Thin Film Solar Cell Companies Secure Locations to Begin Worldwide Production

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas). Surges in energy prices have caused solar cell manufacturers to see unprecedented amounts of growth over the past three to four years. The rampant growth in solar cell production has also caused a shortage of polysilicon. Polycrystalline silicon or polysilicon is a key component for integrated circuits, semiconductors and solar cells. Solar cell manufacturers are competing with the likes of Intel and AMD for this valuable resource, which is becoming more and more valuable with the increasing demand. Some solar cell and panel manufacturers have found alternatives to traditional solar cell production methods which do not include the usage of polysilicon. Two US companies, Nanosolar Incorporated (Palo Alto, California) and Global Solar Energy Incorporated (Tucson, Arizona),.are in the forefront of this technology.

Solar power technology developer Nanosolar Incorporated is in the process of renovating the site of its future manufacturing plant. The company has leased a building in San Jose, California for the its first full scale plant production plant.

The plant is located in the Edenvale Technology Park in a building formerly occupied Cisco Systems Incorporated (NASDAQ:CSCO) (San Jose, California). The 204,000 square foot building with 20 foot high ceilings was originally built in 1996 by Mission West Properties for StrataCom Incorporated. StrataCom was acquired by Cisco later the same year. The plant manufactured Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) and Frame Relay high-speed wide area network (WAN) switching equipment. Nanosolar will initially use 90,000 square feet of the existing space and could eventually occupy the entire building. There is also room for the plant to be expanded by another 150,000 square feet.

The plant is expected to manufacture 200 million solar cells per year, about 430 megawatts, enough electricity to power 100,000 homes. The 200 million solar cells will be enough to fill 2 million average sized panels. When the plant reaches full capacity it will be the largest solar cell manufacturing plant in the world. It will employ between 200 and 300 people. The plant is expected to begin operations in the third quarter of this year.

Nanosolar has also acquired a building in Berlin to be the company’s European production plant. This plant will manufacture 1 million cells per year. Between the two locations, Nanosolar has the capability to use up 647,000 square feet of space for cell and panel manufacturing as well as research and development and regional company headquarters.

Global Solar Energy Incorporated also utilizes a thin film roll to roll process for its solar cells. The company is preparing to renovate a building in Tucson, Arizona and plans to construct a new building in Berlin, Germany. Together both of Global Solar Energy’s plants will produce approximately 70MW of solar cells. See related February 2, 2007 article - Solar Cell Manufacturing Company Shines in Tucson.

Nanosolar and Global Solar Energy both utilize proprietary technologies to produce thin film solar cells. They are manufactured utilizing a blend of metals including copper and gallium. The Copper-Indium-Gallium-Diselenide (CIGS) mixture is placed on lightweight metal foil or flexible plastic substrates in a process much like printing (solution-coating). The solar film is 100 times thinner than a silicon wafer but can produce roughly the same amount of energy. The printing process is very simple when compared to conventional solar cell production methods, resulting in significantly lower production costs. The panels are also flexible creating a panel that can be placed virtually anywhere.

Nanosolar was incorporated in 2001 in Palo Alto with the vision of making solar electricity much more cost-efficient through much better technology. In June of 2006, the company secured $100 million in funding from private investors which was the largest investment in clean technology in 2006. In March of 2007, the company was also awarded a $20 million grant by the US Department of Energy.

Global Solar Energy began in 1996 and today is the leading manufacturer of CIGS thin-film solar on a flexible substrate. Global Solar products are used in traditional rooftop modules and grid tied systems but the company also manufactures portable, foldable, flexible solar powered battery chargers.

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