Get ready for building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV)

Building integrated photovoltaics or BIPV! Hey folks, prepare yourself to hear more about this term and the technology for quite some time to come! Solar/PV will be the next big story in India, and BIPV should be right up there at the top!

While BIPV is not yet talked about a lot in India, though, it may surprise many that there has been a deployment in India, I am sure that BIPV will be doing the rounds very soon.

There’s another interesting angle to the BIPV, rather, solar story. Can EDA play a role here? I will examine this angle some time later.

First, what is BIPV? According to PV Resources, BIPV is merely photovoltaic systems integrated with an object’s building phase. They are built/constructed along with an object, or planned together with the object. Yet, they could be built later on.

The following BIPV systems are said to be recognized:

* Facade or roof systems added after the building was built.
* Facade integrated photovoltaic systems built along with an object.
* Roof-integrated photovoltaic systems built along with an object.
* “Shadow-Voltaic” – PV systems also used as shadowing systems, built along with an object or added later.

If there are more, kindly share the information with me!

Now, to India. Just recently, Dr. Madhu Atre, president, Applied Materials India, referred to the use of BIPV during a discussion. He said that for energy-efficient glass, you could save on AC costs, etc., by using building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV). I hope we take serious note of what Dr. Atre said!

Didn’t they say green IT was the most used and abused term? We really love talking so much about green IT. Well, here’s an outstanding example, and actually, an example very few have really bothered to look at, so far, at least.

Staying with India, very few know that SunTechnics India, a brand of Conergy Group, a leading supplier of solar system integration, completed the design and installation of India’s first green housing project facilitated with building-integrated solar power.

The 58 kilowatt project was developed in partnership with the West Bengal Renewable Energy Development Agency (WBREDA) as an initiative in solar architecture for the Rabi Rashmi Abasan eco-friendly housing complex at New Town Kolkata, of all places! Power will be fed into the public grid and facilitate electricity needs for 25 residential buildings and a community center.

If anyone has any doubts about the scope and power of solar or BIPV, take a look at Nanomarkets’ report, which predicts that the market for BIPV will reach over $4.0 billion in revenues by 2013 and surpass $8 billion in 2015.

Late last month, I had written about certain steps Karnataka and the other states could adopt as part of a semicon policy.

Do include BIPV in your plans!

Actually, BIPV is very much part of the Indian semicon policy as well. West Bengal is probably the first state to have successfully implemented BIPV in a project. Congratulations are due!

Movers and shakers in semicon; new fabs in Asia

While speaking with the Fabless Semiconductor Association, USA, some time back, I quizzed them on the major movers and shakers (or slips) among the top 25, and what are the reasons for those.

Qualcomm has broken into the top 10 for the first time. It’s the first time in the history of semiconductors that such a thing has happened, and is probably a sign of the times ahead.

One reason for this growth has been — Increasing foundry orders. A Digitimes article reported that Qualcomm will increase orders by 15-20 percent in the September quarter to meet projections of strong 3G handset sales. According to the article, sources at Qualcomm suggest that wafer starts per month in the December quarter could surpass 30,000.

There have also been reports of strong June quarter for 2007. Qualcomm’s $2.32 billion in June quarter sales represents 19 percent year-on-year growth. Record chipset volumes of 65 million were at the high end of 62 million-65 million guidance. UMTS chipset shipments were noted to have increased by 127 percent year-over-year and 79 percent quarter-over-quarter, with the quarter-over-quarter growth rate roughly 4 times the market growth rate.

Finally, chipset ASPs increased by 2 percent year-over-year and quarter-over-quarter, and are likely to remain stable.

Situation in Asia
FSA quoted the Strategic Marketing Association’s Quarterly Spot Report – July. While there have been announcements in India by SemIndia, HSMC, Moser Baer, etc., for fabs, there is every likelihood of another fab in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal. The technology ministry announced plans for a yet to be named fab at the India Design Center. Another possibility is a fab in Kochi, South India, by the NeST Group.

In China, Strategic Marketing Association expects that eight new fabs will start construction this year. Two fabs have started construction in the first quarter (Hua Hong NEC and ProMOS), and two more have started construction in the second quarter.

Grace Semiconductor, now headed by former Infineon boss, Dr. Ulrich Schumacher, which opened its first fab in 2003, began moving equipment into the shell of Fab 2, which was built at the same time as Fab 1. The company is installing used equipment and plans to begin production in Q1 0f 2008. The company also plans to begin building a 300mm fab, perhaps as early as next year, although financing is said to remain an issue for such a project.

Also in China, IC Spectrum began building a 200mm fab in Kunshan, about 45km east of Shanghai. Using 0.35micron technology from Toshiba, the new foundry expects to begin volume production by the first quarter of 2009.

TSMC began production in the second phase of its 300mm Fab 14 in Tainan in the south of Taiwan. This $2.4 billion fab will start production at 65nm and move to 45nm in 2008. There are also plans for a 300mm Fab 14, Phase 3 at the same location.

Looking at capex
In 2007, companies with capital spending budgets of $1 billion or more (the Billion Dollar Club) will account for 77 percent of all capital spending. Most of these companies (13 out of 20) are memory companies. Nine of these companies are from Asia Pacific (South Korea, China, Taiwan and Southeast Asia). Together, they plan to spend $23 billion this year, more than half of what the Billion Dollar Club has budgeted for capital spending.