Ascent Solar Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTI) (BSX:ASTI), has received over $20 million as a result of the conversion of Class A public warrants and that it has achieved significant pre-manufacturing milestones.
Ascent Solar President and CEO Matthew Foster stated, “The additional capital received as a result of the Class A public warrant conversion and our partnership with Norsk Hydro (NYSE:NHY) have enabled us to achieve significant milestones ahead of plan. We are currently conducting pre-manufacturing testing on our roll-to-roll rapid prototyping tools in order to baseline the PV manufacturing processes. This is in preparation for the commencement of manufacturing operations on the 1.5 megawatt (MW) pilot production plant scheduled for completion by year end. The additional capital received will support construction of the first of four 25 MW scale production lines, the first of which is planned for completion in 2009. Our pathway to the market with large volume production has been greatly enhanced and will be strengthened further once we complete qualification of our pilot production plant.”
Dr. Prem Nath, Senior VP of Manufacturing, stated, “By processing approximately one hundred feet each week in our roll-to-roll rapid prototyping tools, we have systematically proven out the entire end-to-end manufacturing deposition process. We believe that we can achieve repeatable and controllable processes that yield excellent uniformity. We now intend to focus on deposition process optimization and the remaining module patterning and encapsulation areas as we prepare for the staged delivery of our pilot plant production tools beginning in September 2007.”
Ascent Solar employs a Copper-Indium-Gallium-Selenium (CIGS) compound to produce thin-film photovoltaic modules on plastic substrates. The CIGS in combination with other thin metal layers are deposited sequentially on top of one another using roll-to-roll manufacturing tools to achieve the photovoltaic affect. The total thickness of the deposited layers is less than that of a single human hair.
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