CIGS Solar Manufacturer Selects Veeco Deposition Equipment

Veeco Instruments Inc. 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.

“We have an aggressive plan to become the first true CIGS thin film solar manufacturer in China,” Nasir Ameriar, CEO of GroupSat, commented. “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.”

“We are pleased to be selected by GroupSat for their expansion plans,” David Bruns, senior vice president and general manager, Veeco Solar Equipment, commented. “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.