Business briefs

• Kodak has introduced the first consumer-available wireless picture frame featuring OLED technology, claimed to generate greater colour depth and saturation than other displays and be substantially thinner in design. The frame also features built-in Wi-Fi technology that enables the display of pictures and access to videos and music stored on a PC elsewhere.

• Konarka Technologies, US, has licensed a new family of photoactive polymers. Polycarbazoles or PCZ, have been developed by Mario Leclerc, director of the macromolecular Science and Engineering Research Center of Université Laval, Canada. Konarka is the developer of Power Plastic, a material that converts light to energy, and has been collaborating with Université Laval for the past four years.

• Spire Corporation, a US provider of turnkey solar factories and capital equipment, has received a contract from GreenBrilliance to provide a turnkey photovoltaic module assembly line for the company's operation in India. Spire will provide GreenBrilliance with a semi-automated crystalline silicon module manufacturing line capable of producing up to 12 megawatts of solar modules per year. Spire will supply the process technology and training to operate the factory, as well as offer assistance in qualifying the factory and its modules to international standards and certification.

• Newport has added device characterization and material science capabilities targeted at the photovoltaic market to its Technology and Applications Centre (TAC) in California, US. The new services complement the ongoing efforts of the company's industrial applications laboratory, also in California, and its photovoltaic applications laboratory in Stahnsdorf, Germany, which are dedicated to developing new techniques and laser-based technologies to increase the efficiency and reduce the cost of solar cell manufacture.

• Asola, a manufacturer of solar modules headquartered in Germany, will establish a joint venture manufacturing plant in South Korea, to enable production and distribution of German-designed solar modules in that country. The Korean partner is Q&Tech/Yongsan, a producer of electronic and automotive components. The initial capacity is for 30 MW solar modules consisting or mono- and poly-crystalline silicon solar modules, said to have the potential to generate revenues in excess of $100 million annually.

• Veeco Instruments has become a charter member in the CPV Consortium, a global industry organization that supports the development and long-term success of the concentrator photovoltaics industry, with the goal of providing a low-cost, reliable source of renewable energy.

People

• LedEngin, a developer of solid-state lighting, has named Michael Heise as vice president of worldwide sales, KR Subramanian as vice president of operations, and Dan Caserza as vice president of finance and administration. The three appointments are said to bolster the company's management team as it expands its sales force and scales its manufacturing operations to support marquee customers.

• Thomas Babacan has been appointed a member of the executive board of Oerlikon Group. Previously CEO of the Oerlikon Vacuum segment, he will assume the function of chief operating officer and report to Oerlikon CEO Uwe Krüger.

• Dan Polito has been named president of Enfis Lighting North America, in an appointment said to be a strategic step towards expanding the company's presence in the North American market. Polito was previously at Lamina Lighting.

• Intematix has appointed Jeff Lagaly as vice president of sales for LED lighting. He was formerly global sales director for Cree Lighting.

• Jim Haden has been named chief operating officer by nLIGHT, a supplier of high-power semiconductor lasers and high-performance fibres. Haden most recently served as director of operations and product line development at Coherent, and before that was director of operations at JDSU.