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Introducing Rehm Pyrolysis The most effective Residue Management solution for your Reflow Soldering ProcessPyrolysis from Rehm delivers these production benefits:12 month maintenance intervalsRemoval of unpleasant odors Clean and dry process chamber Lower energy costsHigher process stability and reduced downtimeRehm Pyrolysis in the pre-heating and peak area eliminates crystalline residues. Condensate Management in the cooling section removes the remaining liquid residues. Combined together in the Vision VXP Rehm delivers the most advanced and effective Reflow Soldering Process in the world.Learn more about the Power of Pyrolysis! 

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Renewable News, Solar

Company boss Philipp Müller left the Swiss inverter manufacturer Sputnik at the end of November. Henceforth, Christoph von Bergen is the sole managing director and also takes over the company shares of Müller. For Sputnik will continue to rely on the strength of a company led by its owners. Company structure and organisation fundamentally remain the same. For a smooth change of command, Sputnik already created several new positions in the Spring: Jürg Zehnder has been head of the new department Supply Chain Management in Sputnik’s headquarters in Biel since April. To his responsibilities count process planning, logistics and production planning, alongside purchasing. In addition, Andreas Mader has been leading Sputnik’s development department since July, which was also one of Müller’s responsibilities. “I have decided to leave the company in this phase of its success, in order to take on new responsibilities in a smaller environment”, explains Müller. Together with Christoph von Bergen, Müller founded Sputnik Engineering AG in 1991 and led the company from a small start up to one of the most successful manufacturers for inverters in solar power plants. “We and our entire managment team are convinced that we will master this new challenge and will continue

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Renewable News, Solar

Meyer Burger (SIX Swiss Exchange: MBTN) and Oerlikon Systems signed a strategic distribution, cooperation & license agreement for the SOLARIS thin-film coating equipment. As part of the agreement, Meyer Burger's sales & service organization will represent the SOLARIS equipment for crystalline Silicon PV application in most regions, such as China, Taiwan, Europe, Middle East, India & the Americas. Furthermore, the two tech nology firms will work together to further increase the capabilities of the SOLARIS system for anti-reflective coatings and to develop other innovative process steps within the solar cell manufacturing process. The SOLARIS system is a high speed single wafer sputter system based on advanced nanotechnology. The system is similar in design to other high performance manufacturing systems from Oerlikon for optical discs and semiconductors. In solar cell or photovoltaic production very thin layers of silicon nitride are applied on the front of the cells. Each wafer is handled and coated separately. With six coating chambers, a special carrier transport mechanism and a wide range of potential layer material,.the system is very flexible in its possible configurations, such as for anti-reflective coatings and back-side passivation & metallization for crystalline solar cells. The machine is able to treat standard wafer

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Renewable News, Wind

Use of Wind Energy – Future DevelopmentThe share of renewable energy sources in total energy consumption is to be increased to 20 % in 2020. To achieve this extremely ambitious target, the share of renewable energy sources in electricity generation in the European Union has to be increased to approximately 34 % by 2020. The continuing expansion of renewables in Europe and also in Germany will be characterised mainly by the use of wind energy. 20,301 wind turbines with a total capacity of 23,903 MW have been installed in Germany at the end of 2008. 40.2 TWh of wind electricity was generated during this year. At this time the installed capacity in Europe amounted to 65,946 MW and worldwide to 120,798 MW.{pagebreak}Maintenance of Wind TurbinesThe most expensive components of a wind turbine, beside tower and blades, are gearbox and bearings requiring about 13 % of the total costs. The average lifetime of these important components is between five to seven years in Western Europe and about two to three years in Asian countries. To replace the main gear multiplier of a 1.5 MW wind turbine after an unexpected damage costs about 250,000 Euros including crane costs. It also has to

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Renewable News, Wind

In the run-up to the crucial climate change talks in Copenhagen, the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) has published a league table showing which EU countries are best at exploiting CO2-cutting wind energy.Top of the table is Denmark, with the highest amount of wind energy capacity per square kilometre of national territory. Germany comes a close second and the Netherlands third. Spain, in fourth place, has half the wind power density of Germany. Portugal and Ireland are above the EU average wind power density. Italy is not far below average, while France and the UK each have less than half of the EU's average density of wind power capacity. Romania, Slovenia, Malta and Cyprus are floundering at the bottom of the league with next to zero wind power generation per km2. The density of wind power per km2 is the best means of measuring and comparing the extent to which different countries exploit their wind power potential. The future of wind power in Denmark looks bright as, according to an August 2009 survey carried out by an independent market research institute, 91% of Danes support the further development of wind power in their country. If the eight geographically largest Member

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Press Releases, Renewable News, Solar

