INOX Air Products signs two new contracts with Indian PV manufacturers

INOX Air Products, the Air Products joint venture in India, has signed two new contracts with Indian PV manufacturers for the company's SunSource Solutions gases and materials to support the growing India PV market.

The join venture company has signed a long-term gas supply contract to provide bulk and specialty gases to HHV Solar Technologies at its new thin-film PV fab in Bangalore. The contract calls for the supply of hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen and argon, as well as specialty gases, including silane, methane and dopant mixtures. In addition, INOX Air Products will provide the total gas management at HHV Solar's research, development and demonstration fab.

INOX Air Products will also supply Jupiter Solar Power, a subsidiary of Jupiter International, with specialty gases, including nitrogen, oxygen, silane and ammonia, to its new PV facility at Baddi in Himachal Pradesh, India. Jupiter Solar Power is setting up PV solar cell manufacturing facilities in Himachal Pradesh and West Bengal at an aggregate investment of Rs 1,500 crore (US$300 million).

"India is an emerging PV market with strong support from the government. We are honored to be selected as the supplier for these two PV projects in India. Our expertise in thin-film PV applications and complete set of SunSource PV offerings can help our customers continuously drive down their cost-per-watt through enhanced plant efficiency," said Corning Painter, Air Products' vice president and general manager, Global Electronics Division. "We are in a better position to support the fast-growing solar energy market with these two contract wins."

In 2008 Air Products won more than 20 new contracts in Asia serving both the crystalline and thin-film PV markets, and has since signed gas supply contracts with leading PV manufacturers including Best Solar and CHINT Solar in China, Green Energy Technology in Taiwan, and Gadir Solar in Spain.