Veeco
Instruments Inc. (Nasdaq: VECO) announced today that it has received a multi-million
dollar order from GroupSat (Hong Kong) Limited for its suite of FastFlex™
Web Coating Systems. This complement of tools will be shipped to GroupSat'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. Veeco currently expects
to ship these systems in early 2010.
Nasir M. Ameriar, CEO of GroupSat, 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 Veeco's FastFlex 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, Veeco Solar Equipment,
commented, “We are pleased to be selected by GroupSat for their expansion
plans. Our FastFlex 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.
Veeco's FastFlex 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.
Posted September 9th, 2009