The 538,000 ft2 thin-film manufacturing facility will have an annual capacity of up to 50 MW with a thin-film-on-glass solar PV module production line. Full-scale commercial production is targeted for the first quarter 2010.
“Next generation solar technologies are a critical market opportunity for DuPont to deliver more secure, environmentally sustainable and affordable energy sources for people everywhere,” says David B. Miller, President, DuPont Electronics & Communications. “Through our work in this venture, DuPont will use its science to produce thin-film solar modules that can help make solar energy a more viable alternative for everyone.”
Thin-film solar PV modules are projected to be the fastest growing segment of the solar module industry because of their potential to reduce the cost of producing solar-derived energy - helping solar energy become more competitive with other forms of energy generation, DuPont says.
“The facility is unique because this is the first total solar energy solution provider in China. Under the ‘Shenzhen-Hong Kong Innovation Circle,’ we have combined our research and development capability with this state-of-the-art facility to support the continued growth of the photovoltaic market,” says Douglas W. Muzyka, President, DuPont Greater China.
DuPont says it expects the solar PV market to grow rapidly over the next years due to a surge in innovation aimed at transforming a global petroleum-based economy into one that increasingly and effectively uses non-depletable resources.
DuPont expects that overall sales of its family of products into the solar PV industry will exceed US$1 billion by 2012.