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October 28, 2009...Ascent Solar Technologies, Inc., a developer of flexible thin-film copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) photovoltaic modules,will be providing modules to FTL Solar for their research and development contract with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). According to Ascent Solar, the parties will work on the development of light weight flexible structures that include energy production from Ascent Solar's modules.
Some of the development work will be carried out under a $22,500 collaborative agreement between FTL Solar and the Center for Advanced Microelectronic Manufacturing in Endicott, and the Center for Autonomous Solar at Binghamton University.
Robert Lerner, Chief Technology Officer for FTL Solar stated, “We are pleased to announce our relationship with Ascent Solar. We are confident their light weight flexible high power modules will work well with our existing products as well as future products currently in our product development pipeline.”
NYSERDA President and CEO Francis J. Murray, Jr. said, “NYSERDA is enthused about this company’s potential and is pleased to invest $250,000 toward this $500,000 FTL project that is developing a unique product with so many real-world, right-now applications. Because of its physical attributes and application flexibility, shade and electricity can be realized just about anywhere. From a New York perspective, the potential for this firm to bring product development and manufacturing to the Empire State is very encouraging and supports Governor Paterson’s goal to attract clean energy efficiency manufacturing jobs to our state.”
Ascent Solar News Release
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SINANO Installs Aixtron System For Rapid Growth of Cabon Nanotube Arrays
CompoundSemi News StaffOctober 28, 2009...Aixtron reports that SINANO, the Suzhou Institute of Nanotech and Nano-bionics of Chinese Academy of Science, recently received its new Aixtron Black Magic carbon nano tube growth tool. During the second quarter of 2009, the Black Magic tool was delivered in a 2 inch wafer configuration. The tool will be used in research and development of carbon nanotube arrays.
Prof. Qingwen Li, from SINANO commented, “Installation and commissioning of the AIXTRON Black Magic system went smoothly and already we have carried out some experiments in both LPCVD and PECVD modes. We used our own catalysts and achieved vertically aligned carbon nanotube arrays with typical growth rates of 60 microns per minute. Using PECVD, a perfectly straight CNT array film could be obtained. SEM images of the two samples synthesized by the two modes showed highly acceptable and reproducible results."
"We now aim to prepare ultralong CNT arrays with controllable structures for nanocomposites and patterned CNT arrays for device fabrication,” said Prof. Qingwen Li added. “The vertical showerhead-based growth reactor, fast heating stage and rapid sample turnaround features have been the crucial factors for our purchasing decision. As to our initial conclusions on the new system, everything has performed as expected. It is very easy to use with a user-friendly interface. In addition, the in-situ monitoring of the growth process is a significant advantage."
Aixtron News Release BluGlass Awarded $4.96 million Government Funding for Solar Cell Project
CompoundSemi News StaffOctober 26, 2009...Australian semiconductor company, BluGlass Limited, has been awarded $4.96 million of Commonwealth Government funding to assist with the development and commercialization of its high efficiency thin-film solar cell technology. BluGlass has secured the funding under Climate Ready Program which is one of the three elements of the $240 million Clean Business Australia initiative.
The 'High-Efficiency Thin-Film Solar Cell' project aims to develop a third generation photovoltaic technology for manufacturing high efficiency solar cells based on the compound semiconductor material, indium-gallium nitride (InGaN).
AusIndustry, the Australian federal government's program to provide assistance to industry, will provide the cash to BluGlass over 33 months. As part of the funding agreement BluGlass will match the AusIndustry funding with its own expenditure.
"The Government backing is a major vote of confidence in BluGlass's technology. This will see Australian technology return to the forefront of solar innovation and adoption as Australia leads the way on climate change mitigation," said BluGlass CEO Giles Bourne today.
The Climate Ready program is reportedly a competitive grants program which offers match funding grants from $50,000 up to $5m on projects which help overcome climate change challenges. BluGlass News Release
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Motorola Claims its GaN Technology Saves Cable Operators Money
CompoundSemi News StaffOctober 26, 2009...Motorola of Horsham, Pennsylvania USA, reportedly implemented its gallium nitride technology that it says extends the reach of its fiber deep portfolio of optical nodes and RF amplifiers.
At the same time, the company says its extended reach RF amplification technology delivers up to 20-percent savings to Cable operators.
Motorola boasts that its technology, which it contends offers the highest-available RF output levels for cable operators, results in up to a 20-percent reduction of active components in N+1 architectures. Additionally the company says that reducing the actives in the network allows the operator to lower capital and operational expenses. The company says it also reduces system powering requirements while improving network reliability.
