Thin-film PV plant in Florida adds silicon PV to production line

Lake Mary, Florida-based thin-film solar module manufacturer, Advanced Solar Photonics (APS), said yesterday [April 30] it will add a silicon solar module to its new production plant in its headquarters--which was originally only intended to be for thin-film.

“Originally, our SolarFAB™ production plant would only manufacture thin-film modules, up to 40 MW. However, due to high response for our panels, [APS] will not only be producing thin film, but also monocrystalline [silicon] panels,” said Maureen McHale, ASP corporate marketing and public relations manager.

In early April, APS said it was seeking $40 million to finance its demonstration solar module production plant called SolarFab, which focuses on closing the efficiency gap between laboratory and commercial results of solar applications by employing better manufacturing practices.

This was after parent company, Fonon Technology International, secured a 318,000-square foot facility in Florida, of which 100,000 sq. ft. was allocated for the production plant.

McHale said the new silicon line would initially produce 25 megawatts (MW), ramping up to 50 MW “in a fairly short span of time.” “Within two years we expect to be producing 500MW of monocrystalline modules,” McHale added.

APS said that clean rooms and equipment are already in place in the new plant, and a pilot line will start running in a few weeks. The first monocrystalline panels are scheduled to come off the line by mid-July, 2009. Full thin film production is scheduled to ramp up by late 2010.

APS is the maker of the SunPanels thin-film solar PV, which will now also be using silicon. Thin-film solar PV cells can use cadmium telluride (CdTe), copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS), or silicon itself combined with thin layers.

APS also develops laser equipment for manufacturing solar products, and uses deposition, laser scribing, and handling, among other technologies, to retain the cell’s laboratory performance.


-  Eric Dorente

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Source:

¹ http://www.advancedsolarphotonics.com/Press_thin_film_mono_crystalline.html