China Solar Power (Holdings) Ltd. (CSP), a manufacturer of thin film amorphous silicon photovoltaic modules, today announced that it purchased ThinSilicon, Inc., a developer of thin film manufacturing process technology based in Mountain View, CA.
No financial terms were disclosed.
CSP’s initial manufacturing facility, located in the city of Yantai, China, recently commenced commercial operation. The plant, whose initial configuration will produce a-Si solar panels utilizing production equipment supplied by ULVAC, Inc. of Japan, will have an annual capacity of approximately 32 megawatts (MW) once it reaches full production in 2010. The company recently broke ground on its second manufacturing facility, located in Jiangyin, China, and has entered into development and financing agreements with two other Chinese municipalities to build and operate additional production facilities within those cities.
Upon completion of manufacturing facilities under construction and currently under development, CSP said its annual production capacity is expected to exceed 500 MW, a level that would make it China’s largest manufacturer of thin film PV modules.
ThinSilicon was founded three years ago and has since developed a device and process technology to boost both panel efficiency and manufacturing throughput. The company said it recently achieved tandem junction cell efficiency in excess
of 12.5%, which translates to approximately 9% at the G5 module level.
Its three co-founders met at Stanford University, where they were
studying for their PhD in Materials Science.
“China Solar Power’s mission is to become a major global, low-cost manufacturer of thin film PV modules. The environmental benefits of thin film technology over traditional mono and polycrystalline silicon are well documented. The acquisition of ThinSilicon will help position us as China’s lowest-cost manufacturer of PV modules, in addition to having the lowest carbon footprint per MW of any PV module manufacturer in China,” said Charles E. Johnson,
CSP’s Co-Founder and Chairman, and former Co-President of Franklin
Templeton Investments.
Industry analysts estimate that thin film technology accounted for about 10% of the PV industry’s installed manufacturing capacity in 2008. With the emergence of new entrants and thin film’s inherent cost advantages, thin film’s share of the global PV market is expected to increase to 20–25% within the next 3-5 years.
“We’re extremely excited by the opportunity to join forces with China Solar Power,” said Jason Stephens, Co-Founder and principal scientist of ThinSilicon. “China Solar Power’s strong manufacturing foundation in one of the world’s largest PV markets will provide an excellent outlet and greatly accelerate the commercialization of our proprietary process and device technology.”
“This transaction represents a classic combination of Silicon Valley innovation with large-scale, low-cost Chinese manufacturing,” said Frank Liu, Co-Founder and current CEO of CSP. “To sustain our competitive cost advantage, we recognize the need to continually innovate in the R&D lab and on the manufacturing floor. We will remain vigilant in our search for technologies that have the potential to further enhance our low-cost position.”
Headquartered in Hong Kong, China Solar Power was founded in 2007 by Tano China Capital Management, a subsidiary of Tano Capital. Tano Capital is an alternative asset management firm founded in 2004 by Mr. Johnson (formerly co-President of Franklin Templeton Investments and CEO of Templeton Worldwide), that makes private equity investments into rapidly growing private companies in India and China.
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