Jun 10 2008
To meet the needs of the fast-growing photovoltaic (PV) solar energy market, DuPont today announced that it will expand production of DuPont(TM) Solamet(R) thick film metallization pastes at its Electronic Materials DuPont Dongguan Ltd. (EMDD) facility here.
DuPont™ Solamet® thick film metallization paste enables solar cell manufacturers to significantly reduce their cost per watt by achieving higher cell efficiencies, higher production yields and lower material consumption.
The company will more than double manufacturing capacity of Solamet(R) pastes as part of its overall strategy to more than triple its sales to the photovoltaic industry. DuPont expects that its sales into photovoltaics within the next five years will be over $1 billion - up from about $300 million today. DuPont anticipates that the PV market will grow by more than 30 percent in each of the next several years, driving demand for existing and new materials that are more cost effective.
"The PV industry is in the midst of a substantial surge globally, and demand for solar as a renewable energy source will continue to increase," said Timothy P. McCann, vice president and general manager -- DuPont Electronic Technologies. "We are expanding Solamet(R) production to support increased demand. Through future development, we will accelerate our ability to deliver innovations that will further drive down PV system costs and improve the lifetime and performance of solar modules. As a leading global materials supplier to the photovoltaic industry, we are using our science to make the use of renewable energy easier for everyone."
DuPont(TM) Solamet(R) thick film metallization pastes are used for front and back side metallization of solar cells, enabling solar cell manufacturers to significantly reduce their cost per watt by achieving higher cell efficiencies, higher production yields and lower material consumption. The Solamet(R) expansion in Asia represents a significant investment that will help DuPont keep pace with global demand and ensure its customers have enough volume of material to meet their needs.
The Solamet(R) expansion is in line with several other significant investments DuPont has made in product development and capacity increases for the photovoltaic solar energy market, including a recent announcement that it soon will begin construction on a research center in Hong Kong and a manufacturing facility in Shenzhen to help meet demand for new and existing products that serve the emerging amorphous silicon thin film PV market.
DuPont was the first multinational company to establish a production facility for thick film microcircuit materials in China. Since its startup in 1996, the Dongguan facility has been serving the growing China electronics market for products that support such industries as telecommunications, automotive electronics, passive components and photovoltaics.