SINGULUS Technologies (SINGULUS) signed an agreement with Apollo Precision (Fujian) Limited, China, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hanergy Solar Group (Hanergy) to supply of a production machine with the brand name TENUIS II for buffer layer deposition. This machine is a central component for the manufacturing of CIGS thin-film modules.
Buffer layer deposition from SINGULUS presents a promising development on the way to the efficient wet-chemical coating of thin film solar modules made of copper-indium-gallium-selenium (CIGS) on glass. The second generation of the TENUIS production line has a modular cluster build basis, which facilitates significant reduction in floor space and the simultaneous one-side coating of two substrates. Due to new and unique concepts in terms of dosing and temperature control, the developers at SINGULUS were successful in reducing the process time, which has a positive effect and a considerably higher output in production.
Dr. Stefan Rinck, CEO of SINGULUS, said: “This contractual agreement with Hanergy will serve as an excellent demonstration for our leading solar segment. We are proud of our co-operation with Hanergy and have full confidence that our machines will fulfill the high standard of Hanergy’s requirement in CIGS thin-film industry.”
In October 2013, the Hanergy Solar Group achieved an 18.7% PV module efficiency in using Solibro’s CIGS thin-film technology. Subsequently, the Group has taken a further step forward by achieving a conversion efficiency rate of 21% for its CIGS thin film solar cells of 1.0 cm2 in using Solibro’s technology in May 2014, which is one of the highest conversion efficiency of CIGS cells in the world. Solibro’s CIGS process is using the SINGULUS buffer layer deposition technology. SINGULUS is cooperating with Solibro for a long time on the development on efficient CIGS production equipment.
On January 22, 2014, Hanergy entered into two sales and service contracts for the provision of a total 600 MW CIGS thin film solar manufacturing turnkey lines in Caofeidian, China. The entering into this 600 MW contracts marks an milestone of Hanergy in manufacturing and delivering to turnkey lines with advanced CIGS solar thin-film technology. The production machine with TENUIS II will be suited as the key components of the Caofeidian project and also represents a key milestone of SINGULUS to firm up the market position in CIGS solar thin-film business.
