Oct 27 2009
At Masdar PV, the ramp-up of the new manufacturing facility in Ichtershausen is well underway: Meanwhile, almost 90 production employees manufacture thin-film modules of the newest generation in 2-shift operations.
The first modules are currently being delivered and installed in an open space solar park in Germany. "Until the end of the year, we will produce thin-film solar modules with a power rating of approximately 3 MWp. A large share of them has already been sold," explains Dr. Rainer Gegenwart, CEO of Masdar PV. Additional attractive projects are currently being negotiated, so that the management looks optimistically into the future after the start of the production.
Especially the participation on several national and international conventions has led to a pronounced demand for Masdar PV modules. "Investors and customers have long since realized the advantages of our technology and our financially strong mother company, the Masdar Initiative," underlines Joachim Nell, COO/CMO of the company. The 5.7 m2 large thin-film solar modules are offering particularly high yields for operators and investors when prone to diffuse lighting and high ambient temperatures. Through this, the modules possess the currently best cost-to-performance ratio on the market.
To further develop the international high profile of Masdar PV and to open up the future market USA early on, the company will exhibit for the first time at the "Solar Power International 2009" from 27th till 29th of October in Anaheim, California. "There are currently excellent opportunities in the USA, as the country will grow rapidly to become one of the largest solar markets. Particularly for our thin-film modules there are over-proportional growth opportunities. We want to use them!" explains Dr. Gegenwart. For example, the solar industry association SEIA is expecting a newly installed solar capacity of 2 GWp for the year 2010 alone. In addition, cities and states are increasingly introducing feed-in tariffs similar to the German EEG. Thus, Masdar PV is considering the option of building an additional manufacturing facility in North America. "We are going to make this decision based on the requirements of the market - presumably at the end of the next year, when the perspectives for the global solar industry have considerably brightened up again," says Dr. Gegenwart.
Source: http://www.masdarpv.com/