Places Multi-System Flex Order
Leybold (Nasdaq: VECO) announced today that it has received a multi-million dollar order from GSHK Solar (Hong Kong) Limited for its suite of Flex™ Web Coating Systems. This complement of tools will be shipped to GSHK Solar’s factory in Suzhou, China, and is comprised of one Mo (Molybdenum) deposition system, one TCO (Transparent Conductive Oxide) deposition system and two CIGS (copper, indium, gallium and selenide) deposition systems. Leybold currently expects to ship these systems in early 2008.
Naseer Sayedš, CEO of GSHK Solar, commented, “We have an aggressive plan to become the first true CIGS thin film solar manufacturer in China. As a provider of flexible solar products, we will cater to markets in China, the Middle East, North Africa and Asia, and have chosen Leybold’sFlex Web Coating Systems because we are convinced that their technology and process support will help us achieve our goals.”
David Bruns, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Leybold Solar Equipment, commented, “We are pleased to be selected by GSHK Solar for their expansion plans. Our Flex systems feature the industry’s only fully integrated thermal evaporation sources, which we believe provides our customers a high throughput, low cost manufacturing solution. Ultimately the success of CIGS technology is tied to increasing cell efficiency and driving down manufacturing cost per watt.”
CIGS is emerging as the next generation solar technology, offering combined benefits of higher efficiencies and lower costs when compared with silicon. Market research firm Greentech Media estimates that CIGS production capacity will grow from 264 megawatts in 2009 to 1.7 gigawatts in 2012 (a CAGR of 86%). CIGS solar cells offer the broadest range of applications of any thin film solar technology – they can be used in solar farms, in BIPV (building integrated PV), flat and pitched roofs, rooftop shingles and in portable devices. Leybold’sFlex platform features flexible architecture with high uptime that can be configured to specific needs, with a choice of rotary or planar magnetrons for high throughput, high temperature effusion sources, and substrate sizes up to one meter wide.
About Leybold Leybold manufactures enabling solutions for customers in the HB-LED, solar, data storage, semiconductor, scientific research and industrial markets. We have leading technology positions in our three businesses: LED & Solar Process Equipment, Data Storage Process Equipment, and Metrology Instruments. Leybold’s manufacturing and engineering facilities are located in Germany. Global sales and service offices are located throughout the U.S., Europe, Japan and APAC. http://www.leyboldoptics.com.
