SOLAR FRONTIER ESTABLISHES A NEW MONDIAL RECORD
| With 17.8% efficiency, the subform opens the way to greater business efficiencies. TOKYO, February 28, 2012 - Solar Frontier announced today that it has achieved 17.8% aperture area efficiency of a photovoltaic sub-module (30 x 30 cm) based on CIS technology, along with Japan's New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO). This new record for the CIS thin-film technology has been achieved at the Atsugi Research Center (ARC), the research laboratory dedicated to Solar Frontier in Japan, which is the cornerstone upon which the research activities aimed at improving company's production. After a series of important agreements and the developments on the production floor disclosed in recent months, today's announcement highlights the potential key company in the field of R & D with a focus on commercial applications. "I would like to stress once again that this record of efficiency is achieved on a sub-module that is fully integrated with our lab produces very similar processes to those that are used in our production facilities on a commercial scale, "said Satoru Kuriyagawa, Chief Technology Officer Solar Frontier. "There are numerous ways to obtain high efficiency from a device, but the reason why we prefer to concentrate at the level of sub-module is simply given by the fact that the path to the commercial production is more feasible. This achievement confirms the progress we are making towards our target of reaching modules with higher efficiencies within our roadmap on the efficiency of commercial production". "This milestone in terms of efficiency demonstrates the continued leadership of Solar Frontier, not only in the mass production of CIS thin-film photovoltaic modules, but also in the fundamental progress of technology where the roots company with its role as pioneer in CIS, "said Atsuhiko Hirano, Senior Vice President of solar Frontier." ARC is one of the laboratories of the most advanced solar R & D in the world. Its goals include pioneering work in the buffer in zinc oxide which eliminates the cadmium. The work done here lays the foundation for achieving more KWh in real operating conditions, meeting the needs of every customer in the world " This new record surpasses the previous world record of Solar Frontier of 17.2% set in March 2011. Solar Frontier CIS modules are manufactured at the plant in Kunitomi, went into operation at full capacity last year. The technological advances made at the ARC are applied to mass production through a program of research aimed at improving the production of Solar Frontier, which includes a pilot plant equipped with the same equipment used in the manufacturing plant of 1 gigawatt of Kunitomi. Recently, in the establishment of Kunitomi was produced a sample module with an efficiency of 14.5% opening (Module efficiency 13.38%) for a total power of 164 W. |