EPV Solar Germany GmbH has produced its first amorphous silicon thin-film modules at its Senftenberg, Germany factory. Commercial volumes of the thin-film solar modules will be available for sale in January 2009. The facility has a 30MW capacity, equal to 500,000 55W modules per year that will be used in large solar parks and PV arrays in Germany and southern Europe.
Scott Massie, EPV Solar’s CEO, was content with the swift move from ground-breaking to first module production at the facility and commented, “While other companies are struggling to produce their first modules, EPV SOLAR has opened two factories totaling 50 MW in capacity in the last two months. I am very proud of our personnel who have demonstrated tremendous dedication and have worked tirelessly to ramp our production lines quickly in order to meet growing market demand.”
Since thin film is gaining notoriety as an economical, environmentally friendly and easily mass-produced alternative to crystalline silicon modules, Franz Kemper, Managing Director of EPV SOLAR Germany, explained some of thin film’s appeal, “Thin-film modules have the fastest energy payback. After one and a half years, the energy required for the production of a module is recovered through the electricity that the module produces.”