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Leveraging its refining facility in Germany (5N PV GmbH), which was established to meet the needs of First Solar’s thin-film production facility in the country, 5N Plus has been selected by First Solar rival, Calyxo, to supply high-purity metals and compounds for its CdTe thin-film products. Calyxo is a subsidiary of Q-Cells. The agreement also includes long-term PV module and production scrap recycling services. 5N Plus also recently secured a similar deal with another CdTe thin-film start-up, Abound Solar.
“Calyxo and Q-Cells have been at the forefront of PV technology for many years and we are excited about the future prospects of our collaboration,” commented Jacques L'Écuyer, 5N Plus's president/CEO. “In 2006, we made the strategic decision to set up a new manufacturing facility in Germany to support the growth of the German and European PV industry. As a result, our German subsidiary 5N PV GmbH is now ideally suited to provide both the critical semiconductor compounds and recycling services required by Calyxo.”
In February, 2010 Q-Cells noted that Calyxo’s CdTe technology and manufacturing operations were not yet ready to be competitive with rivals and therefore would not be ready to enter into volume production but would require “a little more time.”
