Last year saw the gases division of The Linde Group capitalise on the solar industry’s growth by securing supply contracts with over 25 new and pre-existing customers in the thin-film and crystalline silicon manufacturing sectors. Among these clients were major names such as Bosch, GCL, Suntech, Trina and Motech.
This influx of clients has seen Linde’s worldwide PV customer capacity treble to 17.4GW – a growth primarily fuelled by Chinese firms creating new production capacity of nearly 13.5GW. On the back of this success, Linde is now positioning itself to take advantage of renewed investment in amorphous silicon in 2011 by increasing production of its award-winning fluorine generation technology to meet escalating demand.
“As a leading global supplier of gases to PV manufacturers, Linde is catering to demand. With our innovative fluorine gas solution, we are helping companies improve solar cell efficiency, decrease greenhouse gases and further drive down cost per watt,” said Dean O’Connor, Linde’s head of market development and technology.
Linde has also revealed that 2011 will see it focus much of its attention on the manufacturing growth region of Asia by continuing to heavily invest in its Chinese silane and ammonia infrastructure.
“Indicators are that later in the year, we could see an oversupply of modules which will lead to consolidation and further re-organisation of the leading solar players. Linde’s strategy is to focus on investment with these leading players who have a strong cost base, the best in-house technology and the strongest sales channels,” O’Connor added.
(Linde’s SNEC booth is located in Hall W3, Number 250)