregon State University Utilizes Microwaves to Produce Cheaper Nanoparticles-based CZTS Solar Cells By Fatima Toor, Lux Research Nanoparticle synthesis is an expensive and time-intensive process, which is why nanoparticle ink-based copper indium gallium (di)selenide (CIGS) solar cells have the highest active materials costs of the various CIGS technologies. Book-to-bill Analysis to Provide First Indication of PV Green Shoots By Finlay Colville, NPD Solarbuzz Book-to-bill ratios are often overlooked as providing nothing other than an instantaneous snapshot of historic tool shipments and order intake levels. Within a healthy industry, whether these ratios are hovering above or below parity is generally considered as a leading indicator for equipment suppliers' manufacturing pipelines and near-term revenue-recognition. Japan's New Solar Era Takes Shape By Jonathan Gifford, pv magazine Evidence is mounting that Japan's solar market is in the early stages of a boom. Reports of US$2 billion in investments in only months, a proposed zero-nuclear future energy plan, and analyst predictions of a shift towards commercial, industrial and utility scale PV are all pointing to a new era for photovoltaics in Japan.

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