Green Energy Technology starts production on Gen 8.5 a-Si thin-film solar PV line

Green Energy Technology has become the latest company--and the first in Taiwan--employing Applied Materials' SunFab amorphous-silicon thin-film PV module turnkey manufacturing line technology to achieve volume production status. The Taiwanese firm said it will reach an annualized capacity of 30 MW on its Generation 8.5 large-area glass line in the first quarter of 2009, and then ramp to 50 MW by the fourth quarter.

GET also said it tested and pre-mass produced more than 600 TFPV modules from mid-November through December, with conversion efficiencies reaching 7% and yields meeting qualification levels. The company is producing commercial modules and plans to start shipping to contracted customers in the 1Q 2009.

"Integrating fast and successfully [our] TFT-LCD experience with CPT (Chunghwa Picture Tube) has demonstrated GET professions [sic] in solar technology," said W.S. Lin, chairman of GET and CPT. "The group will support GET to keep its leading position in [the] worldwide solar industry."

"We are planning to get TUV certification in Q1 2009 for quarter-size module (1.1 X 1.3 meter) and full size (2.2 X 2.6 meter) certification in Q3 2009," said Hur-Lon Lin, president of GET. "We will keep expanding [our] worldwide marketing network from Europe to U.S. and developing countries. The horizontal integration we are going [through] now [will] make us able to expand [our] service scale from crystalline wafer to thin-film module and further system design. We will push ourselves [to] keep developing high-level technology to fulfill market demands continuously."

GET announced in September yearly contracts worth €39.86 million with three German and Spanish solar systems companies. The deals call for the shipment of commercial products by GET in 2009.