Oct 8 2010
Solutia Inc, has declared that the company is currently engaged in a viability study in the Asia Pacific region to start a polyvinyl butyral (PVB) resin plant. The study results are anticipated to be received at the end of the year.
On receiving positive study-results the company has plans to commence its construction immediately. Tim Wessel, Solutia's Advanced Interlayers division’s President, justified the expansion in the resin manufacturing plant to meet the growing Saflex business. He added that the additional resin production in the region is needed for the increased production of Saflex PVB sheets produced at the Suzhou plant in China.
The company’s manufacturing facility at Suzhou presently produces Saflex PVB interlayers for use in laminated glass. During April this year the company unveiled its plans to start a second PVB production unit with enhanced capabilities within its available production facilities at the Suzhou plant to meet the growing demand for its products in construction, PV and automotive sectors in the Asia Pacific Region and in China. The new expansion at Suzhou will also pave way for the manufacture of Vistasolar ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) encapsulant utilized in PV modules. For the second PVB unit the company has designed a new building to house a number of EVA production lines with a capability to produce up to 2.35 M wide PV sheets. The construction of the new production facility is expected to be over by June 2011.
Solutia's Saflex interlayers are widely used in encapsulating thin film PV solar cells to increase the power conversion process and to provide durability for the module. The company has recently taken over Etimex Solar GmbH a manufacturer of Vistasolar encapsulants thus enabling its Advanced Interlayers division to remain as the only supplier of PVB and EVA type of encapsulants for the growing PV industry.