thin

Applied Materials said on Wednesday it will stop new sales of its "turnkey" SunFab thin-film solar manufacturing line and concentrate on silicon solar and LED lighting.

The restructuring of its Energy and Environmental Solutions business will lead to the elimination of 400 to 500 positions and a third-quarter charge between $375 million and $425 million.

Applied Materials had been selling SunFab, an integrated line of equipment to manufacture amorphous silicon thin-film solar panels, but the business has been losing money for months.

In a statement, Applied Materials CEO Mike Splinter said Applied Materials will seek growth by selling … Read more

As "thin-and-light" laptop releases grow fewer and farther between, Acer has decided to stay the course on slim while largely abandoning its ultra low-voltage CPU for the full-voltage Core i-series in a new line of laptops called the Timeline X. The Timeline X models have screens ranging in size from 13 inches to 15 inches,  costs start at $599,  use Core i3 or i5 processors, and they have a black brushed-aluminum look. On the 14- and 15-inch models, Acer includes internal optical drives; however, the 13-inch Timeline X won't have the drive.

The 11.6-inch-screened … Read more

Stion, one of dozens of companies racing to oust current solar market leaders, has raised $70 million to ramp up production of its thin-film solar cells and modules.

The San Jose, Calif.-based start-up said on Wednesday it has raised $50 million from Taiwanese Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), which will take a 21 percent stake in Stion and produce solar panels for it. Existing investors Khosla Ventures, Braemar Energy Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and General Catalyst Partners also invested, bringing the total Stion has raised since 2006 up to $114.6 million.

This latest, series D round will be used … Read more

Silicon Valley solar company Solexant has raised $41.5 million to pursue technology it says can slice the costs of solar power with a printing-like manufacturing process.

The company's technology, which was developed at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, takes raw semiconductor material and creates nanoparticles which, once dissolved in a solvent, creates an ink that can be printed.

Initially, it plans to use cadmium telluride to make solar cells, but in the future it hopes to use materials more efficient at converting sunlight into electrical energy, said CEO Damoder Reddy on Friday.

Solexant has been operating a pilot facility … Read more

New Core i3, i5, and i7 ultralow-voltage processors have officially been announced by Intel. Consuming less power than standard-voltage Core i3, i5, and i7 processors, they're also slightly less powerful. We saw a similar move last year with Core 2 Duo ULV chips such as the SU7300, which wasn't as fast as a standard Core 2 Duo, but helped smaller laptops attain a higher battery life. We saw that processor in laptops ranging from the Alienware M11x to the 13-inch Lenovo ThinkPad Edge.

Though the spin on the news so far has emphasized "ultrathin" laptops, it'… Read more

Thin-and-light laptops were a major trend in 2009, but is that still the case in 2010? A recently circulating series of photos from Vietnamese tech Web site vozExpress show what looks like a soon-to-be-announced Toshiba laptop, one that promises to be both the thinnest and lightest 13-incher on the market. Based on the corner we can see, it certainly looks attractive. As to whether it's truly useful remains to be seen.

We've gone down this road before with the Dell Adamo, MacBook Air, MSI X340, and the Dell Adamo XPS. Being extremely thin and light can be attractive … Read more

Quick: Think about your favorite Netbook. Now imagine what could make it better. Did "be even thinner" make the list?

Lenovo's quiet update to the Lenovo IdeaPad S10-3, a product we recently reviewed, is even slimmer than before. Called the S10-3s, it shaves its profile down to 16 millimeters. The funny thing is, we already found the existing S10-3 to be more compact than the Lenovo IdeaPad S10-2, albeit a bit thicker.

True, smaller portable gadgets are generally better (unless you're a Nintendo DSi XL or an iPad). But among all of our heart's desires … Read more

Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and venture capitalist last decade tried to take the solar industry by storm with cheap thin-film solar. But after billions of dollars invested, many start-ups are struggling to commercialize their technology.

Applied Quantum Technology is yet another thin-film upstart that is betting on the same core solar technology--cells made from a combination of copper, indium, selenium, and selenide (CIGS)--but is taking a different approach.

The Santa Clara, Calif.-based company on Wednesday announced that it has raised $10 million from STPV Holdings, its series A funder, and an undisclosed investor. It also said it has a … Read more

General Electric, which has long made solar panels using traditional silicon, is converting to thin-film cells, using the same material as industry cost leader First Solar.

The company's research organization on Thursday detailed its activities with cadmium telluride solar cells, which the company has determined offers the most potential to lower solar power costs.

As first reported by CNET, GE's next-generation solar panels are based on technology from PrimeStar Solar, a Denver, Colo.-based company where GE is the majority owner. GE executives are bullish that by lowering costs, solar can grow rapidly, as its wind business has … Read more