Oerlikon Solar and Baoding Tianwei announced today the contract signing for a turnkey thin film solar module production line. The deal includes all major thin-film solar module production equipment including metrology and testing facilities. In the coming October the machinery will be shipped, installed and commissioned by a team of Oerlikon Solar experts. The project site is located in Bao Ding.

China and the Asian solar energy market are becoming increasingly important, and Oerlikon is well positioned to serve customers in this region. Oerlikon Solar’s decision to expand production capacity by opening a new site in Singapore is one example of the company’s global reach and commitment to serve customers in Asia. “With this major order we expand our footprint in Asia entering one of the most attractive solar markets worldwide”, states Dr Uwe Krüger, CEO Oerlikon. Oerlikon already can refer to two Asian customers, CMC and Auria Solar, both located in China Taiwan. Within record time CMC together with Oerlikon specialists ramped up the solar factory. Pilot production at CMC has been started whereas manufacturing at full capacity level is scheduled for this year.

“Based on TianWei Group’s ability in overall industry integration and our outstanding R&D team, TianWei SolarFilms will no doubt grow and develop as a leading company in PV industry worldwide, facilitated by the advanced production line provided by Oerlikon, .” Mr. Ma Wenxue, Gerneral Manager of Baoding TianWei SolarFilms Co., Ltd said so. “That clearly shows not only our ability to deliver on our promises but the field proven thin film silicon technology and solutions as well”, says Jeannine Sargent, CEO Oerlikon Solar.

Oerlikon Solar turnkey solution

The advanced Oerlikon Solar production line enables highly cost effective manufacture of thin-film silicon modules. The turnkey, end-to-end solution embraces the entire production process from glass cleaning and in-line inspection to testing of the finished solar modules. Another differentiating element is that Oerlikon Solar will provide its full-service package for commissioning the process equipment and securing production ramp-up .This agreement includes the Oerlikon‘s entire metrology system for quality control, the “back end” of module production and its proprietary process technology. Of critical importance are the Oerlikon Solar proprietary TCO layers that play a central role by trapping the light in the photovoltaic thinfilm maximizing the conversion efficiency. "Our capabilities to enhance the efficiency of proven thin-film silicon solar modules result in a direct reduction of cost of ownership. This is a major advantage for our customers in gaining market share", says Sargent.