Record sales in November in the Components & Systems segment 16 photovoltaic power plants under construction Phoenix Solar AG's largest solar park to date being built on a military land for redevelopmentSulzemoos, 3rd December 2009 / Phoenix Solar AG, a leading photovoltaic system integrator listed on the TecDAX, is experiencing a strong year-end rally, following a weak third quarter. The Components & Systems segment was very successful in October and November, generating around EUR 65 million in the month of November alone, which is the highest monthly revenue recorded in the history of the company. Phoenix Solar is currently building 16 solar parks in its Power Plants segment. The outlook for the first quarter of 2010 is also positive: preparations are already under way for solar parks in Germany and abroad with a total peak output of more than 30 megawatts (MWp).Among the solar parks currently under construction is the largest solar power plant ever built by Phoenix Solar with a peak power output of 8 MW. The photovoltaic power plant is being built in Jocksdorf near Cottbus on military land earmarked for redevelopment. The assembly teams are in the process of installing approximately 105,000 solar modules of First Solar

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Press Releases, Renewable News, Solar

On December 2, 2009, the first solar thermal plant for warm water supply and central heating on Palestinian territory has gone into operation near Beit Jala. The solar plant has been realized by MAN Ferrostaal AG and the Deutsche Energie-Agentur GmbH (dena) - the German Energy Agency - within the framework of the "dena Solar Roofs Programme for Foreign Market Development" with support of the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi).The solar plant has a total collector surface of over 200 square metres and was a donation made by MAN Ferrostaal to a Palestinian school with an excellent regional reputation for its multi-religious pupil body and the equal opportunity education of girls and boys.In the past, high utility costs of about 80,000 EUR per year have put a great burden on the budget of the institution, which relies on financial contributions. The utility expenses will now be decreased by the new solar plant to a large extent. About 21,000 litres of diesel fuel, which were required before, are about to be saved. This lowers CO2 emissions by 57,000 kilograms every year, roughly equal to the emissions of 24 middle-class passenger cars with an annual mileage of 15,000 kilometres

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Press Releases, Renewable News, Wind

Today, as European Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs speaks to the European Parliament's Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) Committee on the European Economic Recovery Plan, the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) warned that the EU needs to speed up its stimulus package. The €5 billion plan, approved by the European Parliament last May, includes €565 million for offshore wind projects and additional funds for upgrading and building new electricity grids, but the EU's slow legislative procedures have prevented a timely release of the funds. Christian Kjaer, Chief Executive Officer of EWEA, said: "The EU needs to speed up its stimulus package - it's taking too long. The €565 million allocated to new offshore wind projects would be a welcome boost for growth in the new offshore wind industry, but to be fully effective the funds need to be allocated quickly." Planned offshore wind construction projects in the North Sea could provide 10% of Europe's electricity and save 200 million tonnes of CO2 per year. EWEA recently published a blueprint for building a North Sea Grid and it urges the Commission and Transmission System Operators to take its recommendations into account. "EWEA's new offshore network plan provides for a truly pan-European electricity

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Press Releases, Renewable News, Solar

With effect from today, Hans-Georg Schweikardt is the new manager in charge of Sputnik’s product management department at the company’s headquarters in Biel . Schweikardt has been employed at the German branch of the Swiss solar inverter manufacturer Sputnik Engineering GmbH since 2004, first as a sales engineer, then as head of sales. “Through moving to the company’s headquarters, I can now have a greater influence on product developments and can contribute my many years of market experience,” says the 30-year-old, who is looking forward to the new challenge. International product management was already his area of specialisation during his studies to become an industrial engineer.Until now, Sputnik’s product management department has always been under the control of the marketing department. Now that Schweikardt is beginning his new position, Sputnik is separating off this division and giving it more weight. In future, the product management department will report directly to the management board. “With a strong product management department we will be able to continue to expand our market position,” explains Sputnik’s Managing Director Christoph von Bergen. “Hans-Georg Schweikardt brings with him his excellent knowledge of the market and products. I am confident that as head of our product management

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Press Releases, Renewable News, Solar

Adopts Linde's on-site generated fluorine to eliminate use of greenhouse gasesMunich, Germany, 1st December 2009 – Linde Gases, a division of The Linde Group, and Masdar PV GmbH, a manufacturer of large-scale thin-film solar modules, have signed an agreement to qualify and adopt Linde's on-site generated fluorine – a zero global warming solution for photovoltaic (PV) module process chamber cleaning.  This extension of the collaboration between the two companies is a key element of Linde's drive to help accelerate the PV industry from grid parity to green parity.Masdar PV will eliminate the use of the greenhouse gas nitrogen trifluoride (NF3), which has a global warming potential 17,200 times that of CO2, from their state-of-the-art thin-film production facility in Ichtershausen, near Erfurt (Germany). Masdar's philosophy of sustainable development and deployment of renewable energy and low carbon technologies is fully supported by Linde's mature fluorine generation technology, which provides a more productive and energy efficient alternative to the use of Per-Fluoro-Compound (PFC) gases, including NF3, for chemical vapour deposition chamber cleaning."Fluorine cleaning is a win-win choice for thin-film solar cell manufacturers," said Ian Travis, Manager of Linde's on-site Fluorine business. "In addition to removing any risk of unabated emissions, Fluorine reduces non-productive cleaning time and improves throughput.  This

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