19. July 2008 by Mykel Pereira.

GT Solar, Inc.
243 Daniel Webster Highway
Merrimack, NH 03054 USA

Phone: +1 (603) 883-5200
Fax: +1 (603) 595-6993

About

GT Solar Incorporated is an industry leader globally providing essential technology, turnkey manufacturing and equipment solutions across the photovoltaic supply chain, enabling the establishment of successful photovoltaic businesses. Based in Merrimack, New Hampshire, USA, GT Solar’s products are used by companies worldwide.
Experience that Means Success for Our Customers

GT Solar Incorporated is a leading provider of turnkey and equipment solutions to companies for manufacturing products that harness solar power. They equip their customers with the invaluable technical, manufacturing and marketing expertise needed to start and successfully operate a photovoltaic manufacturing business. GT Solar Incorporated is unique because they offer turnkey and equipment solutions, along with a staff of in-house experts, for all three components of the solar value chain—wafer, cell and module fabrication lines. In 2006, GT Solar Incorporated entered the polysilicon production market and supplies Siemens-type reactors to customers who will begin polysilicon production. Their integrated solutions are designed for low-cost PV manufacturing. They provide customers with vendor and consumable materials specs that will shorten the purchasing cycle. They offer facilities consultation and engineering to provide the infrastructure for their customers fabrication lines and quality control guidelines to immediately improve the bottom line. GT Solar Incorporated is dedicated to achieving success with every line they design and every customer they serve. Working with customers worldwide since 1994, the core expertise of GT Solar Incorporated lies in three areas, all targeting mass production in photovoltaics:

* Integration of Fabrication Lines for Automated Manufacturing
* Development of Process Technology
* Design of Advanced Manufacturing Equipment

Supporting Your PV Process Today and In The Future

GT Solar Incorporated is a market leader in multicrystalline growth technology, with an evolving line of products designed to enhance performance and lower cost. GT Solar Incorporated’s Directional Solidification System (DSS) furnaces produce a large segment of the world’s multicrystalline silicon ingots. With hundreds of machines delivered worldwide, the DSS furnace is one example of a system from their development program. Multicrystalline ingots are now grown faster and at lower cost than ever before.

GT Solar Incorporated’s Polysilicon Division, located in Missoula, MT, USA, entered the polysilicon production equipment market in 2006 to help fuel the fast-growing PV industry. This division of GT Solar Incorporated provides a Siemens-style reactor and an STC hydrogenation unit to allow their customers’ plants to operate in an environmentally friendly closed loop. In addition to supplying polysilicon production equipment and technology, the Polysilicon Division provides services to assist in the facilities design, engineering, and integration of its equipment with the overall layout of the plant.

GT Solar Incorporated collaborates with UCEP (University Center of Excellence for Photovoltaic Research and Education) at Georgia Tech, University of New Hampshire and other private and government research facilities. They work together to advance process knowledge and collaborate with equipment companies to continuously improve their products.

Management Team

GT Solar Incorporated is led by a team of individuals with comprehensive experience in the photovoltaic business and related areas of process and automation technology. Key positions in administration, sales, marketing, engineering and manufacturing are held by highly motivated professionals with dedication and devotion for the business they build. It is the leadership team’s belief that success can only be defined through their customers to whom they are partners and consultants in business.

Products

Turnkey Fabrication Lines

• WAFFAB™ for multi-crystalline PV wafers.
• CELFAB™ for high efficiency PV solar cells.
• MODFAB™ for PV module manufacturing.

GT Solar Incorporated designs turnkey PV fabrication lines that fully meet their customers’ performance specifications. They achieve this by specifying the world’s finest equipment — of their own design or from a preferred supplier of the highest quality. They select only the best equipment from trusted, proven OEMs to integrate into GT Solar Incorporated systems.

Their commitment does not stop with shipping the equipment. Working to exacting standards, GT Solar Incorporated guarantees manufacturing processes, plus they provide thorough training, as well as market and marketing information.

Standard Equipment

• DSS Furnace - the new world standard for multi-crystal growth.
• GT-Atlas Tabber/Stringer - world’s leading processor for sheet silicon cells.
• GT-PFX100 - ribbon flux station.
• GT-PVSCAN 8000 - high-speed optical scanning system.
• GT-WEX 1000 - automated silicon etching wet bench.
• GT-CTX - automated cell tester/sorter.
• Polysilicon Reactor - high volume silicon feedstock production reactor
• STC Hydrogenation Unit - conversion of STC to TCS from the polysilicon reactor exhaust

They offer standard manufacturing equipment to complement your existing manufacturing lines. GT Solar Incorporated is trusted worldwide to provide expertise that ensures proper system design, operation, output and ongoing service for all standard equipment.

Custom Equipment

• EFG Growth Furnace - Edge-defined film fed growth furnace.
• Dendritic Growth Furnace - High output mono-crystalline ribbon furnace.

