Dec 27 2010
Advanced Metallurgical Group (AMG) has declared that the company has obtained manufacturing assets and intellectual property of the Mono2 Suite of solar silicon casting technologies from BP Solar International.
Mono2 is a procedure for producing high efficiency silicon ingots, which are like mono-crystalline, to be used in regular SCU furnaces along with different feed stocks, such as upgraded metallurgical silicon and poly-silicon. BP Solar had developed the Mono2 technology along with the US Department of Energy and this would be incorporated into the SCU600plus and ALD SCU400plus solar crystallization vacuum and solar melting furnaces of the Engineering Systems Division of AMG.
AMG having an installed capacity of more than 3.5 GW peak or equal to 500 ALD SCU furnaces is known to be a leader in the solar wafer industry. This business deal would reinforce the solar technology portfolio of AMG and also appreciably expand its presence in the US solar market. Other than the equipment and the intellectual property a transfer of engineers and scientists has also taken place. R&D activities would be continued by AMG in the BP Solar facility located in Frederick in Maryland.
To help the growth of polysilicon with a structure similar to monocyrstalline, the Mono2 utilizes a monocrystalline silicon substrate. The ingots thus obtained act as the base material for the production of high efficiency and low cost solar cells. Mono2 is likely to increase the efficiency of the cell production from the ALD SCU furnaces by 17% in a cost-effective manner. The test ingots would be produced by early 2011 and the Mono2 integrated furnaces would be delivered by mid 2011.
According to Dr.Heinz Schimmelbusch, CEO of AMG and Chairman of the Management Board, divulged that this combination of Mono2 and the latest SCU furnaces would permit AMG to supply the best integrated solar crystallization and melting technology along with the capital equipment product in the solar market.
Mike Petrucci, CEO and President of BP Solar, stated that the company would focus on R&D activities with regard to system integration and enhancement of cell and module products. The company also has plans of streamlining the system implementation process and offer more reliability, power output and power management to extend the life of BP Solar Systems. He further commented that the company was excited to go ahead with the transfer of Mono 2 technology to AMG, which would be beneficial for both the company and the solar sector.