VLSI Research has revealed its Top-10 PV manufacturing equipment supply companies for 2008, with Applied Materials leading the pile.

Japan has passed the worst of its current slump and is on course for growth in its next fiscal year, but the recovery of the world's second-largest economy could yet prove vulnerable, Kaoru Yosano, finance minister, has warned. The comment came just before a survey showed that business confidence had risen for the first time in two and a half years.

The US and EU said China was giving its domestic industry access to cheap materials.

The Jincheon site will manufacture silicone intermediate materials and encapsulants for LED packaging applications.

As photovoltaic energy nears grid parity in select regions of the world and the industry's cell manufacturers work to lower costs further, the PV industry is becoming a serious on-grid alternative. This growth is reflected in a materials market for PV module manufacture that is expected to skyrocket in coming years, according to a new report from Linx Consulting.

Agfa, Philips and the Holst Center are showing a large-area (12x12cm2) flexible OLED - without ITO as transparent electrode, and with printed shunting lines. This means that costly materials and lithography processes are not needed, and the OLEDs are much cheaper.

Dai Nippon Printing (DNP) developed a light emitting material that can be printed on paper and cloth and used to make light emitting posters and POP materials, flexible displays, etc.

China is working on a plan to establish a union in silicon materials industry so as to cope with the ongoing financial crisis, said Zhu Lihui, secretary general of the semi-conductor materials branch under China Electronics Materials Industry Association.

Kansai Recycling Systems disclosed its recycling line for flat-panel TVs March 18, 2009. Kansai Recycling is a company of which Sharp Corp and Mitsubishi Materials Corp hold 43.3% and 40.0% shares, respectively.

German chemicals company BASF Wednesday said it will temporarily shutter 80 plants worldwide due to a "massive" demand decline in key industries, particularly the auto industry, as it warned of sliding profits. The move will affect 20,000 workers, including 5,000 in Ludwigshafen, Germany.