Spire Semiconductor, the wholly owned subsidiary of Spire corporation, has received confirmation from the US Department of Energy (DOE) that it will receive US$2 million under the Advanced Energy Manufacturing tax credit (MTC) program. The funds will be used to expand the company's III/V Compound Semiconductor Foundry facility in Hudson, New Hampshire.
Roger G. Little, chairman and CEO of Spire, said, "Spire Semiconductor being awarded over $2 million in tax credits for its path of commercialization of our concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) technology could not have come at a better time. We have just announced the approval of Phase II of our National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) subcontract for developing technology to cost-effectively manufacture 42%-efficient, 500-sun, multijunction concentrator solar cells for systems."
Little concluded, "With the PV industry continuously growing, the availability of this tax credit will allow us to grow along with it. This opportunity will allow us to establish a state-of-the-art commercial manufacturing line to produce our proprietary triple-junction high efficiency cells and support our growing CPV customers."