Moser Baer has partnered with Applied Materials, an American technology firm, to develop the plant, which will have an estimated production capacity of 200 MW by 2009. "According to market figures, the thin film based solar modules market is expected to reach a size of $5 billion globally by 2010 with a demand of 2 GW," Mr Deepak Puri, Moser Baer's Chairman and Managing Director, said. This plant would therefore be able to provide as much as 10% of the world's thin film demand.
The plant will be located in New Delhi and it will become the world's first generation 8.5 thin film solar module production line, with panels chunked out at a size 4 times bigger (up to 5.7 m2 per module) than those being produced today, which is expected to reduce manufacturing costs substantially.
“This contract heralds Applied’s entry into the delivery of full production lines to solar customers — and signals a critical milestone for the solar industry in the drive to reduce the cost of solar cells by using larger substrates,” said Mark Pinto, Senior VicePresident and General Manager of Applied’s New Business and New Products Group.
This news undoubtedly represents a step further in the reduction of costs of renewable energy, and therefore also a step further in making renewable energy competitive with traditional energy, especially if the latter's externalities, namely carbon emissions, are taken into account.
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