SPG Solar has named Chris Robine as the new company senior vice president and chief financial officer. Robine succeeds Paul McKnight who is leaving SPG Solar to pursue other opportunities.

In the words of the inimitable Yogi Berra, “it’s déjà vu all over again,” as yet another announcement has been made by a solar company about plans for a new PV module assembly plant in the United States. This time, Solar Power, Inc., an up-and-coming vertically integrated firm based in Roseville, CA (with module manufacturing in Shenzhen, China), will build a 50MW factory on its home turf in Sacramento County. A big reason for the move is an initial pledge of $24.7 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds coming SPI’s way, in the form of an RZFB, or Recovery Zone Facility Bond, from the county. SPI exec VP Jeff Pontius filled me in on some of the details.

Trina Solar’s subsidiary, Changzhou Trina Solar Energy, has signed a sales agreement with Essco Wholesale Electric (the southwest U.S. unit of electrical supplies distributor Sonepar) for the supply of 25MW of crystalline-silicon PV modules in 2010. In addition to the initial 25MW, the agreement has an option for another 4MW of modules to be supplied during the year, if Essco decides to take advantage of it.

The 550MW Desert Sunlight project planned by First Solar in eastern Riverside County, California, looks to be set to go ahead now that a power purchase agreement with Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) has been signed for the remaining 300MW plant. First Solar had previously signed a 250MW supply deal with Southern California Edison for the Desert Sunlight power plant. Approval is still required from the California Public Utilities Commission, and the project is expected to start by the end of 2010 for completion in 2013.

Major systems integrator Phoenix Solar has reported fourth-quarter and full-year preliminary results, showing module sales increasing by almost 70% to more than 202MW in 2009. The company reported fourth-quarter revenue of €230.8 million, which was almost 50% of its full-year revenue of €473 million. Revenue in 2008 was €402.5 million. Phoenix Solar also noted that orders for the first half of 2010 already stood at €296 million, which is accounted for as €183 million to the components and systems segment and €51 million in the power pPlants segment.

Prime Sun Power has signed a definitive agreement for the sale of a 25MW PV power plant in Italy. PSP receives interest for €12 million of strategic investments in the company from module suppliers; it is expected to generate gross revenues of over €100 million in 2010. This contract is the first to be signed under the terms of a signed frame agreement to sell 100MW projects on a turnkey grid-connected basis to an institutional investor.

PV Technologies India Limited (PVTIL), a subsidiary of Moser Baer India Limited (MBIL), has successfully completed the testing and validation of a process that will enhance the stable efficiency of its single-junction amorphous-silicon thin-film module from 6% to 7.3%.

SunPower and K6 have signed an agreement under which the companies will build two 1MW photovoltaic solar power plants in the Puglia region, Italy. The two plants are located in Casamassima and Conversano; their power will be fed back into the grid, providing power for the local area.

Mar 9, 2010 – Clifford Krauss reports in The New York Times on “The Lithium Chase.”

“For many years, few metals drew bigger yawns from mining executives than lithium, a lightweight element long associated mostly with mood-stabilizing drugs.  Suddenly, the yawns are being replaced by eurekas.  As awareness spreads that lithium is a crucial ingredient for hybrid and electric cars, a global hunt is under way for new supplies of the metal.

Toyota Tsusho, the material supplier for the big Japanese automaker, announced a joint venture in January with the Australian miner Orocobre to develop a $100 million lithium project in Argentina.  That deal came only days after Magna International, the Canadian car parts company that is helping develop a battery-powered version of the Ford Focus, announced that it was investing $10 million in a small Canadian lithium firm that also has projects in Argentina.

They were the latest in a series of deals and projects announced over the last year, reflecting a new urgency among companies to assure themselves future supplies of the metal.  “There is a sea change under way,” James D. Calaway, the chairman of Orocobre, said.  “We are at the front end potentially of a very significant increase in the demand for lithium for the emerging electric transportation sector.”   Mr. Calaway added, however, that the timing of any increase in lithium supply and demand was difficult to predict in large part because electric cars had yet to take off in any big way.

About 60 mining companies have begun feasibility studies in Argentina, Serbia and Nevada that could lead to more than $1 billion in new lithium projects in the next several years, while dozens of smaller projects are being proposed in China, Finland, Mexico and Canada.  The companies are competing for construction financing, and the future of most of the projects will depend on how popular electric cars eventually become.  That is an open question since batteries remain expensive, recharging stations need to be developed, and consumer taste for cars that depend on regular stops at electric outlets remains untested.

“It’s moving so fast,” said Edward R. Anderson, president of TRU Group, a consultancy firm that specializes in the lithium industry. “There are a lot of people throwing money into this, and a lot of people are going to lose their money.”  In the meantime the four biggest current producers, which mine and otherwise gather lithium in Chile, Argentina and Australia, say they are planning to expand long-running projects as future demand warrants.

In Bolivia, which has almost half of the world’s reserves, the leftist government is building a pilot production plant and is drilling exploratory holes. That Bolivia is a remote, unstable country often hostile to foreign investment has helped spur interest in producing lithium in neighboring Argentina and Chile, in Australia, and in the United States.  Several Canadian and American companies are making claims about future production prospects in Nevada, though few analysts foresee large-scale production from that state.

Read the full article in The New York Times.

Motech Industries has appointed Dr. Peng Heng Chang as the new chief executive officer, effective March 31, 2010. Chang replaces Dr. Simon Y.H. Tsuo, who will relinquish his CEO position and focus on his position as chairman of the board of directors. Yung-Hui Tseng, vice chairman and deputy CEO, will also give up his current position of deputy CEO.