Dec 2 2008
Air Products (NYSE:APD) today announced it has signed a turnkey gas supply contract to provide on-site gases, liquid bulk gases, specialty gases and gas equipment to China's Best Solar Hi Tech Co., Ltd, which is building a new thin-film photovoltaic (PV) facility in the Wuzhong Economic Development Park in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, China.
When the facility comes on-stream at its full capacity, it will have an annual solar module manufacturing capacity of 330MW. The contract between Air Products and Best Solar includes the long-term supply of hydrogen, nitrogen and argon, and specialty gases such as silane, nitrogen trifluoride (NF3) and dopant gases. Air Products will also install and manage the bulk gas and specialty gas supply systems.
"We are proud to have Best Solar's confidence in our supply capabilities for what will be one of the world's largest thin-film photovoltaic production facilities," said Corning Painter, vice president and general manager, Global Electronics, Air Products. "Our leadership position in the supply and delivery of the key materials for the PV market makes Air Products the safe and reliable choice for the growing PV industry." Best Solar's thin-film PV modules, which convert sunlight directly into electricity, will be manufactured in much the same way as thin-film transistor-liquid crystal displays (TFT-LCD). As one of the largest suppliers to the TFT-LCD industry, Air Products is ideally suited to supply the new facility.
This contract marks Air Products' largest investment in the burgeoning thin-film photovoltaic industry and complements its existing crystalline PV offerings. With the demand for renewable energy and improved efficiency on the rise, Air Products is well positioned to take advantage of these developing markets with its expertise and project experience in areas including large scale hydrogen supply for cleaner transportation fuels, developmental work on the hydrogen economy, hydrogen vehicle fueling and infrastructure, leading natural gas liquefaction technology and now the growing supply of gases and services for the photovoltaic industry.