DuPont to Invest $120 Million to Increase Capacity for Tedlar PV Module Materials

DuPont is providing further details of a multi-phase production expansion for its high-performance DuPont Tedlar polyvinyl fluoride (PVF) product line. This phase of the expansion represents more than $120 million in investment which increases, by over 50 percent, the capacity of monomer and resin used in producing Tedlar films. Tedlar films serve as the critical backsheet component, providing long-term durability for photovoltaic modules in all-weather conditions.

Site selections for this phase of the Tedlar capacity expansion are complete, and construction has begun for new monomer and resin facilities at the DuPont Louisville, KY, and Fayetteville, NC, sites, respectively. The facilities are scheduled to start up in mid-2010.

“This investment supports the significant increase in the global market demand for clean, renewable energy,” said David B. Miller, group vice president – DuPont Electronic & Communication Technologies. “Our capacity expansions are critical steps in growing the Tedlar business and maintaining our market leadership in backsheets for solar panels that deliver the long-term, reliable power supply that our customers have come to expect from their investment in renewable power generation.”

The investment reflects the company’s commitment, announced last week, to focus on meeting four emerging global trends, one of which is decreasing dependence on fossil fuels.

DuPont anticipates that the photovoltaic market will grow rapidly over the next several years, and this growth will drive the demand for Tedlar and other new materials that increase the lifetime and efficiency of solar cells and modules. DuPont expects that overall sales of its family of products into the photovoltaic industry will exceed $1 billion by 2012.

DuPont already has implemented capacity expansions in 2009 for Tedlar PV2100 series film and is completing the engineering and design for a planned expansion of Tedlar PV2000 series film production, which together will more than double Tedlar film capacity for the photovoltaic industry.