Sunfilm and Applied Materials Achieve Solar Industry Milestone with
Certification of World's First Tandem Junction SunFabTM
Line
SANTA CLARA, Calif. & GROSSROEHRSDORF, Germany--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sunfilm, AG and Applied Materials, Inc., today announced that the
world’s first tandem junction SunFab Thin Film Line installed at
Sunfilm's Grossroehrsdorf facility achieved factory acceptance on April
14, 2009. Using 5.7m2 substrates, the line passed final
acceptance test certification, verifying that it has met specifications
for producing solar photovoltaic modules with efficiencies of up to 8%,
as well as yield and overall annual capacity specifications. The line is
now beginning volume production.
“We are very pleased with this achievement. This success makes tandem
junction thin film silicon a reality and positions Sunfilm to serve the
market with an environmentally-friendly product that achieves high
kilowatt hours at attractive costs”
“We are pleased to have demonstrated that tandem junction technology is
scalable to large-size panels and that these higher efficiency panels
can be produced at volumes that make them ideal for utility scale solar
installations,” said Mike Splinter, chairman and CEO of Applied
Materials. “The ramp of SunFab tandem junction lines is an important
business and technological achievement that brings the industry another
step closer to dramatically changing the way the world generates energy.”
“This is a major milestone in the ramp-up of our factory,” said Wolfgang
Heinze, Sunfilm’s COO and Chairman of the Executive Board. “The
engineering teams from Sunfilm and Applied Materials have worked
together intensively to get our performance to this impressive level. We
are proud to have the first tandem junction production line in the world
where this certification has been reached.”
“This is an outstanding accomplishment for both Sunfilm and Applied. It
demonstrates technical excellence and our ability to collaborate and
execute to enable our customer’s success,” said Dr. Randhir Thakur,
senior vice president, general manager SunFab Thin Film Solar and
Display Business Group. “Rapidly driving leading edge technology into
manufacturing is a core capability of Applied and this milestone is
another demonstration of our ability to quickly move tandem junction
technology from the lab to commercial production.”
Thin film tandem junction panels use about 1/50th of the
amount of silicon per watt of electricity produced compared with
traditional solar modules fabricated using crystalline silicon wafers.
By combining tandem junction technology with ultra-large 5.7m2
substrates and volume manufacturing capabilities, Sunfilm expects to
meet a wide range of customer applications for full-, half- and
quarter-size panels, which can substantially reduce the cost of
installed solar electricity. A quarter-size 1.4m2 module
generates up to 115Wp, while a full-size 5.7m2 panel will
deliver about 450Wp.
“We are very pleased with this achievement. This success makes tandem
junction thin film silicon a reality and positions Sunfilm to serve the
market with an environmentally-friendly product that achieves high
kilowatt hours at attractive costs,” said Dr. Sven Hansen, Chief
Investment Officer of Good Energies and Chairman of Sunfilm’s
Supervisory Board.
“This is excellent news for our existing and future customers,” said Dr.
Sicco W.T. Westra, Chief Business Development Officer of Sunfilm. “We
can now begin delivery of our products in larger quantities. With a
total annualized capacity of over 120MWp between this first production
line and our second production line that we plan to start up later this
year, we are in a strong position to fulfill market demand.”
Sunfilm AG was established at the end of 2006 by Good Energies
and NorSun and is located in Grossroehrsdorf, Germany. The company
develops, produces and markets photovoltaic modules based on high
efficiency tandem junction silicon thin film technology. These modules
are up to 5.7m2 in size, while half-size and quarter-size
modules are available as well. www.Sunfilmsolar.com
Applied Materials, Inc. (Nasdaq:AMAT) is the global leader in
Nanomanufacturing Technology™ solutions with a broad portfolio of
innovative equipment, service and software products for the fabrication
of semiconductor chips, flat panel displays, solar photovoltaic cells,
flexible electronics and energy efficient glass. At Applied Materials,
we apply Nanomanufacturing Technology to improve the way people live.
Learn more at www.appliedmaterials.com.
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