In the rapidly growing PV industry, companies are challenged to increase manufacturing capabilities quickly without diluting their core competencies — or disproportionately increasing costs. GT Solar Incorporated’s challenge is to help such companies expand capabilities while remaining cost competitive.

GT Solar are often able to help by successfully partnering with a customer to develop new equipment. For example, building more wafer growth furnaces in-house may no longer be cost-effective or efficient, so they can work with their customer to develop a new furnace.

GT Solar Incorporated designs and manufactures Custom Equipment solely for its customers’ use. They have developed important equipment for the PV industry, and as a result of these opportunities has helped make their customers leaders in their field of business.

Research & Development

• Silicon Test Reactor
• Crystal Growth Modeling

GT Solar are extremely proud of their current products, their industry, their strong commitment to ideals, and, in particular, to their passion for research and development — for being on the cutting edge. GT Solar Incorporated promise you the best in products and in their energetic, creative problem solving. They encourage you to discuss challenges, so that together, they may make their industry more productive and effective, and positively impact their planet.

Posted in New Hampshire, Solar Techs, USA | No Comments »

19. July 2008 by Mykel Pereira.

SULFURCELL Solartechnik GmbH

Barbara-McClintock-Str.11

12489 Berlin

Germany

Tel.: +49 (0)30 63 92 - 38 00 / - 38 42

Fax: +49 (0)30 63 92 - 38 01

About
Sulfurcell has been manufacturing and developing thin-film solar modules based on chalcopyrite-type semiconductors (CIS/CIGSe) since 2003. As an industrial company in Berlin their origin is at the Hahn-Meitner-Institut, Europe’s largest research institute on thin-film photovoltaics. To date technological leadership as well as continuous improvement of their products have been their principal goals.

Driven by entrepreneurs the company is supported by renowned private equity investors and strategic partners such as Intel Capital, Climate Change Capital and the BEU fund owned by Gaz de France and Vattenfall Europe.

Their modules feature an unobtrusive and homogeneous outward appearance and meet the highest aesthetic expectations. Since market introduction in 2005 they are integrated in roofs or facades and give buildings a modern and distinguished design. Long-term stability and high quality standards have been proven at TUV Rheinland, where all tests with respect to IEC 61646 have been passed.

Sulfurcell distributes their solar modules via selected system integrators. In order to fulfill the booming demand, Sulfurcell started to expand their production in July 2008. Their second factory will have a capacity of 75 MW.

Products

Sulfurcell solar modules come in three different designs:

SCG-HV-F
framed standard module

SCG-HV-L
frameless laminate

SCG-HV-RI
roof-integrated module

• Sulfurcell solar modules are protected from the harshest weather conditions by means of an EVA plastic film and a glass pane. Providing the solar modules with torsion-resistant, corrosion-resistant aluminium frames guarantees a long service life and durability.
• Sulfurcell provides a ten-year guarantee on 90% and a 20-year guarantee on 80% of the electric power.
• For quick and safe installation on site, the Sulfurcell solar modules come pre-assembled with connection cable and plug-in system.
• Sulfurcell stands for first-class workmanship – made in Germany.
• Sulfurcell modules have passed the stringent TÜV testing according to IEC61646

Posted in Germany, Solar Techs | No Comments »

19. July 2008 by Mykel Pereira.

GreenVolts, Inc.

50 First Street, #507
San Francisco, CA 94105
415 963-4030

About
GreenVolts, Inc., based in San Francisco, was founded in 2005 to deliver solar power at fossil fuel costs. The company’s breakthrough high concentration photovoltaic (HCPV) technology efficiently integrates tracking and optics into a system that dramatically lowers energy cost. Through low cost and high efficiency, GreenVolts can access large markets previously inaccessible to solar power. GreenVolts changes the economics of solar energy.

In September 2006, GreenVolts won the California Clean Tech Open business plan competition and a grant from the California Energy Commission. The company recently signed a power purchase agreement with Pacific Gas & Electric Company for a two megawatt HCPV power plant that, when completed, will be the largest in the world. GreenVolts has also executed a contract for field-testing with Avista Corp, a $1.5B public utility based in Spokane, Washington.

Technology

GreenVolts’ patent pending CarouSol™ system is a two-axis sun-tracking platform onto which an array of power units is placed. These power units use mirrors to concentrate 625 suns of energy onto high efficiency photovoltaic cells. The CarouSol is built close to the ground to ensure low installation and maintenance costs and reduce wind loading.

GreenVolts Key Advantages

The CarouSol system’s optical and tracking devices were designed together in order to provide a great increase in performance over other CPV systems. GreenVolts’ patent pending optical design allows for tighter packing, generating more energy from a given land area than any other solar technology.

GreenVolts’ patent pending high concentration photovoltaic system produces energy at less than half the cost of traditional solar panels.

