Solar Cell Manufacturing Company Shines in Tucson

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas). Global Solar Energy Incorporated (Tucson, Arizona) has acquired an existing building in Tucson, Arizona, which it will renovate over the next year. The 101,000 square foot building was formerly home to Imation Incorporated (NYSE:IMN) (Oakdale, Minnesota). Imation closed its doors in late 2005 and the plant was then purchased by Glass Fiber Incorporated (Chino, California) to be used as a new fire-resistant insulation manufacturing plant. In late 2006, Glass Fiber decided to sell the building to Global Solar Energy.

Global Solar Energy has awarded the design-engineering contract to Tucson based Advantech Facility Design LLC. Advantech will proceed with design work through the first quarter of 2007, when a general contractor will be awarded. Construction is expected to begin in April or May and will continue on a fast-track schedule so that production will be able to begin before years end. The highly automated plant will employ approximately 150 people.

Upon completion of the $75 million renovation project, the plant will begin to produce copper-indium-gallium-selenide (CIGS) thin-film solar products, which are made into lightweight portable solar panel chargers. The solar powered chargers can be used in a variety of space, military, commercial and consumer applications. The company plans to be able to produce 40MW of flexible, foldable solar powered chargers by January 2008.

Global Solar Energy has also recently announced plans to invest approximately $40 million in a new thin-film manufacturing plant in Germany. The plant will have an annual capacity of about 30 MW once it is operational in the first half of 2008.

Global Solar Energy’s solar cells use copper-indium-gallium-selenide rather than silicon like traditional solar cells. Silicon that is pure enough to be used in solar panels and semiconductors is currently in very short supply. The process used by Global Solar Energy involves applying the photoactive layer to a flexible steel film. Solar cells manufactured by Global Solar Energy are among the most efficient currently on the market. They have the capability to be used both for the production of flexible products and for conventional solar modules.

Global Solar Energy was established in 1996 and is owned by SOLON AG (one of its largest customers) and a European venture capital investor. The company is one of the world’s largest producers of thin-film photovoltaic CIGS solar cells for use in solar products and also designs, installs and manages complete turnkey solar photovoltaic systems.

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