Signet Solar has received Final Acceptance Test (FAT) certification from SGS Germany GmbH of its ‘SunFab’ thin film production line at its manufacturing facility in Mochau, Germany. This now enables the company to fast-track its ramp of the facility to 20MW. Signet Solar has plans for a further expansion to 130MW by the end of 2009. The FAT certification is the first for Applied Materials ‘SunFab’ technology.
“Commencing volume production just 15 months after breaking ground has validated our strategy to bring rapidly scalable and affordable thin film silicon PV technology to market with proven equipment set and mainstream materials. Signet’s technology and manufacturing platform provides both gigawatt scale and low cost, leading to grid parity,” said Rajeeva Lahri, CEO of Signet Solar. “We are delighted to work with Applied Materials in this endeavor to make silicon thin film solar PV an affordable energy source for the mass market.”
“We congratulate Signet on their management of such a fast and successful ramp,” said Mike Splinter, President and CEO of Applied Materials. “Working together our teams have achieved this important industry milestone. As the first production panels start to roll off the line we are demonstrating a strong new capability to scale solar production to meet the world’s demand for cost-effective, clean electricity.”
Signet Solar said that it had produced over 2,000 modules during its pilot production period. The company was the also the first ‘SunFab’ customer to produce modules.