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CD-Te Solar Cell Companies Beyond First Solar
CD-Te Solar Cell Companies Beyond First Solar
It doesn't take an Olympic gymnastics judge to see that 4.2% is a huge conversionefficiency gap to overcome for Calyxo--and food for thought for any other CdTe early
stager trying to get into the game.
Q-Cells capacity ramp plans for the next few years are aggressive on both its core cSi
business and its thin-film forays. By the end of 2010, the company says it will have more
than 2.5 GWp of total capacity, of which over 400 MW will come from the various TFPV
concerns--including at least 85 MW from Calyxo. But as long as there are delays in
qualifying the manufacturing process at its 25-MW pilot line, the likelihood of Calyxo
adding its first volume plant (60 MW) by the end of 2009 remains in doubt.
As for other CdTe followers, AVA Solar claims it will have its pilot line up and running
the second half of this year, with its volume production facility ready to go in 2009.
PrimeStar, flush with resources from its now-majority owner General Electric, hasn't
offered specifics of the company's production roadmap, other than to say it's in a "rapid
ramp." Other players, such as Antec and Avendi, have been missing in action of late.
So the question remains: which of the CdTe Gang of Followers will be the first to offer a
serious, production-worthy, commercial alternative to First Solar?