Motorola points out that cable providers continue to successfully leverage cost-effective fiber deep technologies as they drive fiber deeper into hybrid fiber coax (HFC) networks to deliver higher throughput video and broadband services to their subscribers. The company says that its extended reach RF amplification reduces the number of active components and their associated installation and operational costs. Motorola indicated that the new technology minimizes the need for re-spacing amplifiers as operators upgrade to 1 GHz and higher technologies. Motorola new Gallium Nitride technology is incorporated into its SG4000, BTN100, MBN100 and BLN100 optical nodes and BT, MiniBridger and BLE RF amplifiers.
"No other vendor can drive an RF signal as far as Motorola," said Joe Cozzolino senior vice president and general manager, Access Networks Solutions, Motorola Home and Networks Mobility. Company News Release Xiamen Sanan OptoElectronics in China Selects Veeco MOCVD Systems for Capacity Expansion
CompoundSemi News StaffOctober 26, 2009...Veeco reports that Xiamen Sanan OptoElectronics, a maker of LEDs based in China, ordered
Veeco’s TurboDisc® Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD) Systems to expand their manufacturing capacity of high brightness light emitting diodes (HB-LEDs). Specifically Sanan Optoelectronics ordered the TurboDisc K465 GaN MOCVD System features Veeco's most advanced reactor technology and delivers high throughput for high volume production of GaN-based blue and green HB-LEDs. The TurboDisc E475 As/P MOCVD System is reportedly engineered for high-volume production of red, orange and yellow HB-LEDs. Veeco boasts that it offers a level of process control and reliability unmatched by competing MOCVD technologies.
Mr. Simon Lin, CEO of Sanan, commented, "The addition of Veeco's high productivity MOCVD systems to our manufacturing facilities in Xiamen and Tianjin, China ensures that we can continue to increase output of our market-leading HB-LEDs. We are seeing increased demand for LEDs in such applications as general illumination, TV backlight and outdoor display.”
Bill Miller, Ph.D., Senior Vice President, General Manager of Veeco's MOCVD Operations commented, "We are pleased that Sanan, a key technology leader and the largest manufacturer of HB-LEDs in China, has chosen Veeco’s TurboDisc MOCVD Systems for its capacity expansion. We are looking forward to partnering with Sanan as they increase their high volume production of HB-LED devices."
Veeco News Release Ascent Solar Achieves 14 Percent CIGS Cell Efficiency in Commercial Production
CompoundSemi News StaffOctober 21, 2009...Ascent Solar Technologies Inc., a maker of copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) thin-film solar cells based in Thornton, Colorado USA, reports that it has achieved 14 percent cell efficiency with its CIGS cells on a flexible plastic substrate. The achievement was a manufacturing milestone because the CIGS cells that achieved the record efficiency were produced at its 1.5 MW commercial production plant in Littleton, Colorado known as Fab1.
U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewal Energy Laboratory (NREL) measured 14.01 percent cell efficiency for Ascent Solar CIGS material.
Also Ascent Solar announced a peak efficiency of 11.7 percent for its monolithically integrated CIGS modules also manufactured at Fab1.
Dr. Farhad Mogahadam, President & CEO for Ascent Solar stated, “This is a significant breakthrough in demonstrating our ability to achieve thin film CIGS cells with 14% efficiency from regular production machines. Ascent Solar’s ability to manufacturer monolithically integrated modules with efficiency as high as 11.7% in regular production serves as a vital element to our low cost per watt manufacturing goal.”
Ascent Solar News Release Neo-Neon Orders Five Aixtron Crius MOCVD tools for UHB-LED Production Ramp
LIGHTimes News StaffOctober 20, 2009...Aixtron reported the delivery and qualification of multiple Crius MOCVD systems at Neo-Neon, one of its major customers in PR China. Since 2005, Neo-Neon set about the R&D and production of white lighting technology with their vertically-integrated approach resulting in a complete supply chain from front-end (epitaxy, chip process) to back-end (LED packaging and application). Neo-Neon International Ltd., based in Guang Dong, PR China, A decorative lighting manufacturer, received five Close Coupled Showerhead Crius systems in the 31x2" wafer configuration. These systems were delivered at the end of 2008. Neo-Neon says they will be used for the development and production of ultra-high brightness (UHB) blue/green LEDs.
Mr. Ben Fan, Chairman of Neo-Neon commented, “It was clear to us that as the only way to guarantee the desired prompt production ramp up we would require the world’s best MOCVD tools. Aixtron convinced us through the quality of their engineering, processes and local support that the Crius system was ideal for our blue/green LED production needs. The Aixtron MOCVD systems have been installed in our new factory complex, a five-story facility at our mainland China production plant. The Crius tools will be in the charge of our dedicated R&D and production staff working in close co-operation with Aixtron’s local support team.“
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