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Recently announced capacity expansion plans from the majority of major China-based PV manufacturers and polysilicon producers is having a knock-on effect in the supply chain with gases specialist Linde Group announcing a new round of long-term gas supply contracts in the country. Linde LienHwa (LLH) has secured multi-million US dollar contracts from companies including GS Solar, Parity Solar, CNPV Solar Power SA, General Solar Power and Argus Power.

Bosch Solar Energy and Linde Nippon Sanso (LNS), a company of The Linde Group, have signed a new gas supply deal that now includes the new c-Si solar cell plant. LNS will supply the 630MW facility cluster with bulk silane and ammonia gas. Linde is the main gas technology supplier to all of the production lines.

In a bid to eliminate the use of the greenhouse gas nitrogen trifluoride (NF3) in its a-Si thin film module production process, Masdar PV is switching to Linde’s on-site generated fluorine for PECVD process chamber cleaning. Linde is the bulk gas supplier to Masdar PV’s production facility in Ichtershausen, near Erfurt, Germany.

BOC India (BOCI), a member of the Linde Group, has signed four new long-term gas supply deals with PV manufacturers Moser Baer, Euro Multivision, Solar Semiconductor and Indo Solar. With India readying itself for the unveiling of its first solar power target, which pledges to boost output from near zero to 20GW by 2020, BOCI’s new deals reinforces Linde’s standing as a key gas supplier in the PV industry.

A long-term contract to supply high purity nitrogen from an on-site air separation unit and bulk oxygen for Bosch Solar’s new manufacturing site in Erfurt, Germany has been signed with Linde Nippon Sanso (LNS), a subsidiary of The Linde Group. LNS already supplies specialty gases to both Bosch’s crystalline and thin film operations.

In answer to a common question in the renewables industry, Linde Gases, a division of The Linde Group, is addressing the issue of reducing the carbon footprint of module manufacture. Frequently raised is the issue of producing a clean, renewable energy using non-renewable and environment damaging methods.

The Linde Group said that thin film start-up Malibu, a joint venture between energy company  E.ON, and Schüco that uses Applied Materials ‘SunFab’ technology, will employ Linde’s fluorine technology at its 40MW facility in Osterweddingen, Germany. Linde won the Green Solar Manufacturing Cell Award for the technology at a ceremony held last week during Intersolar in Munich.

Applied Materials ‘SunFab’ customer, Moncada Energy Group s.r.l has awarded The Linde Group its bulk and specialty gases supply systems contract for its first thin-film manufacturing plant. The private producer of renewable energy is building a 40MWp the plant in Campofranco, Sicily, which is expected to be fully operational in 2010.

A long-term gas supply deal has been signed between Masdar PV and Linde Group, which also includes gas storage, distribution systems and on-site gas management services. Supplied gases include nitrogen (N₂), hydrogen (H₂), silane (SiH₄) and chamber cleaning gases, as well as argon (Ar) and helium (He). Masdar PV is currently investing US$200 million in a thin-film plant in Erfurt, Germany.

The Linde Group has said that it has recently been awarded major new multi-million US-dollar gas supply contracts with three thin film start-ups in China. The Linde Group’s local subsidiary, Linde LienHwa has been awarded contracts by Tianwei Baoding, Hangzhou Amplesun Solar and ENN Solar. Linde said that the new wins in China equate to 50 percent market share in China. The company will supply large volumes of silane and hydrogen gas to each new customer.

Berlin-based thin-film solar module manufacturer Inventux Technologies AG has announced that it has awarded a major gas supply contract to Linde Nippon Sanso, part of The Linde Group. Linde will supply a wide range of high-purity gases to Inventux in an undisclosed “long-term” contract for use in its manufacturing processes of its new 33MWp plant in Berlin.

Linde has signed a long-term contract with Sodiff Advanced Materials for the supply of electronic-grade silane. The agreement, the duration and cost of which were not specified in the announcement, will see the delivery of the silane from Sodiff’s facility at Youngju, Korea, which comes on line in the second half of 2009. This contract will account for a large proportion of Sodiff’s 2,000-tonne silane production output.

In an attempt to meet the increasing demand for high-purity silane gas in the PV industry, the Linde Group and Schmid Silicon Pilot Production have decided to collaborate on silane production via the joint ownership of a new facility in Dresden, Germany. The silane produced at this facility will contribute towards the current capacity for Linde’s customers and will be based on the new Schmid Monosilane Technology process.

Malibu GmbH & Co. KG in Bielefeld, Germany, a joint venture between energy utility E.ON and Schüco, a buildings systems manufacturer, has signed a long-term contract for over-the-fence supply of nitrogen (N₂), hydrogen (H₂), silane (SiH₄), nitrogen trifluoride (NF₃), argon (Ar), and helium (He).

NexPower has selected BOC Lien Hwa (BOCLH), a joint venture between The Linde Group and Taiwan’s Lien Hwa Corporation, to supply the main high purity gases for its new large substrate thin-film PV plant that is expected to begin operations by the second quarter of 2008.

The award-winning Generation-F® series from Linde provides 100% F₂ on demand for use in CVD chamber cleaning applications. High-purity Fluorine gas is the highest performance cleaning gas available, improving productivity on CVD tools, reducing energy consumption and environmental impact, with ZERO Global Warming Potential.

Dean O'Connor, Head of Electronics Market Development and Technology at Linde, discusses with PV-Tech the PV market dynamics currently at play. Key competitive drivers continue to be on cost control as well as technology spending as, in certain regions, capacity spending continues. O'Connor also talks about the challenges for both c-Si and thin-film manufacturers. Linde's investments in silane supply are covered and assurances made as to adequate supply for the expected growth in the industry. O'Connor also discusses developments in-house that will enable the move from grid parity to green parity as part of a suite of technologies to enable sustainability for PV manufacturers of all types.

Noel Leeson, head of Linde Electronics, the global electronic gases business of The Linde Group, discusses the current growth in the photovoltaics industry on global basis and the challenges facing the industry in scaling production of both crystalline and thin film. Leeson also talks about supply chain issues and how Linde, is best positioned to support the continued rapid growth of the industry.