GreenVolts’ system can be installed nearer to the load than other technologies, eliminating the wait for new transmission lines or turbines to be delivered. The CarouSol system is designed for simple, high-volume manufacture and snap together assembly. The CarouSol system is modular and easy to access for low cost maintenance. Installation requires no heavy equipment to speed project approval, permitting, construction, and completion. Precision sheet metal manufacturing allows for rapid scale-up of manufacturing of the CarouSol with plant capital costs that are an order of magnitude lower than thin film plants. CarouSol systems are lightweight and can be placed on the ground or on a roof without piercing the roof surface. The low profile CarouSol reduces wind loads by a factor of 10 over other designs, lowering costs and increasing performance. The patent pending off-axis design on a rotating platform reduces shading and increases performance. The CarouSol system’s wide base also increases tracking control accuracy, which allows for increased energy output.

Posted in California, Solar Techs, USA | No Comments »

19. July 2008 by Mykel Pereira.

Wakonda Technologies

Telephone:
585.425.4530
 

Fax:
205.449.6462
 

Email:

About

Wakonda Technologies is developing proprietary solar electric technology that is more efficient than crystalline silicon and lower in cost than thin film alternatives.

Wakonda combines the world’s most efficient photovoltaic materials with a flexible substrate that enables high volume manufacturing using commercial processes. The result:

•Costs competitive with conventional electricity
•Elimination of rare and toxic raw materials
•Wide variety of product forms

Their technology will dramatically improve the availability of solar energy for both critical military and broad commercial applications, making it possible for everyone to harness The Power That Resides in Nature™.

Solar electricity can significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Solar energy is most effective when electricity is needed most - during the heat of the day. Solar enabled peak load reduction will improve the reliability of the grid and reduce the need for additional centralized power generation. Solar power is generated at the point of use, eliminating transmission and distribution losses.

Technology

Industry Status

Wakonda Technologies is actively working to reduce the average cost of solar systems to make solar energy competitive with conventional electric power. Solar cells and modules account for 40-50% of the cost of today’s solar systems.  Solar electricity averages 3-5 times the cost of centrally generated electricity, independent of the technology used in manufacturing of the cells.
 

Crystalline silicon, the same material used in the mass production of computer chips, accounts for over 90% of the commercial solar cell market.  Silicon cells are typically 11-16% efficient.  They are also rigid and relatively fragile.
 

Lower cost thin film solar cells based on amorphous silicon, copper-indium-gallium-diselenide, or cadmium-telluride make up the rest of today’s commercial market.  These materials absorb light better than crystalline silicon, so they can be deposited in layers less than 1 micron thick on flexible substrates such as stainless steel foil.  This flexibility allows high volume roll-to-roll production using processes similar to photographic film manufacturing.  Despite laboratory efficiencies over 15% and over 20 years of development, commercial thin film cells are only 5-8% efficient and their performance degrades over time.  In addition, indium and tellurium are rare and expensive raw materials.

The highest efficiency solar cells in production today are based on III-V semiconductor materials such as gallium-arsenide.  These cells were developed for specialty applications such as satellites and are over 30% efficient.  III-V cells trade efficiency for cost - the single crystal germanium substrates used in their production cost over $10,000 per square meter, well above costs acceptable for commercial applications.

Wakonda’s Advantage

Evolutionary developers are seeking ways to reduce the inherent high material cost  of crystalline silicon or to increase the inherent low efficiency of existing thin film materials,  Wakonda is developing a revolutionary method to significantly reduce raw materials cost - the primary cost driver in production of inherently high efficiency III-V cells.

Our virtual single crystal uses a proprietary surface treatment that allows a low cost, commercial metal foil to simulate an expensive single crystal wafer.  The result is a new paradigm in solar cell manufacturing, combining:

• High efficiency III-V cell technology, and
• Proven, low cost manufacturing processes.

Posted in New York, Solar Techs, USA | No Comments »

19. July 2008 by Mykel Pereira.

Lanza Tech New Zealand Ltd.

24 Balfour Road
Parnell
Auckland
New Zealand
Phone: +64 9 373 4929
Fax: +64 9 929 3038

About
LanzaTech New Zealand Ltd. is a privately held company funded by Khosla Ventures, LLC, arguably the top venture firm in the U.S. focusing on alternative, clean green energy systems.

The company was founded in 2005 and operates from its facilities in Auckland New Zealand.

LanzaTech has developed a proprietary platform for producing lowest-cost fuel ethanol in any industrialized geography, at a much larger scale than is currently being envisioned elsewhere.

Specifically, our plan is to develop an ethanol production process that can be retrofitted to industrial facilities to generate ethanol from the carbon monoxide component of waste flue gases.

Industrial flue gases are an inherently low cost, high volume, point location resource, produced in most industrialized regions. LanzaTech’s mission is to enable industries that produce high volumes of carbon monoxide containing flue gases to become the lowest cost, highest volume producers of fuel ethanol.

Technology

LanzaTech has developed a technology to allow high volume industrial waste streams to become a resource for bio-ethanol production. This technology has been developed and demonstrated in their purpose built laboratory.  The company is now embarking on a process refinement and scale-up plan.

Posted in New Zealand, Biofuel Techs | No Comments »