Air Products to supply gases for China solar facility
Air Products said it signed a contract with Hunan Gongchuang Photovoltaic Science & Technology Co. to supply bulk and specialty gases at its new silicon thin-film photovoltaic (PV) manufacturing facility in Hengyang City, Hunan Province, China.
The contract includes the supply of hydrogen and nitrogen, as well as silane, nitrogen trifluoride, dopant mixtures and other products.
Hunan Gongchuang is building a 40MW manufacturing facility utilizing Oerlikon Solar's Micromorph turnkey production line, known as the FAB 1200. The new facility is expected to begin production by the end of 2011.
"Air Products is pleased to be the primary gas supplier for Hunan Gongchuang's new thin-film PV facility," said Wayne Mitchell, vice president and general manager of electronics for Air Products. "We remain focused on helping our customers drive down their cost-per-watt through innovative materials and product delivery solutions."
Hunan Gongchuang's silicon thin-film PV modules, which convert sunlight directly into electricity, will be manufactured in much the same way as thin-film transistor liquid crystal displays (TFT-LCD).
As one of the leading suppliers to the TFT-LCD industry, Air Products is ideally suited to supply the new facility, it said.
Air Products recently dedicated a 2MW solar farm at its Corporate Headquarters in Allentown, Pa., that is comprised of more than 11,000 silicon thin-film panels supplied by two of its customers.
The farm is capable of supplying enough energy to power more than half of the company's administration buildings and will lower its carbon dioxide (CO2) footprint by approximately 2,000 tpy, the company said.
Air Products selected silicon thin-film panels to demonstrate its belief in the promising new technology and because the silicon thin-film panels provide the lowest cost of energy for the project parameters.
Their advantageous performance in diffuse light - the light most typical in the US Northeast - and their cost-effective installation for large area projects were drivers in the sourcing selection, according to the company.
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