Major CIS thin-film producer, Solar Frontier is considering establishing a production plant in Buffalo, New York after signing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the State University of New York College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (SUNY CNSE).
Solar Frontier had previously said that its new 150MW plant in Japan would potentially become a benchmark for new production facilities in various key PV markets around the world.
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The company said that it would conduct a technical and economic feasibility study for both R&D possibilities with SUNY CNSE and manufacturing of CIS thin-film modules in Buffalo.
“Solar Frontier will continue to advance itself as a global leader in the solar energy segment, and establishing overseas production bases is at the core of our mid-term growth plan,” said Hiroto Tamai, president and representative director of Solar Frontier.
CNSE has previously built a major high-technology R&D infrastructure that initially targeted semiconductor R&D and manufacturers such as Global Foundries, formerly the manufacturing operations of US microprocessor firm, Advanced Micro Devises (AMD).
“Governor Andrew Cuomo challenged the State of New York to become a leading high-tech knowledge economy. Our feasibility study with Solar Frontier, the holder of a proprietary CIS thin-film solar photovoltaic technology, is a step toward unveiling that vision – toward the reality of new high-tech jobs, new economic growth, and to becoming a center for advanced nanotechnologies,” said Dr. Alain Kaloyeros, CEO of CNSE.
CNSE already has a Solar Energy Development Center in Halfmoon, which has prototyping and demonstration line capabilities for next-generation CIGS thin-film solar cells and supports CNSE’s key roles the US Photovoltaic Manufacturing Consortium (PVMC) and is part of over US$20 billion in high-tech investments since CNSE’s foundation in 2004.
Solar Frontier currently operates a 900MW CIS thin-film manufacturing plant in Kunitomi, Japan. The new (150MW) plant under construction is based in Tohoku.
