Despatch Industries has sold its first dryer and firing furnace solar-cell manufacturing system into China. The company said that the UltraFlex tool was bought by a top 10 Chinese cell producer.
“The new technology and advanced features of the UltraFlex are really resonating with solar manufacturers,” said Jeff Bell, Despatch’s solar product manager. “We are very pleased to see steady bookings coming in from the solar industry’s top producers in China and worldwide.”
“The economic slowdown gave industry leaders an opportunity to look forward and explore the latest technology advancements,” he continued. “Many of these leading companies have chosen to implement new technology offerings into their expansion plans.”
Despatch’s launched the reengineered, reduced-footprint UltraFlex platform in September. It features an integral VOC thermal oxidizer and has a processing capacity of 1200-2000 wafers/hr.
The Minneapolis-based company says it holds the number-one market share for metallization firing furnaces, having sold more than 200 units into China and shipped over 10GW of firing furnace production capacity worldwide. It announced in December that it had received more than $10 million in solar-related bookings in the fourth quarter.
